Cybersecurity, Financial Fraud Prevention and
Digital Risk Management for Finance Professionals

Day One: Understanding Cybersecurity Risks in Finance
• Introduction to cybersecurity in modern financial operations.
• The evolving cybersecurity threat landscape across African organisations.
• Common cyber threats targeting finance departments.
• Understanding phishing, ransomware, malware and social engineering.
• Business email compromise and impersonation attacks.
• Cyber-enabled financial crime and emerging fraud techniques.
• Identifying vulnerabilities in financial processes and systems.
• The financial and reputational impact of cyber incidents.
• Roles and responsibilities of finance professionals in cybersecurity.
• Practical exercise: Identifying cybersecurity risks in everyday finance operations.

Day Two: Financial Fraud Prevention and Secure Digital Payments
• Understanding electronic payment fraud and financial cybercrime.
• Invoice manipulation and fraudulent supplier bank account changes.
• Prevention of unauthorised electronic fund transfers.
• Securing online banking and corporate payment platforms.
• Detecting fraudulent payment requests and suspicious transactions.
• Strengthening payment approval and authorisation procedures.
• Segregation of duties and dual-control mechanisms.
• Supplier verification and vendor payment security.
• Fraud prevention in payroll, procurement and expense management.
• Practical exercise: Analysing a fraudulent invoice and payment request.

Day Three: Digital Risk Management and Financial Data Protection
• Principles of cybersecurity risk management for finance departments.
• Identifying, assessing and prioritising financial cyber risks.
• Conducting cybersecurity risk assessments for financial processes.
• Protecting financial statements, accounting records and confidential data.
• Data privacy, information security and access control.
• Password management and multi-factor authentication.
• Securing accounting software, ERP systems and financial databases.
• Cybersecurity risks associated with cloud accounting and remote working.
• Third-party, supplier and outsourced financial service risks.
• Practical exercise: Developing a cybersecurity risk register for a finance department.

Day Four: Internal Controls, Compliance and Cyber Fraud Detection
• Integrating cybersecurity into financial governance and internal controls.
• Designing effective controls to prevent and detect financial fraud.
• Monitoring transactions and identifying unusual financial activities.
• Using data analytics to identify suspicious transactions and anomalies.
• Introduction to artificial intelligence in financial fraud detection.
• Audit trails, transaction logs and digital evidence.
• Cybersecurity compliance and data protection responsibilities.
• Cyber risk reporting to senior management and audit committees.
• Strengthening collaboration between finance, ICT, internal audit and compliance teams.
• Practical exercise: Reviewing financial controls and identifying weaknesses in a simulated organisation.

Day Five: Cyber Incident Response and Financial Security Strategy
• Recognising and reporting suspected cybersecurity incidents.
• Immediate response to fraudulent payments and compromised accounts.
• Incident escalation and coordination with banks, ICT teams and management.
• Preserving digital evidence and maintaining proper incident records.
• Financial loss assessment and fraud incident documentation.
• Business continuity and disaster recovery planning.
• Protecting financial operations during system disruptions.
• Developing a cybersecurity incident response plan for finance departments.
• Establishing cybersecurity awareness and accountability among finance staff.
• Developing an action plan to strengthen financial cybersecurity controls.
• Group exercise: Simulating a cyber-enabled payment fraud incident and presenting a response strategy.