Guard your wealth: Cybersecurity for family offices

Mar 21, 2024

Family Office Trends• Family office cybersecurity

Best practices from SEI Sphere to help your family office get ahead of cyber risk

As phishing and ransomware attacks advance in efficiency and scale, the financial motivation that fuels cyberattackers is stronger than ever.

Due to the level of wealth that is managed, family offices are a particularly attractive target. Families have paid up to $500,000[1] in a ransom payment to avoid lengthy shutdowns and restore their systems as quickly as possible. Even then, there’s no guarantee attackers will play fair.

According to the UBS Global Family Office Report, only 44%[2] of family offices have cybersecurity controls in place. Now is the time to invest in protection from a costly cyber breach. 

Cybersecurity best practices.

Consider these best practices to get ahead:  

People

  • In the same way families seek family offices to manage wealth, look to cyber professionals to manage your cybersecurity and do the heavy lifting. At a minimum, the service should include a strong and experienced security team as well as 24/7 coverage. Consider supplementing your security provider with cyber insurance.
  • Internally, consider cybersecurity everyone’s responsibility. Adopt the principle of least privilege where feasible, and ensure meaningful, engaging security awareness training is conducted regularly.

Process

  • To help prevent supply chain attacks, conduct due diligence on vendors you work with that have access to systems or sensitive data. Your vendors should be held to the same standard as your internal program, and they should be well versed in managing the additional risks of home-based environments.  
  • If you haven’t already, implement a business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) plan and test it with tabletop exercises.  

Technology

  • Maintain good cyber hygiene by installing patches and software updates as soon as they are available. Ensure work devices are logically segregated from their personal devices and use multi-factor authentication.
  • Implement a robust spam filtering solution that provides comprehensive details of any detected malware, phishing attempts, viruses, and other threat vectors.
As a managed security services provider (MSSP), SEI Sphere® provides comprehensive business solutions that deliver cybersecurity, network operations, and cloud services. Supporting and securing the evolving IT needs of today’s regulated and fast-growing businesses, SEI Sphere helps them build and maintain a secure technology foundation. As an add-on or standalone solution for family offices, SEI Sphere helps private wealth organizations focus on strategic initiatives, drive future growth, and protect their clients’ legacies.


[1] J.P. Morgan, “How to stop cybercriminals at your digital doorstep,” jpmorgan.com, 17 March 2022.
[2] Based on a UBS survey of 230 of its clients between 19 January and 5 March 2023.

Originally authored by SEI for publication on Family Office Exchange: https://www.familyoffice.com/insights/guard-your-wealth-cybersecurity-family-offices.

SEI

 
About SEI Sphere®

As a managed security services provider (MSSP), SEI Sphere provides comprehensive business solutions that deliver cybersecurity, network operations, and cloud services. Supporting and securing the evolving IT needs of today’s regulated and fast-growing businesses, SEI Sphere helps them build and maintain a secure technology foundation. For more than 55 years, SEI has provided technology platforms and solutions that enable clients to focus on strategic initiatives and drive future growth. For more information, visit seic.com/sphere.

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SEI Family Office Services

SEI Family Office Services