November 2, 2026 · 5min read
Fraud prevention needs protection, too.
In May 2024, I was in San Francisco at RSAC when CISA introduced its Secure by Design pledge. Sixty-eight companies signed the pledge,1 including Microsoft, Google, and AWS. The message was simple. Software makers need to take more responsibility for the security of the products they put into customers’ hands. Build it in from the start.
What stayed with me was that security is a core business requirement. That responsibility extends to the fraud prevention solutions a bank embeds in its app and delivers to its clients and users.
In this article, we’ll break down why trusted endpoint security signals are foundational to seamless and safer banking, both for customers and their AI agents.
Key Takeaways
- Fraud prevention software and SDKs are active targets for tampering, compromise, and signal suppression by advanced attackers.
- As automated AI agents act for users, misconfigured or compromised agents could disable fraud controls or obscure risk signals.
- Zimperium’s 2026 Mobile Banking Heist Report finds 25 of 34 mobile banking malware families have full-device-control capabilities.
- Fraud prevention models are only as accurate as the underlying telemetry; absence of alerts does not guarantee the absence of threat.
- Feedzai Digital Trust provides SDK integrity validation, device threat detection, and endpoint security signal protection to safeguard banking journeys and support continuous adaptive trust; these new capabilities are now available in public preview.
What happens when the software protecting us is compromised?
As AI agents begin acting for customers, the responsibility to keep AI agents secure becomes even more consequential. What happens if the software making decisions for a customer interferes with the software protecting them against fraud?
OpenAI recently documented two internal coding tasks in which agents weakened monitoring while making requested software changes.2 Those were not banking incidents. But they raise a relevant question for banks. Could a malicious or compromised agent with sufficient access try to disable a fraud control, alter an SDK, or suppress risk signals intended to reach the bank?
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Banks need to consider this threat scenario alongside the growing malware threats operating on customer devices. Zimperium’s 2026 Mobile Banking Heist Report found that 25 of the 34 malware families analyzed had full-device-control capabilities, while 29 had persistence and evasion capabilities.3
The software collecting evidence of fraud is a target itself.
“If you don’t have good security in place on top of your kind of fraud controls, then you’ve just basically got very weak fraud controls.” – Stuart Dobbie, Senior Director of Product Strategy and Management for Digital Trust.
Fraud Prevention is Only as Strong as the Signals It Trusts
A sophisticated and state-of-the-art model still depends on what it can see. If an attacker alters the collector, changes what the app reports, or suppresses risk signals or evidence, the bank may be making decisions based on an incomplete or manipulated picture of the truth. More importantly, the absence of alerts does not automatically mean the absence of risk.
This is why endpoint security is at the foundation of Digital Trust.
How Endpoint Security Strengthens Fraud Prevention
Feedzai Digital Trust strengthens protection for its SDK and the risk signals it transmits, while expanding threat detection in the host app and device environment. These capabilities build on existing message-level encryption, SDK authentication, and redundant routing options, giving financial institutions greater visibility into signs of compromise on the device producing the risk signals.
Together, these capabilities provide:
- SDK integrity checks. Where expected signals are missing, or integrity checks fail, that evidence can inform the bank’s risk assessment alongside other session information.
- App and device threat detection. Surface signs of hooking, app cloning, debugging, and device compromise, alongside malware and remote-access intelligence.
- Signal integrity protections. Protect the collection and delivery of risk data, with missing or tampered signals flagged as risk for the bank to assess.
- Bank-controlled responses. Banks can use the risk signals to apply their own rules and smart friction, such as restricting transfers, limiting access to viewing the balance, requesting additional verification or step-ups where it addresses the risk, or terminating the session. The bank retains control over the response and the customer experience.
- Shared defenses. The evidence can also travel beyond the fraud team. Endpoint and malware findings can inform cybersecurity teams through their SOC and SIEM tools. Identity teams can use risk evidence when deciding whether to allow access or credential recovery. Shared evidence helps those teams respond to the same threat with a more consistent view.
Building Trust At Every Step of the Banking Journey
Think of this as a trust ladder, with each step supporting the next:
The ladder is an assessment framework. Endpoint checks contribute evidence; authorization and intent still require their own checks. If you don’t understand the user, then intent can be ambiguous.
Can banks trust both their customers and their AI agents?
That distinction matters for customers as much as their agents. A genuine customer can sign in on a familiar device while malicious software interferes with the session. A recognized agent can operate within an authorized workflow and still attempt an unexpected action. Trust needs to be reassessed continuously as risk and activities change.
Digital Trust fuses endpoint security signals with behavioral, device, and network intelligence to continuously assess risk throughout the digital banking journey, helping financial institutions accelerate their continuous adaptive trust maturity.
Putting Trusted Signals Into Practice
The new endpoint security capabilities in Feedzai Digital Trust are available now in public preview. Banks can explore how these signals fit their risk policies and customer journeys, from access and authentication decisions to payments. The Feedzai team invites you to explore the public preview and bring endpoint risk into your organization’s Continuous Adaptive Trust strategy.
As agentic banking develops, understanding intent will depend on evidence we can trust. To keep the world’s money moving safely, we must build protection into the experiences customers rely on, including the software that protects them against financial crime.
Additional Resources
FAQs About Endpoint Security in Fraud Prevention
What is endpoint security in fraud prevention?
Endpoint security in fraud prevention protects the devices, mobile applications, and software development kits (SDKs) that collect and transmit risk data to financial institutions. By safeguarding these endpoints against compromise, tampering, and malware, banks ensure that fraud detection systems receive reliable signals, allowing them to accurately assess risk and block fraudulent transactions without compromising user experience.
How does endpoint security support AI-powered banking?
As AI agents increasingly execute banking actions on customers’ behalf, endpoint security ensures these automated systems operate safely. It verifies software integrity, detects agent manipulation, and prevents malicious software from disabling fraud controls. By securing the environment where AI agents operate, endpoint security maintains the trusted signals essential for continuous adaptive risk assessment in AI-driven banking.
What is the role of SDK integrity checks in fraud prevention?
SDK integrity checks verify that the software collecting risk data hasn’t been altered, tampered with, or bypassed by attackers. If an SDK is modified or telemetry is suppressed, integrity checks flag the missing or manipulated data to the bank. This ensures fraud detection models evaluate complete, untampered evidence rather than operating on a false sense of security.
How does Feedzai Digital Trust help protect against endpoint threats?
Feedzai Digital Trust strengthens endpoint security through SDK integrity validation, signal protection, and real-time threat detection across devices and host applications. It identifies risks such as app cloning, debugging, malware, and remote access tools. These actionable intelligence signals empower financial institutions to apply tailored security responses, stepped-up authentication, or session restrictions based on their specific risk policies.
Why is endpoint security important for digital banking?
Digital banking relies heavily on data collected from customer devices to detect financial crime. Without securing the telemetry signals, attackers can manipulate signals, conceal malicious activity, or bypass fraud rules entirely. Protecting endpoints secures the foundation of the trust hierarchy, giving banks full visibility into user interactions and enabling seamless, secure digital experiences across the entire banking journey.
Footnotes
1 https://www.cisa.gov/securebydesign
3 https://lp.zimperium.com/2026-mobile-banking-heist-report
All expertise and insights are from human Feedzaians, but we may leverage AI to enhance phrasing or efficiency. Welcome to the future.