The Perfect Victim? Family Offices as Targets for Cybercriminals

The Perfect Victim? Family Offices as Targets for Cybercriminals

연구 분야: Safety

학회: International Symposium on Foundations and Practice of Security

Family Offices, the financial institutions that manage the finances and investments of very wealthy families, have a number of characteristics that make them a potentially hugely valuable target for cybercriminals. They not only possess substantial financial resources, but they are also disproportionately involved in the digital asset and cryptocurrency markets in ways that larger, more regulated financial institutions have historically not been. Due to their lack of external investors, they have much lower regulatory requirements than many other financial institutions and thus often have smaller compliance and security staffs. Additionally, the personalized nature of their services can lead to unique vulnerabilities. Finally, high-net-worth individuals and wealthy families have concerns about public scrutiny, reputational risk, and regulatory scrutiny that could limit their willingness to report or publicize being victimized or to cooperate with law enforcement in investigations. All this combines to make such institutions almost ideal victims from the perspective of a cybercriminal.