Cyber criminals do not need to break into a bank to steal a family’s wealth. A compromised email account, a convincing payment request and a few personal details gathered from social media may be enough.

Family offices are particularly exposed. They hold data on substantial assets and sensitive personal information, which they share with advisers. What’s more, they often have lean operating teams. For an attacker, that can be an opportunity to gain significant reward without having to breach the security infrastructure of a large financial institution.

The consequences of a cyber attack extend beyond financial loss. An incident may expose confidential information, disrupt critical transactions, damage trusted relationships and compromise the personal safety or reputation of a high-profile family.

Technology is only part of the picture. True resilience depends on the family ecosystem’s ability to prevent, detect, respond to and recover from an attack.

Five questions to test your family office’s cyber resilience

Being discreet or operating with a small team does not make a family office invisible. Wealth and influence can make the family and its advisers valuable targets. Attackers may use financial, legal or personal information to divert payments, impersonate business leaders or advisers, commit fraud, gain further access, extort or cause reputational harm.

Email security matters. Mainstream email can be secure when strong protections are enabled. And a professionally managed business domain can provide more control over email accounts, authentication and access when someone leaves.

Takeaway: attackers do not choose targets by size. They choose valuable and credible opportunities.

A family office rarely has a clear boundary. Its network may include banks, investment managers, lawyers, accountants, trustees, insurers, property managers, charities, household staff and family members. Information moves between them through email, messaging apps, shared platforms and personal devices.

Cyber criminals often exploit trust rather than technology and so each link in this network is a possible route of attack. Common criminal tactics include fraudulent transfer requests and “updated” bank details that appear to come from trusted contacts.

The family’s social media presence, public records and online profiles can also be used to enable fraud. They may reveal relationships, addresses, property details, regular locations and travel plans that help cyber criminals to impersonate contacts more convincingly.

Takeaway: your cyber resilience is only as strong as the behaviours, devices and relationships around the family.

Cyber security may sit with an IT provider, COO or CFO, but the business must be clear on who is accountable. Lack of clarity on who is responsible for defending against cyber attacks, or acting on one, is a major weakness.

Technical work can be outsourced, but accountability cannot, so although senior leaders do not need to understand firewall settings or encryption protocols, they should be able to answer these questions:

• Who is accountable for cyber resilience?
• What systems, assets and information matter most?
• What are the most credible cyber threats?
• How often does leadership review cyber risk and escalation processes?
• Who can make urgent decisions during an attack?
• Have response and recovery arrangements been tested and communicated to the family?

Takeaway: cyber resilience is a leadership responsibility, not an IT task.

Family offices depend on external providers for specialist expertise. These providers can be deeply embedded in operations, with access to sensitive data, internal systems, occupied residences or high value transactions.

An incident affecting any of these organisations can quickly affect the family office. Oversight should focus on the relationships that matter most. Leaders should understand:

• Which providers hold sensitive information or support critical activities?
• What access does each provider have, and how is it controlled and reviewed?
• What security, confidentiality and incident reporting obligations apply?
• Can access be withdrawn promptly when a relationship ends?
• Could the family office continue if a critical provider became unavailable?

The aim is not more bureaucracy. It is to understand where dependence could become exposure.

Takeaway: trusted relationships still need verification.

Good cyber resilience does not mean eliminating every threat. It means protecting what matters, spotting unusual activity and responding without confusion.

The foundations are generally straightforward:

• Protect identities: use multi-factor authentication, secure passwords and remove unnecessary access.
• Verify communications: independently check unusual requests and changes to bank details.
• Protect payments: set approval limits and require separate approval for important transactions.
• Secure devices and data: keep devices updated, encrypted and backed up.
• Check critical providers: review organisations with sensitive information or important access.
• Prepare people: cover phishing, impersonation, social media, travel and confidential information.
• Plan for incidents: set escalation routes, decision owners and specialist contacts, then test them.
• Maintain oversight: review incidents, security gaps and planned improvements.

These measures do not need a full-time cyber security team. They call for conscious choices based on the family’s profile, activities and reliance on others.

Takeaway: consistent, tested controls matter more than complexity.

Is your family office ready to respond to a cyber attack?

Family offices exist to preserve wealth, protect privacy and support the family across generations. In a digital world, those responsibilities cannot be separated from cyber resilience.

The most damaging incident may not begin with a sophisticated attack. It may begin with a well-timed email, a compromised adviser or a personal detail shared online months earlier. Technology matters, but resilience also depends on governance, disciplined processes, informed family members and decisive action under pressure.

The strongest family offices will treat cyber risk with the same seriousness as investment, legal and reputational risk. They will know what matters, where they are exposed and what to do when controls fail.

Consider one final test:

If a credible payment instruction arrived tomorrow, or a critical adviser reported a breach, would the family office understand:

• What information can be trusted?
• Who should make the decision?
• What action should happen next?

If the answers are uncertain, cyber resilience should move higher up the leadership agenda.

If you want to discuss the cyber resilience of your organisation, please contact Sheila Pancholi or George Carter.

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