The Vulnerability Gap: Recap from Opal Group’s Investing in Security Forum
Updated October 13, 2026, following the event.
On October 5, Tiffany A. Archer, Esq., President & Founder of Eunomia, led “The Vulnerability Gap: Human Behavior in an Era of Digital Exploitation and Fraud,” an interactive breakout session at Opal Group’s Investing in Security Forum at the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C.
The session drew on 37 documented cases of fraud and exploitation. Again and again, the loss did not start with a stranger or a breach. It started earlier, with trust: a bookkeeper whose work nobody reviewed, a financial advisor who also prepared the statements, a nanny with no financial duties but access to the family checkbook.
We thank Opal Group for the opportunity, and everyone who joined the session for their candor and questions.
What We Discussed
The forum brought together family office principals, investors, and national security leaders. Much of the discussion turned to what happens after someone enters the trusted circle: how much authority they accumulate, and how independently anyone is checking it. In the cases we studied, the people trusted most were often the ones checked least.
The case of Brooke Astor, the New York philanthropist, shows the pattern. Her son held her power of attorney and managed her financial affairs. Over the years, he used that authority to benefit himself, with millions of dollars at stake, and was later convicted. His authority was legitimate. The independent check was missing. It took a court challenge from her grandson to bring in independent oversight.
A transfer of trust is a governance decision™, and signing a power of attorney is one of the clearest examples. In a business, basic controls separate the person who writes the checks from the person who reconciles the account. Under a power of attorney, one person can effectively do both, for years.
The Question to Ask
Is your oversight independent of what it oversees?
The same question applies when work is handed to AI. In “Delegated, Not Governed,” we look at what OpenAI’s recent AI agent incidents reveal about who owns the decision to stop an agent, report a problem, and treat a near-miss as a warning.
Request the Research Summary
Our research summary sets out the three moments where trust created vulnerability in these cases, and the test that ties them together. Request a copy, and we’ll send it to you directly.
Continue the Conversation
We’d welcome the opportunity to talk about where trust, authority, and oversight intersect for your family or organization.