In a story that could have come right out of a movie, a widely respected police officer turned out to be a Mexican national who stole an American identity and moved to Alaska to become a cop. I’ll bet Sarah Palin didn’t see this one coming. Fox News reports that the identity thief had been…
In Illinois in an apartment building that just happens to be in yelling distance from a police station, a man jumped from his second floor window screaming for help. Fortunately the police were able to catch the two guys who invaded his apartment. Apparently he didn’t have a home security alarm system, which is an…
The ticker tape of data breaches in the last few months has been astounding. Many have called 2011 “The Year of The Hacker“ and that prognostication has rung true, without question. Halfway through the year, data breaches are an incessant news story. And despite the constant stream of bad news, consumers continue divulging a tremendous…
Imagine someone jeopardizing your home security system by hacking your phone’s voicemail. There’s been a widely reported story of a British tabloid newspaper accused of accessing voicemail messages of murder victims, government officials, celebrities and possibly victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack. The story broke in response to the tabloids manipulating voicemail of a 13…
All this scribbling I do about home security cameras and home alarm systems is actually part of a business I run so it requires me to have an administrator to perform certain duties that she’s better at than I am. Earlier this week I reached out to her via text and briefly she wasn’t responding.…
1. Realize that you can become a victim at any time. Not a day goes by when we don’t hear about a new hack. With 55,000 new pieces of malware a day, security never sleeps. 2. Think before you post. Status updates, photos, and comments can reveal more about you than you intended to disclose.…
A Neighborhood crime watch, also called a crime watch or neighborhood watch, is an organized group of citizens devoted to crime and vandalism prevention within a neighborhood. A neighborhood watch may be organized as its own group or may simply be a function of a neighborhood association or other community association. In South Carolina a…
Locking your doors is a first step to securing your home. However after conducting thousands of seminars on personal security I’m amazed at how many people do not lock their doors. That one simple act can prevent a door jiggling burglar from choosing your home. However if you do lock your doors, the quality of…
Malware refers to malicious software, which includes computer viruses and rootkits. McAfee recently released the McAfee Threats Report: First Quarter 2011. With six million unique samples of recorded malware, the first quarter of 2011 was the most active in malware history. In February alone, approximately 2.75 million new malware samples were recorded. Fake antivirus software…
Video is a great thief repellant. It is one layer of security that must be incorporated into every home security system. However there is no such thing as 100% security. And while video often catches a thief in the act, it can’t actually catch a thief. That’s what police are for. In Des Moines Iowa,…
