Family Office IT and Cybersecurity
A family office runs like a small firm with a large target on it. We run its IT the way a careful firm would.
Reviewed by the ITRS security team · Last updated
Overview
Single-family offices in Toronto and the GTA usually have a handful of staff, a lot of money moving and the principal's family relying on some of the same systems. We run the office's Microsoft 365, devices and network, put controls around payments and wire instructions, and support the principal and family directly when they need it.
What we look after
Wire fraud controls
Callback rules, mailbox monitoring and lookalike-domain alerts around wires and capital calls.
Microsoft 365 and files
Tenant, devices and document permissions set up for a small team holding sensitive records.
Principal and family
Direct support for the principal and family, kept separate from office administration.
Advisers and access
Lawyers, accountants and managers given scoped, expiring access instead of shared logins.
What a family office actually needs from IT
In family offices, the serious risks were rarely clever hacks. They were a convincing email asking someone to change banking details, a former assistant who could still open a shared mailbox, or a personal laptop that never got updated because nobody wanted to interrupt the principal.
So the work starts with the basics done properly. Every account has a named owner and is documented. Anything that can move money is behind multi-factor sign-in. Changes to payment instructions are confirmed by phone on a number already on file, and staff and advisers leave with their access removed the same day. The principal gets the same protection without being asked to become their own IT department.
A starting checklist for a family office
Most family offices can close their largest gaps without buying new software. These are the items we check first.
- List every account that can approve, release or change a payment, and confirm each one uses multi-factor sign-in.
- Write down the callback rule for new or changed payment instructions, including which phone numbers on file are used.
- Turn on alerts for new mailbox forwarding rules and sign-ins from unfamiliar countries or devices.
- Register the obvious lookalike versions of the office domain, or at least monitor for them.
- Review who outside the office (advisers, former staff, past vendors) still has access to files, portals or the password vault.
- Separate the principal's personal accounts from office administration, so a problem in one does not spill into the other.
How a private client engagement starts
Every private client engagement follows the same four stages, whatever the size of the household.
Confidential call
People, properties and concerns discussed in confidence before anything is written down.
Inventory
Every account, device, network and property system listed with its owner.
Secure
Sign-in, recovery, networks and devices fixed in order of risk.
Look after
Updates, monitoring and a direct line, with records kept current as the household changes.
Frequently asked questions
The headcount is small but the exposure is not. Money movement, confidential family records and the principal's personal accounts sit close together, so payment controls, access reviews and discretion matter more than they would in a typical office of the same size.
Yes, and we keep the two apart. Family accounts and devices are managed under their own arrangement, so office staff do not see personal email or files and the family does not depend on office systems.
No single control stops it. We combine mailbox monitoring for forwarding rules and unusual sign-ins, alerts on lookalike domains, multi-factor sign-in on every account that can approve payments, and a written rule that any change to payment details is confirmed by phone on a known number.
Their access to email, files, the password vault and any portals we manage is removed the same day, devices are wiped or returned, and shared credentials they knew are changed. We keep a record of what was removed and when.
Related private client services
Private client work usually spans more than one of these areas. Each page below covers a part of the same service.
Related work.
- Case studyFrom Breach Forensics to a Company-Wide Identity PlanFrom reconstructing a 2018 mailbox compromise minute by minute to scoping centralized Entra ID and Intune management for a 40 to 50 person pharma firm.
- Case studyCleaning Up a Microsoft 365 Tenant for a Fire Protection & Security CompanyHow IT Rapid Support audited every Microsoft 365 group for a GTA fire protection company, fixed mail routing, and cut an 82,456-item mailbox by 62%.
Related.
- ServicePrivate IT and Cybersecurity for Families and Family OfficesPrivate IT and cybersecurity for principals, their families, their homes and the family office, from our offices in Vaughan, Toronto and Vancouver.
- ServicePersonal Cybersecurity for Executives and FamiliesWhen the company is hard to break into, attackers go after the person. We close the personal gaps quietly.
- ServiceFamily Device Management and PrivacyEvery phone, tablet and laptop in the household set up properly, kept current and handed back cleanly.
- ServicePrivate Aviation Technology and Travel SecurityYour aircraft operator looks after the aircraft. We look after the laptops, phones, connections and data that travel on it.
- ServicePrivate Client Incident ResponseWhen a family member's account is taken over, a phone number is stolen or someone is being threatened online, the household needs calm, private help.
Want this handled for your business?
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