Lord Bernard Hogan-Howe, Head of Cyber, Security and IT at Charles Park Family Office, recently joined David Ferbrache OBE and Michael Macfarlane to discuss the evolving threat landscape facing family offices…
Private capital now moves faster than regulation. Investments are executed across jurisdictions in real time. Family members live globally connected lives. Data, identity and assets increasingly exist in digital form. Yet many family offices still treat cybersecurity as a narrow IT function rather than a defining strategic condition of modern wealth.
That mismatch is becoming untenable.
In a recent Wealth Office X discussion on cybersecurity and private capital, leading experts affiliated with Charles Park Family Office, from law enforcement and specialist advisory backgrounds, examined a simple but urgent reality: cyber losses are often irreversible and often invisible until it is too late.
For family offices, this is no longer a peripheral concern. It is central to capital preservation, reputation and intergenerational continuity.
“Family offices today face threats that extend far beyond traditional IT security. At Charles Park Family Office, we help families understand that cyber resilience is not merely a technical matter but a question of protecting reputation, privacy, and physical safety across generations.”
— Lord Bernard Hogan-Howe, Head of Security and Cyber, Charles Park Family Office
Why Family Offices Are Now Primary Targets
Historically, large financial institutions have been the primary targets of sophisticated cyberattacks. Over time, those institutions invested heavily in defensive infrastructure and monitoring capabilities, becoming increasingly resilient. Organised crime adapted accordingly. Today, family offices present a compelling asymmetry: lean teams, high-trust environments and significant assets under management. Industry surveys suggest that approximately one third of family offices experience a cyber incident each year.
Many attacks begin indiscriminately through automated scans for misconfigured systems or vulnerable credentials. Once attackers recognise the scale of the assets or the sensitivity of the information involved, opportunistic probing can quickly escalate into targeted exploitation.
The structural features that make family offices effective – concentration of authority, discretion and speed – can also magnify vulnerability. In a tightly run organisation, trust is both an asset and a potential point of failure. Cybercrime has evolved accordingly. It is no longer confined to encrypting systems and demanding payment. Increasingly, attackers combine intrusion with data theft and extortion, recognising that reputational leverage can be more powerful than technical disruption. Sensitive communications, private family information or confidential business strategy can be extracted and weaponised.
The Expanding Attack Surface
Artificial intelligence has accelerated this evolution. Tools now enable rapid analysis of digital footprints, the construction of highly personalised phishing communications, and even the replication of voices or simulated video. The attack surface has expanded beyond infrastructure to include identity, authority and trust itself. In many cases, the initial compromise arises not from technological sophistication alone but from human assumptions: a message that appears authentic, a request that seems plausible, an anomaly dismissed as routine.
A particularly underappreciated risk lies outside the formal structure of the family office. First-generation wealth creators often prioritise discretion. However, younger family members may share significant aspects of their lives online—travel locations, routines, associations and lifestyle indicators. Individually, such posts appear harmless. Collectively, they can form a detailed pattern of life. This information can be harvested and analysed by criminal networks or state actors, informing targeted fraud, reputational attack or, in extreme circumstances, physical surveillance. The boundary between digital and physical risk is increasingly blurred.
A Governance-Level Responsibility
Cybersecurity, therefore, cannot be delegated entirely to IT. Technical hygiene—patching systems, configuring firewalls, monitoring networks—is essential, but it addresses only part of the exposure. A serious cyber incident may result in financial losses, cross-border legal complications, reputational damage, and deeply personal family consequences. These outcomes demand governance-level engagement. Principals must understand what truly constitutes the family’s “crown jewels” and how they would respond if sensitive information were threatened with release or misuse.
Preparedness, in this context, is not a static report or a checklist. It is an ongoing relationship built on trust, expertise and clarity of responsibility. Cross-border families must consider in advance how they would coordinate with advisers and authorities across jurisdictions. Decisions about disclosure, negotiation or containment cannot be improvised under pressure. The complexity of international exposure requires deliberate architecture.
Security as a Strategic Enabler
It is tempting to view cybersecurity purely as a defensive cost. Yet when approached strategically, it becomes an enabler. Secure communications strengthen trusted relationships. Robust data protection enhances confidence in transactions. Clear response protocols reduce paralysis in moments of crisis. When security is designed thoughtfully, it becomes unobtrusive, allowing principals and their families to operate globally with greater assurance rather than latent vulnerability.
The most difficult consequences of a cyber incident are rarely financial alone. Financial losses can often be absorbed or recovered. Reputational exposure, coercive extortion or the compromise of private family information may not be so easily repaired. For this reason, cybersecurity must be recognised as an expression of stewardship. It is part of the structural design that protects not only capital, but continuity.
The full Wealth Office X conversation explores these themes in greater depth, including AI-enabled impersonation, insider risk and cross-border crisis response. It is recommended viewing for principals and executives seeking to understand the changing landscape in which private capital now operates.
In a world where capital, identity and reputation are digitally intertwined, cyber resilience is no longer peripheral infrastructure. It is strategic architecture.
For families seeking to understand their cyber exposure or strengthen their digital resilience, Charles Park Family Office provides comprehensive advisory support. To discuss your requirements in confidence, please contact us directly.