Financial Firms Face a “Survival Imperative” as Cyber Attacks Surge, Omega Systems Warns

The financial sector’s confidence game has a new player—and it’s not on Wall Street. It’s in the data center. According to new research from Omega Systems, cyber resilience has officially become the line between solvency and collapse for wealth managers, family offices, and investment firms navigating an era of nonstop digital assault.

In The Survival Imperative: Cyber Resilience in Financial Services in 2025, Omega paints a stark picture of an industry under siege. Nearly every firm surveyed—93%—experienced at least one cyber attack in the past year, and almost one in five endured more than 25. Despite the onslaught, more than half of firms (57%) aren’t monitoring threats in real time. The result: extended blind spots that give adversaries ample time to move laterally and exfiltrate data before anyone notices.

“What the data makes clear is that financial services leaders can no longer separate business performance from cyber resilience,” said Mike Fuhrman, CEO of Omega Systems. “Trust, assets under management, and growth now hinge on a firm’s ability to withstand disruption in an environment where attacks happen routinely.”

Trust on the Line

The economic fallout from a breach is more than theoretical. Omega found that 88% of financial executives believe a successful attack would trigger investor panic, client withdrawals, or direct loss of assets under management. Among CFOs, that number jumps to 94%. In an ecosystem built on confidence and continuity, even a single compromise can cascade into a full-blown liquidity crisis.

Detection delays exacerbate the damage: 35% of firms say it would take them a week or longer to detect and contain a breach, and 6% concede it could take a month. In the hyper-reactive financial markets, those timelines might as well be years.

Family Offices: Wealthy Targets, Weak Defenses

Family offices—often managing billions in private wealth—emerge as one of the most vulnerable segments. The report shows 78% fear a successful attack would spark investor withdrawals or panic. 83% worry about impersonation threats, while 67% admit outdated systems could cripple their recovery efforts. Nearly three-quarters (72%) believe they’re targeted more often precisely because they handle high-net-worth assets.

Legacy Systems: The Hidden Liability

Half of respondents said reliance on aging, on-premises infrastructure would slow or even prevent full recovery after a breach. Nearly a third (28%) still lack a modern backup solution, and a quarter have never trained employees on incident response. In other words: many firms continue to operate 2025 portfolios on 2010 technology.

Fuhrman argues that modernization is now a business imperative, not a budget line item. “Resilience has become a competitive edge,” he said. “Data shows that financial firms that modernize infrastructure, move from periodic testing to continuous monitoring, and most importantly, partner with MSSPs are better prepared to withstand the impact of today’s sophisticated cyber-attacks.”

The MSSP Advantage

The research backs that up: firms relying solely on internal IT teams were 56% more likely to face 25 or more annual attacks and far less confident in identifying advanced threats. Only 10% of these firms felt “very confident” detecting AI-driven intrusions, compared with 30% among those supported by managed security service providers.

A Sector at an Inflection Point

Omega’s report—based on a survey of more than 300 U.S. financial executives across hedge funds, private equity, RIAs, and family offices—captures an industry finally recognizing that security isn’t just a compliance checkbox; it’s survival strategy. With DFARS-style mandates expanding beyond defense contracting and regulatory scrutiny rising, financial institutions are realizing that cyber resilience now defines fiduciary responsibility.

For firms that still see cybersecurity as a back-office concern, Omega’s findings read like a warning shot across the balance sheet: in 2025, resilience is revenue protection.

Read the full report at omegasystemscorp.com.