Cyber-Attack Reality Check: Why 62% of Larger Family Offices Are Targeted (And How to Stop Phishing at the Door)

A family office CFO sits in her office on a normal Thursday morning. An email arrives in her inbox—ostensibly from the family’s portfolio custodian. Subject line: “Account Security Alert: Verify Your Access Credentials Immediately.”

The email looks legitimate. It includes the custodian’s logo, accurate account numbers, and urgent language. “We’ve detected unusual activity. Please verify your credentials here to restore full access.”

She clicks the link. A login page appears—nearly identical to the real custodian portal. She enters her username and password. The page refreshes and says “Thank you. Your access has been restored.”

Thirty minutes later, she gets a call from the custodian: “We’re seeing unauthorized access to your account from an IP address in Ukraine. Someone’s attempting to transfer $15M. We’ve blocked it, but wanted to alert you immediately.”

What the CFO didn’t realize: The email was fake. The link led to a phishing page. Her credentials were harvested. Within minutes, the attacker used those credentials to attempt the large transfer.

This scenario isn’t hypothetical. It’s increasingly routine. And it reveals a stark reality: Family offices are no longer tangential targets in the broader cybercrime landscape. They’re specifically, deliberately targeted by sophisticated attackers who understand exactly what they’re hunting for.

The Data: 62% of Larger Family Offices Are Under Attack

The statistics are jarring and undeniable:

Attack Prevalence

62% of family offices managing over $1B in assets have experienced at least one cyberattack (Deloitte, 2024; Crisis24, 2023)

43% of all family offices globally report experiencing a cyberattack in the past 12-24 months

57% of North American family offices report being attacked (highest region globally; Europe 41%, Asia-Pacific 24%)

50% of offices that were attacked experienced three or more separate attacks — meaning repeated targeting, not one-off incidents

Half of all family offices know another office that has been compromised — indicating widespread breach of what was once considered confidential information

Why the Disparity? Size Matters

Family offices managing $1B+ assets are attacked at 62% prevalence. Offices managing under $1B face attack at 38% prevalence.

Why?

Larger offices manage more assets (higher payoff for successful attacks)

Larger offices typically have more public visibility and digital footprint (easier for attackers to research)

Larger offices have more complex operations, more staff, more vendors—more attack surface

Attackers use data brokers and OSINT (open-source intelligence) to identify high-value targets; larger offices are more visible

Attack Types: Phishing Dominates

When family offices experience attacks, phishing is the dominant vector:

93% of attacked family offices experience phishing attacks (primary vector)

45% of family offices experience direct impersonation attempts targeting senior leadership

60% of family offices report phishing attacks (whether they resulted in actual breach or not)

35% experience malware attacks

23% experience broader social engineering attacks

Business Email Compromise (BEC) — a subset of phishing where attackers impersonate senior leaders or vendors to trick staff into wiring funds — is the most financially damaging attack type for family offices.

The Cost of Breaches

When attacks are successful:

Global average cost of a data breach: $4.88 million (2024, up 10% year-over-year)

Average ransomware payment: $2 million (2024, up 500% from $400K in 2023)

One-third of attacked family offices suffer tangible loss or damage

20% suffer operational disruption

18% suffer direct financial loss

One-quarter of family offices managing over $1B have been directly targeted (not just incidental targeting)

Preparedness Gap: The Real Crisis

Despite these threats, family offices remain dramatically underprepared:

31% of family offices have NO cyber incident response plan whatsoever

43% have a plan but acknowledge it “could be better”

Only 26% claim to have a “robust” plan (and most of these haven’t actually tested it)

63% lack cyber insurance

68% have not established “Know Your Vendor” (third-party risk management) protocols

63% have no dedicated cybersecurity team — relying on a single IT generalist or outsourced support

Only 12% have conducted a simulated cyberattack in the past year

Only 54% of staff participate in security training

Only 37% periodically reassess employee security profiles (most do background checks once at hire, then never again)

The pattern is clear: High attack prevalence meets low preparedness. Family offices are sitting ducks.

Why Family Offices Are High-Value Targets

Understanding why attackers target family offices specifically helps explain why generic cybersecurity isn’t sufficient.

Reason 1: Concentrated Wealth, Minimal Technical Controls

A typical family office manages billions in assets with fewer than 10 staff members. This concentration creates an asymmetry: high-value assets controlled by small, lightly-staffed operations.

Compare to a large bank: billions in assets protected by enterprise security infrastructure, hundreds of security professionals, advanced monitoring, formal policies. Compare to a family office: billions in assets often protected by a single IT person using consumer-grade tools and informal procedures.

For attackers, this is the definition of high-value, low-effort target. One successful breach of a family office might yield access to accounts controlling $100M+. The return on investment for a sophisticated attack is enormous.

Reason 2: Trust-Based Culture, Minimal Verification

Family offices are built on trust relationships. Procedures are informal. “Let me just call the principal directly” happens frequently. Nobody challenges a wire request that appears to come from the family principal because… it’s the principal.

Attackers exploit this. A well-crafted email impersonating the principal (“Wire $20M to this account for the XYZ opportunity—I need this done today, don’t delay”) might be processed without the verification procedures that would be standard in a more formal organization.

Trust is exploited as a vulnerability. The very thing that makes family offices effective—strong relationships, agility, minimal bureaucracy—becomes a security liability in the hands of a sophisticated attacker.

Reason 3: Valuable Data Beyond Assets

Attackers don’t just want to steal money. They want information. A family office contains:

Sensitive family information: How much is the family actually worth? What assets does each member control? Who’s inheriting what?

Business and investment data: Deal flow, investment strategies, valuations of portfolio companies

Tax and legal strategies: Trust structures, tax positions, legal agreements

Philanthropic priorities: Which causes the family supports (useful for targeting family members with cause-based social engineering)

Travel plans: When family members are traveling (useful for coordinating physical theft or kidnapping)

Healthcare information: Medical histories and conditions (useful for blackmail or coercion)

Financial data from UHNW individuals can fetch 3-5x more on the black market than standard financial data. A single breach of a family office might expose information valuable across multiple criminal use cases: identity theft, blackmail, business intelligence theft, and more.

Reason 4: AI-Powered Attacks Now Make Targeting Sophisticated

The latest threat: AI-powered social engineering and deepfakes.

Modern attackers use AI to:

Scrape public data about family members, staff, and advisors

Create deepfake video/audio impersonating the family principal or trusted advisor

Generate convincing phishing emails personalized to each recipient

Automate reconnaissance gathering intelligence at scale

Orchestrate complex, multi-stage attacks combining phishing, impersonation, and social engineering

78% of CISOs report harm from AI-powered attacks. For family offices, which are smaller and often lack advanced monitoring, AI-powered attacks are particularly effective. An attacker can target a family office with an AI-generated deepfake video of the principal authorizing a wire transfer, and staff might struggle to distinguish it from the real thing.

How to Defend Against Phishing: The Front Line

Phishing is the dominant attack vector (93% of attacks involve phishing), so the front-line defense must focus on stopping phishing at the email gateway.

Layer 1: Email Security Technology

Advanced Email Filtering:

Deploy email security tools that go beyond basic spam filtering

These tools detect spoofed sender addresses (attackers often impersonate trusted senders)

They scan attachments for malware before they reach inboxes

They identify suspicious URLs and block access to known malicious sites

They use AI/machine learning to detect new variants of phishing emails

Cost: $20-$50/user annually (for tools like Proofpoint, Mimecast, or Microsoft Defender for Office 365)

Effectiveness: Blocks 85-95% of phishing emails that would otherwise reach staff inboxes

Layer 2: Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

The Reality: Even if a phishing email succeeds in stealing someone’s password, MFA prevents the attacker from accessing systems using that password alone.

With MFA enabled:

Attacker steals password via phishing

Attacker attempts to log in to the portfolio system

System prompts for second factor (code from phone, security key, biometric)

Attacker doesn’t have the second factor

Login is blocked

Implementation:

Require MFA for all critical systems (email, portfolio platforms, banking portals, accounting systems)

Use strong second factors: security keys (physical hardware) or authenticator apps (not SMS when possible, as SMS can be compromised)

For family members and trustees, MFA is essential; for household staff and contractors, critical but may be relaxed for convenience

Cost: $50-$200/user annually for MFA platforms + hardware security keys (~$40-$80 per person)

Effectiveness: Even if passwords are compromised via phishing, MFA prevents 99%+ of unauthorized access attempts

Layer 3: Wire Transfer Verification Procedures

The Reality: Phishing is often used to compromise someone’s email account or trick them into authorizing fraudulent wire transfers. Wire transfer verification procedures can catch these attacks before money moves.

Verification Procedure:

Rule: Any wire transfer over $X amount (e.g., $1M) requires secondary verification

Verification: The person requesting the wire must be verified through a separate, authenticated channel

Example: Request comes in via email → CFO calls the requestor on a known phone number to verify → If verified, transfer is approved

This is simple but effective. In the phishing scenario described earlier, the attacker sent a fake wire transfer request impersonating the family principal. If the office had a policy requiring secondary verification, the staff member would have called the principal and discovered the request was fake.

Specific Procedures:

Establish a list of “known” phone numbers for key family members and advisors

When wire requests are received, verify by calling the known number

If phone numbers change, verify the change through multiple channels before accepting the new number

For large transfers, require approval from multiple authorized parties

Cost: Operational overhead (training, procedures) but minimal financial cost

Effectiveness: Prevents 90%+ of Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks

Layer 4: Phishing Awareness Training & Testing

The Reality: No technology catches 100% of phishing. Some emails will get through. When they do, staff training determines whether anyone clicks malicious links.

Training Program:

Provide regular, engaging security awareness training covering phishing, social engineering, password security, etc.

Training should be practical (“Here’s what a phishing email looks like”) not theoretical

Include stories/case studies from real breaches

Train staff on what to do if they suspect a phishing email (forward to security team, don’t click links)

Phishing Simulations:

Send fake phishing emails to staff to test who clicks malicious links

Track results: Who clicked? Who reported it as suspicious?

Provide individual training to staff who clicked (not punishment—positive reinforcement)

Repeat simulations regularly to track improvement

Goal: Less than 5% click rate (industry benchmark for well-trained organizations is 5-10%)

Cost: $10-$20/user annually for security awareness platform + simulations

Effectiveness: Reduces click-through rate on phishing emails by 70-85%

Real-World Defense: What This Looks Like in Practice

Scenario: A sophisticated phishing attack targets a family office

The Attack:

Attacker researches the family office, identifies the CFO and key staff. Using social media and data brokers, attacker gathers intelligence about recent deals, travel plans, and vendor relationships. Attacker then:

Creates a spoofed email appearing to come from the portfolio custodian

Uses information gathered (specific account numbers, recent transactions) to make it appear highly credible

Sends email to CFO: “Unusual activity detected. Please verify credentials here: [malicious link]”

Simultaneously sends similar emails to back-office staff

Defense Layer 1 (Email Security):

Advanced email filtering detects the spoofed sender address and suspicious URL. The email is flagged and quarantined before it reaches staff inboxes. Attack is blocked here.

If that fails, Defense Layer 2 (Staff training):

An email gets through. CFO receives it. But because she’s trained on phishing indicators, she notices:

The email creates urgency (“Unusual activity”)

It requests credentials via email (which legitimate custodians never do)

She checks the sender address closely and notices it’s spoofed

She forwards the email to the security team with “This looks like phishing” rather than clicking the link. Attack is stopped.

If that fails, Defense Layer 3 (MFA):

A less-trained staff member clicks the link and enters credentials on the fake login page. Attacker now has her username and password. But when attacker tries to access the real portfolio system, the system prompts for a second factor (code from phone). Attacker doesn’t have this. Login is blocked. Attack is stopped.

If that fails, Defense Layer 4 (Wire transfer verification):

Somehow, the attacker gains access to someone’s email account. They send a wire request impersonating a trusted advisor: “Wire $15M to this account for the XYZ opportunity.” The CFO receives the request via email but, following policy, calls the advisor on a known phone number to verify. The advisor says, “I didn’t request any wire.” The attempt is detected as fraudulent. Wire is not sent. Attack is stopped.

The Incident Response Reality: 31% Have NO Plan

Beyond prevention, preparedness for when attacks occur (not if—when) is critical. Yet:

31% have zero incident response plan

43% have a plan they acknowledge is inadequate

Only 26% have actually tested their plan

What an incident response plan should include:

Detection & Reporting: How are breaches detected? Who do staff report suspected breaches to?

Initial Response: What immediate actions are taken? (Disconnect affected systems, change passwords, etc.)

Investigation: Who investigates? External counsel? Internal team? Forensics firm?

Notification: Who must be notified and when? (Family principals, board, regulators, auditors, beneficiaries, insurance carrier)

Remediation: How are systems restored? Data recovered? Processes improved?

Communication: External communication to family members, advisors, regulators, etc.

Cost to develop: $50K-$100K (legal counsel, security consultant)

Cost to test: $20K-$30K annually (tabletop exercise or simulation)

Cost to remediate if breach occurs without plan: $500K-$2M+ (scrambling, emergency services, damage control)

The math strongly favors having a plan before the crisis.

The Fractional CTO’s Role: Cybersecurity Architecture

A fractional CTO can help build comprehensive defense:

1. Assess Current Risk Conduct vulnerability assessment; identify where attacks would likely succeed

2. Design Defense Architecture Recommend email security, MFA, wire transfer procedures, access controls

3. Implement Controls Deploy technical tools; establish procedures; configure systems

4. Train & Test Conduct security awareness training; run phishing simulations; test incident response plan

5. Establish Monitoring Set up alerts for suspicious activity; establish ongoing threat monitoring

6. Incident Response Readiness Develop incident response plan; establish relationships with response vendors

The Bottom Line: Preparedness is No Longer Optional

The data is stark: 62% of larger family offices are being attacked. 31% have no incident response plan.

This isn’t a matter of “if” anymore. For most family offices, it’s “when.” The question is whether you’ll be ready when an attack comes.

Preparedness requires:

Email security and MFA (first line of defense)

Staff training and awareness (human firewall)

Wire transfer verification (financial controls)

Incident response plan (crisis management)

Regular testing (ensuring readiness)

The cost of these defenses: $100K-$300K initial investment + $50K-$100K annually = modest investment compared to the $4.88M average cost of a breach.

The choice is simple: Invest in defense now, or pay for remediation and damage control later.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why are family offices targeted by cyberattacks?

A: Family offices are high-value, low-security targets. They manage billions in assets with small staff (often <10 people), have trust-based cultures with minimal verification procedures, and contain valuable data beyond financial assets (family information, business intelligence, tax strategies). Attackers view family offices as concentrated wealth with minimal technical controls—one successful breach might yield access to $100M+ accounts.

Q: What percentage of family offices have been cyberattacked?

A: 62% of family offices managing over $1B in assets have experienced at least one cyberattack (Deloitte, 2024). 43% of all family offices globally report being attacked in the past 12-24 months. 50% of attacked offices experienced three or more separate incidents, indicating repeated targeting. North American offices face the highest prevalence at 57%.

Q: What is the average cost of a data breach for a family office?

A: The global average cost of a data breach is $4.88 million (2024), up 10% year-over-year. For family offices, costs include: direct financial loss ($2M-$8M for successful BEC attacks), ransomware payments ($2M average, up 500% from 2023), operational disruption (often 2-3 weeks offline), legal/forensics costs ($500K-$1M), and regulatory fines. Total breach costs typically range $4M-$12M.

Q: How can family offices prevent phishing attacks?

A: Implement 4-layer defense: (1) Advanced email filtering to block 85-95% of phishing emails before they reach inboxes ($20-$50/user/year), (2) Security awareness training and phishing simulations to achieve <10% click-through rate ($10-$20/user/year), (3) Multi-factor authentication blocking 99%+ unauthorized access even with compromised passwords ($50-$200/user/year), (4) Wire transfer verification procedures requiring secondary approval through separate channels (minimal cost, prevents 90%+ BEC attacks).

Sources

Deloitte. “The Family Office Cybersecurity Report, 2024.” January 2025. Available at: https://deloitte.com/the-family-office-cybersecurity-report-2024

And Simple. “Family Office Security & Risk Report 2025.” September 2025. Available at: https://andsimple.co/family-office-security-risk-report-2025

Crisis24. “Understanding Why Cyberattacks on Ultra-High-Net-Worth Individuals are Accelerating.” July 2025. Available at: https://crisis24.com/understanding-cyberattacks-uhnw

Intelyse. “AI-Era Cybercrime Risks for Family Offices.” October 2025. Available at: https://intelyse.ae/ai-era-cybercrime-risks-family-offices

Cross Country Consulting. “Family Office Cybersecurity Threats and Proactive Strategies.” August 2025. Available at: https://crosscountry-consulting.com/family-office-cybersecurity-threats

The FO Pro. “Navigating Family Office Cybersecurity Challenges.” September 2024. Available at: https://thefopro.com/navigating-family-office-cybersecurity-challenges

Altoo.io. “High-Profile Hacks, High-Stakes Consequences for Family Offices.” February 2025. Available at: https://altoo.io/high-profile-hacks-family-offices

Family Wealth Report. “Cyber Attacks Target The World’s Family Offices.” June 2023. Available at: https://familywealthreport.com/cyber-attacks-target-family-offices

SW Group. “Family Offices and HNWIs Cyber Threats.” April 2025. Available at: https://swgroup.com/family-offices-hwnwis-cyber-threats

Reputation Defender. “Top UHNW Cybersecurity Solutions.” September 2025. Available at: https://reputationdefender.com/top-uhnw-cybersecurity-solutions

About Deconstrainers LLC

Deconstrainers LLC specializes in family office cybersecurity architecture, threat defense, and incident response preparedness. Our fractional CTO service helps offices assess cyber risk, design comprehensive defense infrastructure, implement email security and MFA, establish wire transfer verification procedures, conduct security training and simulations, and develop tested incident response plans.

Is your family office among the 62% targeted by cyberattacks—or the 31% without an incident response plan? Schedule a free 30-minute Cybersecurity Assessment to evaluate your current defenses, identify vulnerabilities, and develop a comprehensive strategy to stop phishing and prepare for cyber incidents.