I once walked into a home that looked like it had everything under control. A penthouse with all the trimmings—climate zones adjusting by time of day, fingerprint-activated doors, voice assistants in every room, and a state-of-the-art security system that sent alerts straight to the owner’s phone. From the outside, it looked seamless. Impressive. Secure.
But within 30 minutes of being on-site, I’d found the following:
All guests and vendors were given access to the main Wi-Fi network—there wasn’t even a separate guest network in place. A rack of networking equipment was installed outside the living space, in an unsecured closet shared with building staff. Surveillance cameras were accessible from the outside without two-factor authentication. And default usernames—admin/admin—were still active on multiple connected devices.
These weren’t minor oversights. They were open doors.
And not one of them had been flagged by the client’s previous scan—a “comprehensive” cybersecurity package they’d signed up for online, managed entirely remotely.
This isn’t rare.
When your lifestyle spans multiple homes, staff, vendors, and connected devices, your attack surface grows in ways that traditional scans can’t track. It’s not just your laptop that holds sensitive data—it’s your home automation, your remote access tools, your staff’s tablets, and the network your guests use.
According to JPMorgan’s 2024 Global Family Office Report, cyber risk ranks among the top concerns for family offices worldwide. Yet even with this awareness, many remain exposed to avoidable threats. More than a quarter of family offices have already experienced a cyberattack, often due to things like misconfigured networks, unsegmented systems, or lax access controls. These are the quiet gaps—the ones remote scans don’t catch because they’re not looking at how the whole system works in real life.
When you start to connect the dots, the message is clear: the most dangerous vulnerabilities are the ones you don’t know you have. And finding them requires more than a login and a dashboard. It takes walking the property. Asking the right questions. And seeing what others don’t.
What Remote Scans Can’t See
You might have already done your due diligence—run a remote vulnerability scan, had a consultant look over your firewall. That’s a good start. But it’s like checking your home’s alarm system without ever walking the property.
These scans are useful for flagging outdated software or spotting known vulnerabilities in your devices. But they can’t see how your systems actually function day to day. They won’t tell you if your network equipment is installed in an unsecured hallway. They won’t notice that your surveillance system is accessible from the internet. And they won’t know if your staff is still using default usernames and passwords set by the installer.
Most importantly, they can’t recognize when your network is “flat”—meaning everything from personal devices to smart light bulbs to guest tablets are running on the same unsegmented system. In one real-world case, that exact setup created a clear path from a hacked smart device to the home’s main file server.
These aren’t issues you can spot from a dashboard. You have to be there to see them.
What a True On-Site Assessment Looks Like
An on-site risk assessment is a guided walkthrough of your digital and physical world. It’s less about running a script and more about understanding context.
Here’s how it typically works:
1. Conversations First
We begin with interviews. If you're available, we talk to you directly. But we also spend time with your Executive Assistant, your Personal Assistant, your AV integrators, and your family office or accounting team. We want to know who accesses what, how your systems are managed day-to-day, and where things tend to “fall through the cracks.”
You’d be amazed at what surfaces when we ask the right questions.
2. We Walk the Property
We check physical access points. Are network racks locked? Are cameras pointed at the right places? Is the modem installed inside the living space—or in a hallway where building maintenance has access? We inspect all of this with an eye toward real-world scenarios: If someone wanted to tamper with your systems, how easy would it be?
3. Technical Deep Dive
While this is happening, our team is running a wireless spectrum analysis. This identifies rogue or unauthorized Wi-Fi access points—ones that might have been left behind by vendors, or worse, intentionally installed.
We also deploy a proprietary device to scan your network from the inside. This tells us what’s connected, whether it’s secure, and how well your systems are segmented. Are staff devices on the same network as your home automation? Is the guest Wi-Fi walled off properly?
We check.
4. Behavioral Observations
We’re also looking at how technology is actually being used. Is there a tablet by the front door that controls lighting, but no password? Are there laptops that haven't been updated in months, used daily by staff? Are emails being accessed over hotel Wi-Fi while traveling?
These are the kinds of things remote scans can’t see—because they’re not real people, in real space.
The Real Risk of Convenience
If you’re managing a high-profile lifestyle, your digital footprint isn’t confined to your laptop. It lives in your home automation systems, your private network, the Wi-Fi your guests connect to, and the devices your staff use daily.
According to RBC Wealth Management, more than 25% of family offices in North America have already experienced a cyberattack. Most attacks stem from preventable causes—misconfigured access points, unpatched software, and poor user practices. These are the kinds of things that fall through the cracks when assessments happen remotely.
What You Should Expect From a Proper Assessment
A real on-site assessment should leave you with:
- A detailed map of your digital infrastructure—what’s connected, how it’s secured, and where it overlaps.
- An understanding of physical vulnerabilities that could impact your digital systems.
- A breakdown of who has access to what, and whether those privileges are appropriate.
- Actionable recommendations—not just generic best practices, but steps tailored to your environment, lifestyle, and needs.
You should walk away knowing where your weak points are—and what it would take to fix them.
What You Should Expect From a Proper Assessment
A real on-site assessment should leave you with:
- A detailed map of your digital infrastructure—what’s connected, how it’s secured, and where it overlaps.
- An understanding of physical vulnerabilities that could impact your digital systems.
- A breakdown of who has access to what, and whether those privileges are appropriate.
- Actionable recommendations—not just generic best practices, but steps tailored to your environment, lifestyle, and needs.
You should walk away knowing where your weak points are—and what it would take to fix them.
What We Recommended for the Penthouse
You might remember the penthouse I walked into at the beginning of this story—the one that looked locked down on the surface but had open doors everywhere you turned. No guest network. Unsecured hardware. Default credentials. That space wasn’t just beautiful it was highly automated and highly vulnerable.
After completing the assessment, we didn’t just hand over a report and wish them luck. We created a custom security roadmap tailored to their lifestyle, their property, and the way their staff, systems, and guests interacted every day.
Here’s what that looked like:
- Network Segmentation: We divided the network into virtual LANs (VLANs), isolating smart home devices, staff equipment, personal systems, and guests from each other. That way, even if one segment is compromised, it doesn’t expose the entire system.
- Wi-Fi Overhaul: The primary Wi-Fi credentials—previously shared with guests and vendors—were changed. We deployed a dedicated guest network, locked down and isolated from anything sensitive.
- System Hardening: Critical services like SNMP were disabled or reconfigured, and all network devices were patched to close known vulnerabilities—many of which had gone unnoticed for years.
- Access Controls: Multi-factor authentication was enforced across key systems, and we helped them audit who had access to what. Several accounts had more privileges than necessary—a common but avoidable risk.
- Physical Security: The networking equipment that had been placed in a hallway closet (accessible to building maintenance) was relocated inside the living space, secured and locked down.
- Threat Detection: We installed network sensors to monitor for unusual behavior on the internal network. This added an essential layer of visibility—so if something did go wrong, they’d know quickly and could respond.
And we didn’t stop there. We recommended a long-term security posture: quarterly risk assessments, annual penetration testing, and the option for managed detection and response (MDR) to give them 24/7 monitoring and expert support.
This isn’t a checklist; it’s a living, breathing strategy. One that adapts as your environment, your systems, and your needs evolve. And it started with a single question: “What don’t we know yet?”
You Deserve to See the Full Picture
You’ve already invested in technology that enhances your life. It makes sense to ensure it’s truly working for you—and not silently opening doors to bad actors.
This isn’t about paranoia. It’s about visibility. It’s about understanding how your systems work together, where the exposure lies, and how to bring it all into alignment.
Decypher Technologies offers on-site risk assessments like this because we believe they’re the only way to get the full story. If you’re ready to take a deeper look, we’re ready to walk it with you.
Schedule a confidential consultation—no pressure, no hard pitch. Just a clear next step toward making sure your home and digital life are as secure as they should be.
Let’s uncover what’s hiding in plain sight.
