Real estate and property technology
Penetration Testing for Real Estate and PropTech Companies
Real estate companies move large sums on tight closing timelines and now run buildings, leases, and investors through software. Invadel tests tenant and investor portals, transaction platforms, building systems, and office networks at a fixed price, with reports written for lenders, investors, and insurers.
The stakes
Why real estate gets tested differently
Wire fraud is the defining attack in real estate. A compromised mailbox at a brokerage, title company, or law firm, and altered closing instructions sent at exactly the right moment. Around it sit quieter targets. Investor portals holding capital account statements, and tenant portals with payment details and lease documents. Property management systems with the keys to every unit, and building automation networks connected to the internet without anyone deciding to.
The pressure is contractual and financial rather than statutory for most of the industry. Institutional investors and lenders run diligence on managers and ask for independent testing. Enterprise tenants send questionnaires before signing a lease that includes building technology. Proptech vendors face SOC 2 and enterprise security reviews like any software company. Firms handling New York residents’ private information fall under the SHIELD Act, and mortgage lenders and servicers licensed in the state are NYDFS covered entities.
A generic test looks at the corporate website and stops. Real estate exposure runs through the transaction. The email tenant where instructions are sent, the portal where documents and payments are exchanged, and the property management platform integrated with both. The building systems that share a network with the office widen it further. Testers need to follow the deal and the building, not the brochure site.
What we test
The systems attackers go after first
Tenant and investor portals
Web and mobile portals for rent payment, lease documents, maintenance requests, and investor statements, tested for authorization flaws between accounts and exposure of financial and identity data.
Transaction and closing platforms
Deal rooms, e-signature workflows, and title and escrow systems, tested for access control gaps, document exposure, and the trust placed in email during instruction changes.
Property management systems
The platforms holding units, residents, vendors, and payments, and their integrations with accounting and screening services, tested for privilege escalation and data exposure across portfolios.
Building automation and access control
HVAC, elevator, camera, and badge systems reachable from the corporate network or the internet, tested for default credentials, exposed management interfaces, and paths into the office network.
Email tenant and office network
Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace and the internal network behind it, tested for phishing resistance, mailbox rule abuse, and lateral movement toward finance and closing systems.
Brokers, agents, and closing staff
Phishing and voice pretexting campaigns built around live transactions, such as a changed wire instruction the day before closing, to measure whether verification procedures hold.
Compliance
The frameworks that usually apply
- SOC 2
The report proptech vendors and property managers with institutional clients are asked for, with the penetration test as core Security criteria evidence.
- NYDFS 23 NYCRR 500
Annual internal and external testing for mortgage lenders, servicers, and brokers licensed by the Department of Financial Services.
- ISO 27001
For investment managers and platforms certifying their ISMS to satisfy institutional investors and enterprise tenants, with testing mapped to Annex A 8.8.
Services
What real estate teams usually buy
- From $5,200
Web Application Penetration Testing
Manual testing of your web application across the OWASP Top 10, business logic, and all user roles, with a free retest included, from $5,200.
- From $3,600
Phishing Simulation & Social Engineering Testing
Phishing and social engineering campaigns that measure real-world human risk, with click and credential metrics by department, from $3,600.
- From $6,000
Internal Network Penetration Testing
Testing from an assumed foothold inside your network: Active Directory attack paths, lateral movement, and segmentation, from $6,000.
- From $4,200
External Network Penetration Testing
Testing of your internet-facing perimeter, from exposed services and VPN gateways to mail and cloud edges, with a free retest, from $4,200.
- From $5,200
Hardware & IoT Penetration Testing
Embedded, medical, automotive, and OT device testing, from firmware and debug ports to radio and the companion mobile app, from $5,200.
How it runs
Typical engagements
Illustrative scopes for this industry, written to show what a test covers and what you walk away with.
They are not client stories; our anonymized engagements are on the case studies page.
Typical engagement
Multifamily owner-operator after a wire fraud attempt
A multifamily owner-operator intercepts a fraudulent wire instruction sent from a lookalike domain and wants to know how close it came. We run a phishing campaign across leasing, accounting, and closing staff and test the Microsoft 365 tenant for MFA and mailbox rule weaknesses. An internal test runs from a leasing office workstation toward the accounting system. The executive report ranks the fixes: phishing-resistant MFA, email authentication, and a callback procedure for every instruction change.
Typical engagement
PropTech platform closing an enterprise landlord
A proptech company selling a tenant experience platform to a large landlord is asked for a recent penetration test and a SOC 2 report during procurement. We test the resident web and mobile apps, the building operator dashboard, and the API integrating with access control and payment providers. One building’s operator role turns out to be able to read residents in another. The fix is retested, and the attestation letter and executive summary close the security review.
Typical engagement
Commercial landlord connecting building systems to the network
A commercial landlord modernizing several office towers discovers that building automation, cameras, and badge readers share a network with property management. We test from the building network toward corporate systems and check the automation controllers and their remote access for default credentials and exposed interfaces. The external perimeter around the vendor portals is assessed as well. The report gives engineering and IT a segmentation plan and a vendor access policy, with a retest once the boundary is in place.
FAQ
What real estate buyers ask
01Is penetration testing required for real estate companies?
For most, the requirement comes from investors, lenders, insurers, and enterprise tenants rather than a regulator. Mortgage lenders and servicers licensed in New York are covered by NYDFS 23 NYCRR 500 and owe annual testing. Any firm holding New York residents’ private information must maintain reasonable safeguards under the SHIELD Act, and an independent test is the clearest evidence of them.
02Where should a brokerage or property manager start?
With the two things that lose money fastest. A phishing campaign across the staff who handle payments and instructions, and a test of the email tenant and office network from a compromised account. A Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace security review from $4,200 checks the tenant settings wire fraud depends on: MFA, mailbox forwarding rules, and external sharing. Firms with tenant or investor portals add a web application test. Building systems come next once the network boundary is understood.
03Can you test building automation systems without disrupting the building?
Yes. Building controllers, elevators, and life safety systems are identified during scoping and handled under written rules. No active exploitation of controllers in service, testing of management interfaces and network reachability only, agreed windows, and a facilities contact who can pause work. Bench testing is used where the vendor supplies a spare unit. Building automation is scoped as OT and ICS penetration testing, which starts with passive discovery. Developers with projects still in the ground can see construction cybersecurity for the contractor side: pay applications, project platforms, and jobsite networks.
04How much does a real estate penetration test cost?
A phishing campaign starts at $3,600, external network testing at $4,200, internal network testing at $6,000, and web application testing at $5,200. Each is fixed in writing before work starts. Penetration tests include a free retest of remediated findings. A typical first engagement for a brokerage or manager combines phishing with an internal test, quoted as one number.
05Do you work on-site with New York property teams?
Yes. We are headquartered at 1178 Broadway and work on-site across the city, which matters for building systems and internal testing that need a tester in the property. Portfolios outside the New York area are tested remotely through a small appliance placed on the network, with the same fixed price and the same team.
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