Financial technologies, when they work well, tend to helpfully disappear into the background of everyday life. Yet the same features that make such tools and services easier to use can also make abuse harder to detect and prevent. In relationships involving intimate partner violence, financial abuse, where one partner controls, hijacks, or closely surveils the other’s finances, is common. This loss of control can make it challenging for a survivor to leave, seek help or resist further harm, compounded by digital financial products that are not designed with their experiences in mind.

In this talk, I will outline an emerging cybersecurity threat posed by these intimate insiders who undermine survivors’ financial freedom. I draw on engagements with abusers, survivors, experts, and policymakers, by treating their accounts as threat intelligence that reveals an abusers’ motives and surreptitious tactics. Most of these attacks require nothing more than a standard user interface; aiming to restrict or sabotage a survivor’s finances, and the abuser does not need to gain anything financially. I will then show how these insights can inform safer financial services and technologies through bespoke abusability testing, along with more effective legislation for consumer-facing financial services.

Please note that this talk will contain descriptions of emotional abuse, harassment, and stalking so audience discretion is advised.