title: "Securing a Fintech Platform: Comprehensive VAPT and ISO 27001 Readiness" description: "How SecurEpitome helped a Series-B fintech company identify 23 critical vulnerabilities, achieve regulatory compliance, and build a sustainable security program in 90 days." industry: "Financial Services" service: "Penetration Testing" publishedAt: "2024-11-20" outcomes:
- "23 critical/high vulnerabilities identified and remediated"
- "ISO 27001 certification achieved in 90 days"
- "0 security incidents in 12 months post-engagement"
- "Passed regulatory audit with zero major non-conformities" draft: false
Client Overview
A Series-B fintech startup processing ₹500 crore in annual transactions approached SecurEpitome following a near-miss security incident. Their rapid growth had outpaced their security program, and an upcoming RBI regulatory audit required demonstrable compliance.
Note: Client details anonymized per confidentiality agreement.
Challenge
The organization faced three simultaneous pressures:
- Regulatory Deadline — RBI audit scheduled in 90 days requiring documented security controls
- Unknown Risk Surface — No prior penetration test; attack surface unknown
- Rapid Growth — Engineering team shipping new features weekly with no security review process
Our Approach
Week 1–2: Discovery & Scoping
We conducted stakeholder interviews with engineering, operations, and the CTO to map the complete application landscape: 4 web applications, 2 mobile apps (iOS/Android), 47 internal APIs, and a hybrid cloud infrastructure spanning AWS and on-premises data centers.
Week 3–6: Comprehensive VAPT
Our team executed a grey-box penetration test across all surfaces:
- Web Applications — OWASP WSTG methodology
- Mobile Apps — OWASP MSTG for iOS and Android
- API Layer — REST API security testing with authenticated and unauthenticated scenarios
- Infrastructure — External network perimeter + internal network (post-compromise simulation)
- Cloud — AWS configuration review against CIS Benchmarks
Week 7–10: Remediation Support
Rather than handing over a report and walking away, SecurEpitome embedded with the engineering team to:
- Conduct developer walkthroughs for each finding
- Review pull requests for security-sensitive fixes
- Implement security headers and WAF rules
- Design a secure SDLC process with automated SAST integration
Week 11–12: Retest & Certification Preparation
All critical and high findings were retested. We prepared the ISO 27001 evidence pack — security policies, risk register, and controls documentation — in coordination with the client's compliance team.
Key Findings
The engagement surfaced 23 critical and high severity vulnerabilities including:
- Broken Authentication — JWT tokens not validated server-side, allowing account takeover
- IDOR — Sequential customer IDs exposing transaction history of other users
- SQL Injection — In a legacy reporting module exposing the entire transaction database
- Insecure Direct Object Reference — Allowing access to competitor merchant data
- S3 Bucket Misconfiguration — Internal financial reports publicly accessible
- Hardcoded API Keys — Production payment gateway credentials in public GitHub repository
Outcomes
| Metric | Before | After | |---|---|---| | Critical/High Vulnerabilities | 23 | 0 | | ISO 27001 Compliance | Not assessed | Certified | | Security Incidents (12 months) | N/A | 0 | | Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) | No baseline | 4 hours | | Developer Security Training | 0% | 100% |
Client Outcome
"SecurEpitome did not just deliver a report — they embedded with our team and made sure every finding was actually fixed. We passed our RBI audit with zero major non-conformities. That outcome speaks for itself."
— CTO, Fintech Client
The client subsequently retained SecurEpitome on a quarterly VAPT program and engaged our vCISO service to provide ongoing security leadership.