For high-net-worth (HNW) individuals, wealth brings comfort, but also exposure. When your name carries weight, your digital footprint becomes a goldmine for threat actors. Private equity titans, celebrity philanthropists, and even discreet art collectors are discovering the risk of cyber threats. As these clients risk being targeted, the role of the retail insurance agent becomes more critical: to guide clients through a risk landscape where financial loss is just the beginning.
The New Currency: Privacy, Reputation, and Access
Cybercriminals today are increasingly interested in the soft underbelly of wealth: email accounts, cloud-stored NDAs, travel itineraries, and data-rich smart homes, for example. The more integrated and tech-enabled your client’s life is, the more surface area for attack.
- A leaked investment strategy.
- A deepfake video that threatens reputation.
- A social media breach that exposes the whereabouts of a child.
For high-net-worth individuals, these digital invasions can spiral into reputational crises. And when the risk is that personal, protecting digital assets becomes just as critical as insuring tangible ones.
Why Standard Cyber Policies Fall Short
Many affluent individuals assume that their wealth manager, personal assistant, or family office has cyber protection in place. However, standard cyber coverage bundled into homeowners or personal liability policies rarely accounts for the complex, cross-device, and cross-border cyber exposures of high-net-worth clients.
According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the U.S. cyber insurance market reached $9.84 billion in direct written premiums in 2023, a slight increase from 2022, indicating stabilization after years of rate hikes. But beneath that plateau is a rising tide of incidents: more than 33,000 claims were filed last year alone. And the wealthier the client, the more severe the exposure. Clients earning over $100 million annually saw a 72% increase in claim severity compared to the prior year.
Digital Risk Trends to Watch
Are you up to speed on all the potential risks? Agents advising high-net-worth clients should be aware of the following fast-evolving threats:
- Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS): Easy-to-launch attacks with high damage potential, especially when they lock down luxury assets or sensitive communications.
- Business Email Compromise (BEC): Personal assistants, accountants, and family office staff are prime targets for email spoofing and phishing.
- Smart Home Exploits: Internet-connected security systems, thermostats, and voice assistants can be manipulated for extortion.
- Cloud-Based Confidentiality Breaches: Travel plans, medical records, and private messages can all be weaponized.
- Reputation Engineering: Deepfakes and impersonation campaigns can threaten personal brands and public trust.
HNW Insurance Cyber Threats in the Real World
These threats appear more frequently than anyone would like. In early 2025, U.S. and Dutch law enforcement dismantled Operation Heart Blocker, a BEC scam linked to more than $3 million in fraudulent wire transfers, showing just how organized and global these schemes have become. According to the FBI, Americans lost a staggering $16.6 billion to cybercrime in 2024, with business email compromise among the most damaging tactics used.
Meanwhile, homeowners across the U.S. were targeted through their own smart devices. Hackers infiltrated high-end smart home systems, manipulating lights and security features as a form of intimidation and extortion. And in the world of reputation engineering, celebrities like Tom Hanks and Scarlett Johansson have publicly denounced deepfake videos and AI-generated ads misusing their likenesses in unauthorized promotional campaigns, highlighting the rising threat of digital impersonation.
What Agents Can Do Right Now
Helping clients address digital risk is no longer just a value-add; it’s a necessity. Here’s how agents can start:
- Assess the Full Picture: Go beyond net worth. Map out digital behaviors, online presence, and third-party access (think: managers, staff, vendors).
- Recommend Standalone Cyber Policies: Your clients need high limits, social engineering protection, and crisis response services.
- Push for Customization: Avoid “off-the-shelf” policies. Affluent clients often require endorsements to mitigate reputational damage, blackmail, or social media extortion.
- Revisit Risk Annually: Digital lives evolve fast, so should coverage.
Where Expertise Meets Exclusivity
Jencap’s team understands the complexities of HNW insurance cyber threats, but more importantly, we understand the psychology of high-net-worth risk. Our specialists collaborate with agents to design personalized protection strategies that reflect the realities your clients live in. One of those strategies is SYBA, Jencap’s first-of-its-kind personal cyber solution that combines proactive monitoring with responsive insurance coverage. Designed specifically for high-net-worth individuals and their households, SYBA offers up to $5 million in financial protection, including coverage for household staff, identity theft, cyber extortion, and online reputation threats.
Learn more about how we protect what money can’t replace. Contact our team today.
