Family offices currently face a heightened vulnerability to cyberattacks. To help family offices tackle these threats, MarketCurrents recently sat down with Delegate Advisors President, Chief Advisor, and Managing Partner, Andy Hart, to discuss why family offices need to protect their data more meticulously than the average corporation, and the best ways to do it.
With substantial experience following cybersecurity best practices in the family office industry, Hart understands cybersecurity and cyberattacks well. During his Q&A with MarketCurrents, Hart explained how the issue of cybersecurity became a priority to him after witnessing a handful of sophisticated cyberattack attempts.
“Our first attack happened about six years ago and we were lucky to stop that one,” says Hart. “Ever since then, we have been vigilant and we feel we’ve done a pretty good job by strongly advising our clients to take certain actions on their side to button up the situation.” To protect yourself from cyber-related threats, Hart recommends simple actions to greatly reduce or eliminate the odds of future cyberattacks such as freezing credit, two-factor authentications, email security, and low balance alerts on credit cards.
In addition to explaining how families can minimize their chances of getting defrauded, Hart also discusses how to reduce the chances of internal breaches at family offices through extremely thorough background checks during the hiring process, weekly scrubs of data from all computers, filters that compel employees to use complex passwords that are changed frequently, and more.
The interview ends with Hart emphasizing that, unlike the rest of corporate America, family offices must go a step further when it comes to cybersecurity. As Hart tells MarketCurrents, “When you’re wealthy, you automatically become a target. Your travel plans, what you do, and where you are can all leave you vulnerable.”
To learn more about tackling cybersecurity risks, read the full Q&A here.