Tech-savvy criminals are zeroing in on UHNW families—and many family offices are more exposed than they think.
Am I the only one who's noticed?
Every time I turn around, another family office is getting hit. Wire fraud, impersonation, inboxes quietly monitored for weeks. These aren’t giant companies with global footprints. These are discreet, tight-knit teams supporting private families—and they’re becoming one of the hottest targets in cybersecurity.
I’ve had clients call in mid-crisis. The details vary, but the pattern is the same: someone exploited a gap no one saw coming. Sometimes it’s a poorly segmented home network. Sometimes it’s a staffer who clicked the wrong link. Sometimes it’s software that only covered part of the system—and missed the real risk entirely.
So let’s talk plainly: why are family office cybersecurity risks growing? What kind of UHNW cyber threats are we seeing right now?
And what can you do to protect your family’s digital life—without overhauling the way you live?
It’s Not About Size. It’s About Opportunity.
When hackers go after corporations, they’re usually chasing volume—thousands of customers, millions of records.
But when they go after family offices, they’re chasing value: discreet wealth, consolidated access, and little oversight.
A family office might oversee personal accounts, investment operations, private foundations, travel logistics, and home security systems—all with a lean internal team and no formal cybersecurity lead. That’s a dream scenario for threat actors looking to stay invisible.
And attackers know how to be patient. They’ll study your workflows. Learn your tone of voice. Mimic your emails. Slip into a vendor thread and reroute a payment. The first time you notice them might be when the money’s already gone.
This is why UHNW cyber threats don’t look like loud attacks. They look like everyday activity until they don’t.
What We’re Seeing Right Now
We’ve seen attackers extract everything from wire transfer details to travel itineraries and legal correspondence. The financial loss alone can be staggering—but the deeper cost is harder to measure. Breaches involving high-net-worth individuals often compromise not just information, but privacy, reputation, and personal safety.
One family office came to us after recognizing that their existing setup—while functional—wasn’t truly secure. They had IT support, but no formal cybersecurity strategy. No consistent oversight across properties. No clear response plan.
We visited every location, coordinated with their AV and security partners, and designed a layered defense around how the family actually lives and works.
Their director of properties told us later: “The difference between where we started and where we are now is night and day.”
Start Here: Four Moves That Actually Lower Your Risk
1. Don’t treat everything separately.
Homes, devices, offices, travel—they’re all connected. So are the risks. If you’re securing them in isolation, you’re already exposed.
2. Segment your networks.
Guest Wi-Fi is a common entry point. So is the AV system. Your smart shades shouldn’t be on the same network as your CFO’s laptop.
3. Secure the people, not just the gear.
Estate staff, assistants, vendors—they all have access. If they’re not trained or monitored, you’ve got open doors.
4. Be proactive.
Most families don’t realize they’ve been breached until the damage is done. Quiet, continuous monitoring is no longer optional.
Cybersecurity Software Alone Isn’t Enough
Let’s be clear: most cybersecurity platforms weren’t built for families. They were built for companies and they assume you have an in-house IT team managing dozens of devices on a corporate network.
But a family office doesn’t work like that. You’ve got homes, jets, marine systems, private staff, advisors, art dealers, estate managers all in motion, often communicating through personal accounts and home networks.
Most software solutions cover a slice of the picture. Identity monitoring. Endpoint detection. Maybe mobile security. But when we get called in after an incident, the story is usually the same: the software did its job but no one was watching the whole system.
Decypher isn’t a software company. We’re a full-spectrum cybersecurity provider built for how UHNW families live, work, and move through the world. We go on-site. We inspect the devices, the networks, the Wi-Fi names, the forgotten laptops. We coordinate with your AV team, your estate manager, your private security. We close the gaps the platforms can’t see.
This is cybersecurity for private clients, not for corporations.
The Deal Was Days Away Then Everything Locked Up
A few months ago, we were brought in after a family’s principal lost a multimillion-dollar sale. Their identity monitoring software flagged nothing. Their personal devices were protected. But their home network was wide open.
Attackers slipped in through an unpatched device. They waited. Watched. And then encrypted everything two days before closing.
It didn’t just cost them money. It cost them leverage and trust.
Today, that same family runs on a Decypher-designed framework: fully segmented networks, secure communications, round-the-clock monitoring. Quiet, airtight protection that lives in the background.
That’s the difference between checking boxes and building real defense.
What Cybersecurity for Private Clients Really Looks Like
You don’t need enterprise bureaucracy. You don’t need more apps. What you need is a partner who understands how you operate—and who can build a defense that fits.
At Decypher, we don’t believe in off-the-shelf solutions. We assess everything. We secure what matters. And we do it with the discretion, speed, and professionalism your lifestyle demands.
If you're unsure where the gaps are, we can help you find them—quietly, thoroughly, and without disrupting the way you live.
We accept only a select number of new clients each year. If you’d like to start with a private, obligation-free conversation, reach out here.
