A coordinated wave of AI-driven voice phishing attacks has targeted several of Wall Street\u2019s largest investment managers in recent days, exposing the hedge fund industry\u2019s vulnerability to increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.<\/p>\n
The assault hit major multi-strategy hedge funds including Two Sigma Investments, Point72 Asset Management, Citadel<\/a>, and Millennium Management, as well as several private equity firms. Scammers used voice phishing, or \u201cvishing,\u201d leveraging technology to clone human voices in phone calls and messages to deceive employees into granting administrative access or sensitive financial credentials.<\/p>\n Point72 informed investors on Wednesday that it was targeted in the breach, noting that initial findings indicated no client information had been stolen while an internal review remains underway. Two Sigma, which manages $75 billion in assets, confirmed that its defenses successfully blocked the intrusion.<\/p>\n \u201cOur security team responded quickly to an attempted vishing campaign targeting Two Sigma and other investment managers, and we have no indication of any impact to our data or our systems,\u201d a spokesperson for Two Sigma said in a statement. \u201cWe continue to monitor the situation closely.\u201d<\/p>\n Spokespeople for Point72, Citadel, and Millennium declined to comment on the incidents.<\/p>\n The attacks illustrate how rapid advancements in artificial intelligence are lowering the cost and expanding the reach of cyberattacks across the financial sector. \u201cBefore they could attack 50 entities in a targeted attack, now they can do 1,000,\u201d said Vinod Paul, president of Align Managed Services, an IT firm specializing in hedge fund cybersecurity. \u201cHackers can also listen into a phone call and mimic the voice, tone and phrasings of the speakers to create fake calls.\u201d<\/p>\n In response to the surge in attempted breaches, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority<\/a> has been in direct contact with member firms to evaluate threat levels. The self-regulatory body established the Financial Intelligence Fusion Center in March, a secure portal designed for financial institutions to share real-time threat intelligence and coordinate countermeasures. A FINRA<\/a> spokesperson declined to comment.<\/p>\n The hedge fund campaign coincides with broader corporate cyber threats identified across professional services. In June, Google\u2019s cybersecurity unit reported a surge in vishing schemes targeting law firms, where attackers occasionally entered corporate headquarters posing as IT support technicians. Concurrently, U.S. officials have faced attacks targeting municipal water infrastructure in multiple states.<\/p>\n \u201cThe terrifying thing about modern-day AI systems is that they have commoditized this and made it possible to execute attacks at scale,\u201d said Will Wilson, chief executive officer of Antithesis, an IT vulnerability detection firm backed by Jane Street<\/a>. \u201cEverybody will have to seriously level up. Otherwise they are going to be in big trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n