You know the old joke. Two hikers spot a bear in the woods. One drops to the ground and starts lacing up running shoes. The other says, “You can’t outrun a bear!” The first hiker looks up and says, “I don’t need to outrun the bear. I just need to outrun you.”
Cybersecurity works the same way. You don’t need to become unhackable. You need to become harder to hack than the next person. And right now, most people with significant wealth are making that far too easy for criminals.
The Threat to Your Wealth Is Digital
According to some industry estimates, global cybercrime costs may reach into the trillions of dollars annually within the next few years. That number is staggering, but here’s the part that should concern you personally: if cybercriminals steal funds from your accounts, recovering that money can be extremely difficult.
Read the fine print of your custodial and brokerage agreements. Most include language stating that if you are even indirectly at fault for a breach, you bear the financial responsibility. Weak passwords count as your fault. So does reusing passwords across accounts, or clicking a phishing link.
The agreements are written this way for a reason. Financial institutions expect you to take basic precautions. When you don’t, they treat the loss as yours.
Security researchers have demonstrated that modern computers can crack short, simple passwords in a matter of seconds. If your bank password is your dog’s name plus an exclamation point, you may have far less security than you think. You’re politely inviting criminals in.
Deepfakes: The Newest Weapon Against Your Accounts
A growing number of people have discovered that convincing copies of their voices and images were used to steal money from their bank, custodial, and brokerage accounts. Reports of these attacks are becoming increasingly common.
Here’s how it works. Criminals pull videos from your social media and feed them into AI software. The output is a clone of your face and voice so convincing it can fool video conferencing systems and even voice-recognition security. A few public videos of you speaking at a conference or posting a birthday greeting to your grandchild give criminals enough raw material to build a digital replica.
It gets worse. Hackers can redirect your phone calls by breaking into your telecom accounts. Your calls and texts suddenly route to a different device. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to verify who you’re actually communicating with.
Deepfake-enabled fraud losses have been growing rapidly, with industry analysts noting sharp year-over-year increases. Multiple surveys indicate that a significant percentage of finance professionals have encountered deepfake attempts that were difficult to identify.
These attacks go beyond draining accounts. Criminals are staging fake kidnappings, calling parents with a convincing replica of their child’s voice begging for help while the child’s own phone number appears on caller ID. Parents wire money to offshore accounts in a panic before they can verify what happened.
Your Personal Devices Are the Weak Link
You may have strong passwords on your financial accounts. You may have two-factor authentication turned on. But your personal devices, apps, and home network can undo all of it.
Your phone’s default settings automatically save every password and user ID for every account you access, including financial ones. Those smart devices in your home, your video doorbell, your voice assistant, even your connected coffee maker, are all tied to your home network. Unless they’re properly secured (and most aren’t), hackers can use them as entry points to infect your other devices.
A criminal needs only 15 seconds of physical access to your unattended phone or laptop to install malicious software. Leaving your device unlocked at a coffee shop, on a conference table, or charging at an airport kiosk opens the door. Public WiFi without a VPN is another vulnerability. It broadcasts your data to anyone nearby who knows how to listen.
Business owners face an added risk. A breach of personal devices can become a breach of business systems, exposing client data, triggering litigation, and creating significant remediation costs. Research suggests that many consumers lose trust in businesses that fail to protect their personal information.
Five Steps to Strengthen Your Cybersecurity
None of these steps require technical expertise. They require about an hour of your time and a commitment to basic discipline.
1. Install and use a password manager. Every account should have a unique password, ideally 16 characters or longer. Your bank account deserves better protection than your streaming subscription. A password manager generates and stores these automatically.
2. Turn on multi-factor authentication everywhere it’s available. This adds a second verification step beyond your password. Even if someone steals your password, they still can’t get in without the second factor.
3. Secure your home network and smart devices. Change default passwords on your router and all connected devices. Update firmware regularly. If a device no longer receives security updates from its manufacturer, replace it or disconnect it from your network.
4. Never use public WiFi or public charging stations without protection. Use a VPN on public networks. Carry your own charging cable and plug it into a wall outlet, not a public USB port. Public charging stations can download your data or install malware.
5. Plan for digital estate access. If you’re incapacitated, who knows how to access your password manager? Create a secure process for emergency access to critical accounts and include digital assets in your estate planning. This step is as important as the others, and almost everyone skips it.
The Point Worth Remembering
You spent decades building your wealth. Criminals are spending their careers figuring out how to take it. The gap between those who get targeted successfully and those who don’t often comes down to a few basic precautions.
You don’t need to outrun the bear. You need to make yourself a harder target than the person next to you. An hour of setup today may help reduce your exposure to a potentially devastating loss.
If you have questions about how cybersecurity fits into your broader approach to helping safeguard your financial life, consider bringing it up with your advisor.
If you’d like to explore how any of this connects to your own financial picture, we’d be glad to talk.
Lifeworks is a registered investment advisor. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial advisor and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. This post does not constitute cybersecurity advice; security threats evolve rapidly, and readers should consult a qualified cybersecurity professional for guidance specific to their situation.