The Rising Cyber Threat to Private Equity

Private equity has become one of the most attractive sectors for cybercriminals seeking access to capital, data and influence. As investment firms expand their digital footprint and manage increasingly complex portfolios, threat actors have begun to exploit the convergence of finance, technology and trust. 

Attacks are intensifying

In recent months, ransomware groups have intensified their focus on the investment community. Among them, the Qilin ransomware group has emerged as one of the most active and organised, demonstrating a clear understanding of how private equity and asset-management ecosystems operate. Its recent campaign targeted firms in South Korea, and more recently the United States, revealing a deliberate strategy to infiltrate interconnected financial networks. 

Qilin attacks against investment related entities since September 2023. 

These incidents show that cyber risk in private equity is no longer confined to operational disruption or data theft. It now represents a direct threat to investor confidence, valuation stability and market integrity. The following case studies outline how Qilin’s activity unfolded between August and October 2025 and what this means for the future of cybersecurity within the global investment sector. 

Why private equity is a target 

Several characteristics of the private-equity model make the sector an attractive target for adversaries: 

• Firms manage large pools of capital and conduct numerous transactions (M&A, carve-outs, roll-ups) so the volume of sensitive data (financials, business plans, IP, customer data) is substantial.
• Portfolio companies are often smaller- or mid-market firms, with less mature cybersecurity postures. That gap is exploited in the acquisition phase and hold-period.
• Deal announcements create visibility. A newly acquired or announced target may attract unwanted attention from threat actors identifying fresh investment capital or weak defences.
• A portfolio with many companies means multiple attack surfaces; a single breach into one portfolio company can have ripple-effects creating aggregated risk. 

Recent case study: A major cyber incident 

In August 2025, Welcome Financial Group, one of South Korea’s largest diversified finance conglomerates, was compromised in a major cyber incident. The group operates across banking, digital payments, residential leasing and asset-management services, handling vast amounts of personal and institutional data. Criminal groups published more than one terabyte of internal documents, including payment information, leasing contracts and company records. 

17 August 2025 – Qilin post Welcome Financial Group

Initially, the breach appeared to be a single event. However, within weeks, the threat landscape changed dramatically. In September 2025, more than thirty South Korean asset-management firms were attacked in quick succession. Among them was Petraville Asset Management, a Seoul-based investment firm founded in 2022. The Qilin ransomware group claimed responsibility for exfiltrating approximately fifty-three gigabytes of tax reports, investor details and employee data from Petraville. This data was later published on leak sites. 

30 September 2025 – Qilin post Petraville Asset Management 

Another example is Majesty Asset Management Co., a Seoul-based private equity and fund-management firm, which was listed among victims in the “Korean Leak” ransomware campaign. The company, active for over a decade, specialised in pre-IPO investment strategies, equity placements and real-estate funds. Although relatively small in portfolio value, Majesty handled a high concentration of sensitive investor and deal-related data. 

Attackers published a cache of internal files that included client contact information, investment strategies, long-term forecasts and transaction histories. Particularly damaging was the exposure of pre-IPO materials, which outlined investor allocations, valuation models and internal forecasts for several Korean companies approaching public listings. Such information carries exceptional market sensitivity and could easily be exploited for insider trading, front-running or reputational manipulation.

14 September 2025 – Qilin post Majesty Asset Management Co. 

The timing and targeting of these incidents suggest a coordinated campaign against South Korea’s financial-investment sector. The earlier compromise of Welcome Financial Group may have provided attackers with intelligence on suppliers, network connections and shared digital infrastructure used by other firms. By the following month, that information could have enabled a wider exploitation campaign against smaller investment companies with weaker defences. 

Majesty’s operations shared digital and third-party linkages with other firms targeted in the same campaign, including Petraville Asset Management and other small private-equity managers. This suggests a coordinated effort by threat actors to infiltrate interconnected fund-management platforms that store pre-IPO and investor data. This chain of attacks demonstrates how ransomware and data-extortion operations are becoming systemic rather than isolated. 

Threat actors are exploiting the interconnectivity of the financial industry, where banks, leasing companies and asset-managers often share vendors and data pipelines. When one organisation in this network is breached, the exposure can spread quickly to others that rely on the same systems or partners. 

For private-equity and asset-management firms, the Korean events highlight the importance of collective resilience. Cybersecurity must extend beyond individual company boundaries to include suppliers, data-processors and portfolio companies. An incident that begins with a single institution can cascade across the financial ecosystem, undermining investor confidence, attracting regulatory scrutiny and eroding asset value. 

What’s next for Qilin? 

The recent attack on Magna Hospitality Group in the United States suggests that Qilin’s campaign is entering a new phase. After a concentrated wave of attacks against South Korean asset-management and private-fund firms throughout August and September 2025, the group has now turned its attention to Western investment networks. 

Magna Hospitality Group is a private equity firm specialising in hotel and property investment across North America. Qilin claims to have stolen more than 385 gigabytes of internal data, including investor communications, financial reports and portfolio-company documents. While details are still emerging, the timing and target profile indicate that the group is broadening its focus from regional data-extortion to a global campaign aimed at private equity and investment entities. 

22 September 2025 – Qilin post Petraville Asset Management 

This evolution shows a potentially deliberate shift in Qilin’s strategy. By targeting firms involved in deal origination, mergers and acquisitions, and cross-border capital management, the group gains access to information that holds both financial and geopolitical value. Investor lists, pre-IPO materials, internal forecasts and property valuations all offer potential leverage, whether for extortion, insider trading or resale to competitors and criminal intermediaries. 

Qilin’s approach also mirrors a wider pattern in the ransomware landscape. Threat actors are becoming more selective and better informed, using supply-chain intelligence to identify sectors with high reputational pressure and limited tolerance for public exposure. Private equity and fund-management firms fit this profile perfectly: they hold confidential data, maintain high-value relationships and often rely on distributed IT environments that blend in-house systems with outsourced service providers. 

Looking ahead, it’s likely that Qilin and similar groups will continue to exploit this convergence of finance, data and reputation. The investment sector’s increasing digitisation and interconnectivity create new opportunities for exploitation, particularly where cybersecurity oversight is fragmented across multiple portfolio companies. 

The threat is now strategic, not incidental. Investment firms must treat cybersecurity as a form of operational due diligence, embed it into deal governance and maintain active monitoring across every subsidiary and partner. As Qilin’s activity shows, the next wave of ransomware may not just disrupt operations; it could compromise the integrity of entire investment ecosystems. 

The threat landscape is evolving fast 

The Qilin campaign illustrates how quickly the threat landscape can evolve. What began as a regional outbreak in South Korea has expanded into a coordinated, data-driven operation against global investment networks. Private equity and asset-management firms now face a form of cyber risk that extends beyond traditional IT boundaries, affecting due diligence, deal flow and long-term portfolio value. 

Cybersecurity can no longer sit outside the investment conversation. It must be treated as a measurable business risk and integrated into every stage of the investment lifecycle. From pre-acquisition assessments to portfolio monitoring and exit readiness, each phase carries potential exposure that must be managed with the same discipline applied to financial or legal oversight. 

Private equity firms that adapt first will hold a competitive advantage. They will not only safeguard their investors but also strengthen their reputation, reduce valuation drag and enhance exit outcomes. The events of 2025 are both a warning and an opportunity. The future of investment depends on recognising that cyber resilience is not a cost of doing business; it’s a fundamental driver of trust and value creation.