Advisory Services › Governance
Family Office Cyber Resilience
Family offices are disproportionately targeted by sophisticated threat actors precisely because they hold concentrated wealth without the security infrastructure of an institutional investor. A single-family office may manage assets equivalent to a mid-sized bank, yet operate with a team of fewer than twenty people and no dedicated security function. This advisory provides the cyber governance and resilience capability that most family offices need but cannot justify building in-house.
Who This Is For
Family office structures we work with.
The need for independent cyber governance applies regardless of size or jurisdictional complexity — what changes is the scope and operating model of the engagement.
Single and multi-family offices without a security function
Offices that have grown their assets, staff, and vendor relationships significantly without ever establishing formal security governance. The absence of a dedicated function is the norm, not the exception — and it is increasingly exploitable.
- SFOs and MFOs with no CISO or security lead
- Offices relying on their IT provider for security decisions
- Structures where the CFO or COO carries security by default
- Offices with significant technology spend but no governance overlay
Offices at a transition point or post-incident
Governance is most effectively established before a crisis — but post-incident review is often the trigger that finally creates the mandate for it. Either path leads to the same structured outcome.
- Post-phishing, post-fraud, or post-access-compromise review
- New generation of principals being onboarded as decision-makers
- Office adding a new jurisdiction, entity, or operating structure
- Upcoming audit, regulatory review, or insurance renewal
What We Assess
Eight domains of family office cyber exposure.
The assessment is structured around the actual operating model of the family office — not a generic enterprise security framework applied without adaptation.
- Email security configuration and phishing resistance posture
- Vendor and third-party access governance across all service providers
- Endpoint and device policy for staff and principal accounts
- Cloud and SaaS application access controls and offboarding procedures
- Incident response readiness — documented plans and tested procedures
- Staff security awareness posture and social engineering susceptibility
- Business continuity and operational resilience against common failure modes
- Jurisdiction-specific regulatory and compliance obligations
Engagement Output
What you receive at the end of the engagement.
Deliverables are structured for the principal, the family office COO or CFO, and — where retained — for ongoing board-level reporting.
01
Security Posture Assessment
Current-state review with risk ratings across all eight assessment domains. Identifies the highest-priority gaps relative to the family office's specific threat profile.
02
Governance Framework
A tailored cyber governance framework — policies, decision rights, escalation paths — built for the actual structure of the family office, not a template.
03
Vendor Access Register
A complete inventory of third-party access to family office systems, with risk ratings and recommended controls for each provider relationship.
04
Incident Response Plan
A documented and tabletop-tested incident response plan covering the most likely failure scenarios for the family office structure and principal relationships.
05
Principal Risk Reporting
A board or principal-level reporting template for ongoing cyber risk visibility — structured for a non-technical audience with clear risk tolerances.
06
Optional: Fractional CIRO
An ongoing retained Chief Information and Resilience Officer function — strategic oversight, vendor governance, incident coordination, and quarterly reporting.
Common Triggers
What brings family offices to this engagement.
These are the most common situations that create the mandate for formal cyber governance in a family office context.
Post-incident review after phishing or access compromise
New family office formation or restructuring
Onboarding a new generation of principals
Adding a new jurisdiction, entity, or structure
Upcoming regulatory review or insurance renewal
Change of a key service provider
No current security governance or policy in place
New investment mandate with heightened counterparty scrutiny
FAQ
Common questions.
Answered directly. If something is not covered here, it belongs in a confidential discussion.
What is a fractional CIRO function?
A Chief Information and Resilience Officer function delivered on a retained, part-time basis. You receive strategic cyber risk oversight, governance design, vendor assessment, and incident coordination — without the cost or permanence of an in-house hire. The function is defined by scope and outcome, not by hours per week.
We already use a managed service provider. Do we still need this?
Almost certainly yes. An MSP manages your systems; a CIRO function provides independent governance, oversight, and strategic direction. Having an MSP without independent oversight is structurally equivalent to having a CFO without an auditor. The two roles are complementary — not substitutes for each other.
How do you handle multi-jurisdiction complexity?
We design governance frameworks that map to the actual operating structure of the family office — including separate risk ratings and control requirements for different jurisdictions where warranted. Jurisdictional complexity is treated as a design input, not a complication to be averaged away.
Is this appropriate for a very small family office?
Yes. The governance requirements of a small family office are often simpler to document but no less important. We scale the engagement to the operating reality — a five-person SFO does not receive the same framework as a twenty-person MFO, but the governance principles are the same.
Do you work with the existing IT provider?
Where possible, yes. We assess the provider's scope and governance, identify gaps, and work with them to address what is addressable — rather than replacing a working relationship without cause. If the existing provider is part of the problem, we will document that clearly and help with the transition.
What does a tabletop incident response test involve?
A structured scenario-based exercise in which the family office team works through the response to a simulated incident — typically a ransomware event, a spear-phishing compromise of a senior account, or a vendor access breach. It identifies gaps in the documented plan before they become real gaps under pressure.
Ready to establish cyber governance for your family office?
A confidential initial discussion carries no commitment and no follow-up without your agreement.
Begin confidential inquiry →