Bank robbers are no longer on horses with bandanas hiding their identity. They are behind laptops thousands of miles away from the organizations they steal from, unseen and hard to trace.
Today, financial theft happens when hackers find security vulnerabilities in systems they use to steal millions in traditional or crypto currencies. The good news is that there are lessons that organizations can learn when these breaches happen to help other companies protect themselves and avoid the same fate using robust cybersecurity.
This article looks at why payment processing companies are at risk and five real examples from 2025 where payment processing companies were affected by security problems. You’ll also learn how IT (Information Technology) teams can help stop these problems from happening again.
Why Payment Processing Companies Are at Risk
Payment processing companies help move money between people, banks, and businesses. Because they work with cash, they are popular targets for hackers. Hackers want to steal money, break systems, or find sensitive data like bank details.
These companies also use many tools and connections, such as websites, apps, and APIs (application programming interfaces). These tools must be protected, or hackers might access them.
1. Finexio – Internal Workflow Compromise
- Date: January 2025.
- Problem: Hackers stole $800,000.
- How it happened: Someone found a weak spot in Finexio’s system, which helps process payments. The person might have been an insider (someone who worked there) or someone who got access through an employee.
- What happened: The hacker changed how payments were processed and redirected the money to accounts they controlled.
Lesson to learn:
Companies must check and limit who can access payment systems. IT teams should keep detailed records (logs) of every action inside the system and watch for strange behavior. Systems should only let people see or use what they need for their jobs.
2. Tipalti – Major Cyberattack Disrupted Services
- Date: January 2025.
- Problem: A cyberattack stopped services for many customers.
- How it happened: Hackers attacked Tipalti, which helps big companies like Amazon and Roblox manage payments. The system went offline, and payments were delayed.
- What happened: Customers couldn’t send or receive money. This event affected trust and caused problems for many businesses.
Lesson to learn:
Payment systems must be prepared for attacks and be able to recover quickly. IT teams should create “incident response plans” to know what to do when something goes wrong. They also need backup systems and strong security to keep services running.
3. Payoneer – API Vulnerability Exploited
- Date: February 2025.
- Problem: Hackers found a weakness in an API.
- How it happened: Payoneer uses APIs so other systems can connect and send payment instructions. But hackers found a mistake in the API code.
- What happened: They used the mistake to send bad data, which affected payments and user accounts.
Lesson to learn:
APIs must be checked regularly, and every connection between systems should be safe. IT teams should test APIs often, use strong authentication (like tokens or keys), and limit what APIs can do unless necessary.
4. CoinsPaid – Crypto Theft via Key Compromise
- Date: January 2025.
- Problem: Hackers stole over $37 million in cryptocurrency.
- How it happened: Hackers, possibly working for a foreign group, broke into CoinsPaid’s cryptosystems and gained access to the digital keys that control where money is sent.
- What happened: They used the keys to move cryptocurrency into their wallets and disappear with the money.
Lesson to learn:
Digital keys are very important in the world of cryptocurrency. If hackers steal a key, they can take the money. IT teams should store keys in very secure places and use extra layers of protection like multi-signature systems (where more than one approval is needed).
5. Checkout.com – Webhook Exploit Caused Fake Confirmations
- Date: March 2025
- Problem: Attackers used a trick to make it look like the organization had confirmed payments.
- How it happened: Checkout.com uses webhooks, which are messages sent between systems when they make a payment. Hackers found a way to send fake messages and make it seem like a payment had happened when it hadn’t.
- What happened: Some businesses thought they got paid when they didn’t and received products or services without real payment.
Lesson to learn:
Webhooks must be verified. IT teams should ensure that messages come from the real system, not fake ones. Companies can carry this action out using secure signatures and checks before accepting a webhook.
How IT Management Helps Prevent Breaches
IT management means ensuring that technology, systems, and people work together to keep things running and safe. The IT team has a big job in payment processing.
Here’s how IT management systems prevent breaches:
- Protect systems from the start: IT teams should help choose secure tools like the best patch management software to update systems and ensure the software build is safe.
- Update regularly: Old software can have holes that hackers use. IT teams need to update systems often.
- Control who gets access: Not everyone can make changes or move money. IT teams use permissions and controls to limit who can do what.
- Monitor everything: IT should watch systems in real-time to catch strange activity quickly.
- Train staff: Many attacks start with tricking people. Employees must learn how to spot fake emails or suspicious behavior.
- Plan for problems: IT managers create emergency plans so everyone knows what to do if there is a breach.
Optimize your IT management strategy to prevent breaches using these methods.
Conclusion
These five examples show that even large, successful financial payment processing companies can have serious security problems. Hackers look for weak spots in payment systems, APIs, webhooks, and employee actions and exploit them to steal millions.
The bright side to this is that every payment company can learn something from these incidents. With strong IT management, regular system checks, and smart planning, businesses can reduce the risk of being attacked. The faster companies act to improve security, the better they can protect people’s money and trust.
Now is the time for businesses to review how their systems work, test them for weaknesses, and make sure their teams are ready to respond if something goes wrong.
