A key component of Critical Infrastructure industries, the financial sector ranks among the top 5 most targeted by cybercriminals, accounting for 5% of successful cyberattacks globally between 2024 and Q1 2025.
With cyberthreats ever-present, financial institutions need to maintain constant vigilance against ransomware, data theft, and other operational disruptions.
One vulnerability often overlooked—file uploads—frequently serve as the initial entry point for malicious code.
Once successfully executed, a file upload attack can lead to catastrophic consequences, from system takeovers to data breaches, or even extortion.
In this high-risk environment, some organizations refuse to become a part of the statistic.
One such company is our customer—a leading financial services app, trusted by over 40,000 users.
Understanding the risks they were exposing themselves to, with unchecked uploads, the customer took pre-emptive steps to protect both their clients and their reputation.
They choose to integrate OPSWAT's Metascan Multiscanning technology to scan every uploaded file with multiple antivirus engines and ensure only clean files could be uploaded onto their platform.
This is the story of our collaboration.
The Problem with File Uploads
When it comes to file uploads, the challenge wasn’t necessarily aimed at their own internal operations, as it was more about protecting users’ safety.
Consumers upload sensitive documents to the secure vault within the platform, including financial records, legal documents, or information shared with lenders.
These files can include everything from bank statements to scanned images, and they often contain sensitive personal data.
With hundreds of daily uploads from uncontrolled sources, the platform was exposed to a real malware risk.
If someone were to upload a document infected with a virus, there was a possibility that the same file could be downloaded later, potentially causing harm to the customer’s device.
Even though the customer doesn’t directly open the files, the risk was significant.
With global cybercrime records appearing to worsen each year, they didn’t assume safety. Instead, they took extra precautions to protect their users from uploading infected malware onto their platform.
To reinforce their commitment to security, our customer implemented OPSWAT’s Metascan Multiscanning technology—powered by the MetaDefender Core, which scans uploaded files with multiple anti-malware engines to ensure no malicious content is introduced into the system.
This critical extra layer of protection provides an added sense of security and peace of mind for those using the platform.
Customers can trust the financial app with their most sensitive documents, knowing that the company is committed to keeping them safe from harm.
How MetaDefender Core Addressed Key Challenges
Since web applications with file upload functionality are often targeted for delivering malware, our customer needed a method that could effectively block threats at the upload point.
It also had to work with minimal involvement on their part, without impacting the user experience.
The solution needed to be seamless, ensuring no extra actions or delays during the upload process.
MetaDefender Core fit right into this equation.
Understanding the Technology
MetaDefender Core offers strong protection against common attack vectors, with a focus on preventing malware infections before they can impact the system.
This includes protecting web portals from malicious file upload attacks, which is critical for platforms that accept user-generated content such as the customer’s platform.
Metascan Multiscanning
Our client deployed Metascan Multiscanning, a multiple engine scanning technology, which provides 99.2% detection rates, thus significantly increasing the likelihood of detecting threats.
Once a customer has uploaded a file, that file is intercepted by MetaDefender Core, which scans the files using the multiscanning technology.
The customer can rely on MetaDefender to catch most threats, including those that are less conventional or new to the threat landscape.
However, file scanning wasn’t the sole reason why they chose MetaDefender Core, as their needs were more nuanced than that.
Dependable Security
The customer also needed a solution that would scan files for malware without interfering with or compromising the security of their entire infrastructure.
MetaDefender Core was deployed through its API, which meant files were sent to the platform from different environments.
Malicious files never reached critical systems, protecting both the platform and its users.
Scalable Solution
Any solution had to keep pace with their growth. It had to be able to scale seamlessly as data volumes increase, in the same stealthy manner which never disrupted the user experience.
The speed and scalability of MetaDefender Core were critical.
The platform’s ability to provide near real-time scanning during the file upload process eliminated delays, ensuring that users experienced virtually no waiting time while their files were being scanned.
Reputation Preserver
With so many companies falling victims of cyber attacks, or involved in public data breaches, maintaining trust and credibility can become a selling point for security-aware companies such as our customer.
Metascan Multiscanning delivers 99.2% threat detection accuracy, giving them confidence that uploaded files are thoroughly scanned and greatly reducing the risk of a security breach.
With fast, accurate, and reliable file scans, the customer ensured their reputation remained intact while offering their users a secure experience.
Future Plans
Looking ahead, the customer is set on continuing to evaluate emerging threats and be one step ahead of attackers.
It's always a challenge to stay on top of the threats as they come because they are becoming quite sophisticated, but with OPSWAT’s technology portfolio, the customer can continue to provide that additional level of security for their users.
As a financial services app, our customer acted like a true industry leader, taking a proactive approach to protection, instead of waiting around to become a victim.
Since 2020, both their platform and their customers are protected by Metascan Multiscanning and its advanced malware detection capabilities.
Laying Down the Path to a Secure Future
To end the story, we must first go back to the basics.
At its core, the platform helps people achieve one of the biggest milestones of their lives: homeownership.
For many, buying a house is the culmination of years of hard work, an investment of their life’s earnings for a roof over their family’s head.
With such high stakes, the security of their personal and financial data is critical.
Through their deployment of MetaDefender Core, our customer ensures that users’ sensitive documents are protected from malware, giving them peace of mind throughout the home-buying journey.
In a world where cyberthreats are ever-present, our customer’s commitment to safeguarding its users’ data is inspiring.
If you are part of those who understand that prevention is the best cybersecurity strategy, and are looking for a strong partner, get in touch and let’s chat about what we can achieve together!
