We continue to share ideas on cybersecurity stemming from FWR's conference in New York.

The following commentary explains the discussion featuring two of the industry experts appearing at the recent Family Wealth Report family office cybersecurity forum. The experts are Charlotte Edwards and Josh Bartlett from Cyberwolf. (More on these individuals and the firm below.)

Wealthy families are not hacked by accident. They are researched, mapped, and targeted with patience and precision. The question is not whether a sophisticated attacker could build a profile on the families being advised. The question is how far they have already gotten.

Edwards and Bartlett took forum attendees inside the mind of a modern attacker. Not to alarm. But to reveal something most families have never considered: how much of their lives, and those of the people around them, is already visible to someone who knows where to look.

How a hacker starts
Before a cybercriminal sends a first message or makes a call, they watch. This is the phase that rarely gets discussed, because nothing dramatic happens. No breach, no alert, no incident report. Just patient, methodical research using information that is already publicly available.

A newspaper article about a donation reveals access to significant wealth and a network worth mapping. LinkedIn shows professional relationships, board positions, and reporting structures. A family business website lists names, email addresses, and hints at a holding company behind it. A board profile on a university or hospital reveals a spouse, children, a neighborhood. A social media account that has not been touched in years carries personal information set to public, because privacy was not a concern when it was created.

None of these details are secrets individually. Together, they are a profile, or a target map. Every new name becomes a new angle, every relationship a possible path in. The goal is always the same: find the weakest link.

Your public life, their roadmap
The research does not stop at the public web. Databases of past data breaches, accessible on the dark web, allow attackers to search every name, email address, and social media profile they have collected. In roughly 75 per cent of the investigations Cyberwolf has run, they find passwords still in active use.

But even without a password, a detailed target map is enough. Attackers use the personal information they have gathered to create highly convincing pretexts: fake login pages that look exactly like the real thing, emails that reference real events and real relationships, calls from people who already know enough to sound familiar.

The most effective attacks do not look like attacks. They look like slightly unusual versions of things that happen all the time. A request to verify account details before a transaction. An urgent payment instruction from a known counterpart. A link in an email from someone whose name and title a person recognizes. By the time the target acts, the attacker has been preparing for weeks.

Why wealthy families are a specific target
The economics are straightforward. A mass phishing campaign targets volume. An attack on a family office principal or a high net worth individual targets precision. The attacker invests more time and builds a more convincing approach in exchange for a significantly higher potential return.

The numbers bear this out. According to JP Morgan Private Bank's 2024 Family Office Survey, one in four family offices has already experienced a breach. For those managing assets exceeding $1 billion, that figure rises to 40 per cent. In their 2026 Global Family Office Report, drawing on insights from 333 family offices across 30 countries, cybersecurity was cited as the single greatest service need by 32 per cent of respondents. The threat is not theoretical. It is already here, and the industry knows it.

Wealthy families are targeted at least 10 times more frequently than the average person, and with more sophisticated methods. Because the stakes are higher, attackers are willing to invest in research, in credible attacks, and in waiting for the right moment. 

The attack surface for this audience is also uniquely broad. An executive may have a well-resourced IT team managing corporate devices. But the same person's home network, personal phone, family members' accounts, and household staff are largely unmanaged. Attackers know this. The path into a well-protected institution often runs through someone's personal life first. And if a family member, a member of household staff, or a trusted advisor represents the shortest path to the target, that path will be taken. The risk does not stop with the individual.

The digital front door
Cyberwolf frames personal cybersecurity around an analogy most people find immediately recognizable: the home.

A person locks his or her front door without thinking twice. Their digital accounts deserve the same instinct. Security settings on devices and accounts are only as strong as their configuration. A steel-plated door means nothing if the windows are open.

Walls and fences keep threats at a distance. The digital equivalent is solid, layered software: antivirus, VPN, firewall, email security. Security cameras give you visibility and logs. But the question to ask is whether anyone is actually watching. Cameras that nobody monitors do not protect anyone.

And finally: know who to call before you need them. In a crisis, every minute counts. A trusted point of contact, known to everyone in the family or office, makes all the difference between a contained incident and a costly one.

Where to start
Two immediate steps that any family or family office can take today.

Know an emergency contact. Decide now, not in the middle of an incident. Make sure everyone who needs to know has the same name and the same number.

The experts also urge people to Google themselves. This is not just about the first page: They should click through the first five pages and look at what is visible. They should find the accounts no longer in use and consider deleting them. Also, people should look at what information is out there and consider what it enables in the wrong hands.

Protecting a wealthy family in the digital world does not require becoming a cybersecurity expert. It requires the same judgment applied in every other area: knowing enough to ask the right questions and having the right people to call.

"You would never leave your front door unlocked," Charlotte said. "But what about your digital front door?"

About the experts
Charlotte Edwards is the Vice President Operations of Cyberwolf. Cyberwolf is a VIP cybersecurity boutique firm, specializing in personal cybersecurity for company leadership and UHNW individuals and families. Edwards has worked in IT and cybersecurity for the last seven years and joined Cyberwolf two years ago. She successfully spearheaded the US branch of Cyberwolf as the company continued its European success story in North America. In an era where digital threats are at an all-time high, she has successfully brought personal cybersecurity to Fortune 500 leadership, nobility and wealthy families. With Cyberwolf, she developed a deep understanding of the threat landscape and high-stakes environment in which high-profile individuals operate.

Josh Bartlett is a senior account executive at Cyberwolf and the company’s first US hire, where he is leading expansion into the New York market. Based in New York City, Josh works with organizations and their leadership teams to address the growing personal cybersecurity risks that come with visibility, influence, and fast-paced business environments. With five years of experience in B2B sales, Josh brings a strong focus on building relationships and helping clients understand how personal devices, family exposure, and digital behaviors can create unseen vulnerabilities beyond traditional enterprise security. 

About Cyberwolf
Cyberwolf provides personal cybersecurity for executives, high net worth individuals, and their families. Members receive continuous monitoring, expert support, and intelligent protection designed around how you actually live.