Home Security begins at the Entrance

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If you were to design the ultimate security system for a house, what would you focus on? These days, many people would immediately think in terms of the most technologically advanced alarm system—one that’s voice activated, detects motion anywhere, can be remotely controlled and allows remote viewing of the home, etc.

5HBut even in this day and age of connectedness, the best security system begins with the front door. That’s because, essentially, the door is potentially your home’s weakest link—no matter how high tech the alarm system is.

Contrary to TV and movie depictions—even TV commercials for security systems—of burglars always smashing through windows in the dark (makes a noisier, more dramatic effect), by far the No. 1 entrance for an intruder is the front door. And often, it’s kicked in.

That’s because typically, only two or four mite-sized screws are holding up one or two little strike plates, attached to a weak door frame of thin pine. If you only knew how easy it is to sever pine. 10 year old kids in karate classes do this with their bare hands.

What if your door included one-sixteenth inch of heavy steel? Try kicking through that. And what about a four foot bar that’s installed over the strike plates, screwed right into the door’s frame? Wow, you have one tough-ass security system for your door: The Door Devil Anti Kick Door Jamb Security Kit. It includes:

  • Three and a half inch heavy screws, which go into 2 x 4 studs located behind the door frame
  • Steel door jamb reinforcement (48 inches): replaces the small brass strike plate
  • Three inch screws for reinforcing the door hinges

In addition, there are other things you can do to make your door more impenetrable.

  • A door bar jammer or door brace: One end fits snuggly under the doorknob, while the other end is angled out and affixed to the floor.
  • Deadbolt wrap: This will reinforce the area around the door lock.
  • A better strike plate: Thicker means better.
  • Door frame reinforcement: This steel implement is up to four feet in length, and some versions are decorative.

Of course, all of these measures add up to zero protection if you leave your door unlocked. Many intruders gain entry through unlocked doors. It’s that simple. But don’t forget that even a very determined burglar tires out and does not want to be standing there all day trying to kick down a heavily reinforced door.

Robert Siciliano is a home and personal security expert to DoorDevil.com discussing Anti-Kick door reinforcement on YouTube. Disclosures.

What age is it OK to leave Kids home alone?

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Sooner or later, you’ll need to leave your child home—unsupervised, alone—for an extended period. And even though you may have smart devices to keep a constant check on your child, this doesn’t mean you can instantly teleport home in the event your smart security system relays a realtime video of a kitchen fire.

12DIt’s one of the toughest challenges facing parents: At what age can they leave a child home alone without breaking the law, without endangering that child? Even if your child is older than the minimum age to be legally left alone, this doesn’t mean they’re ready to face this new chapter.

  • A very emotionally mature, 10-year-old child may be very small for their age, and a crook passing by the house may peer in and think that a seven-year-old is all alone inside—making a break-in tempting.
  • An eight-year-old may be the size of an 11-year-old, which could fool a prowler peering in, but having the mind of an eight-year-old won’t help in a crisis situation.
  • Your feisty but responsible nine-year-old may be begging to be left home alone, have passed a first-aid test and be a junior blackbelt.
  • Or, your skittish 13-year-old may be very bright, but…to put it succinctly, be a scaredy cat.
  • Is the neighborhood popular with burglars?
  • Is the child sick?

Laws are ambiguous. Just what is “adequate supervision” anyways? And is it redefined with different ages? Obviously, you don’t want to leave a nine-year-old alone for even one hour with the new, 95-pound rescue dog, or leave a young child home during a storm. A 12-year-old may seem old enough to be left home alone for a few hours, but not in charge of his two-year-old sibling.

The various U.S. states do not have clear explanations; it’s up to the parent to interpret each circumstance. And only three states specify the minimum age: Maryland is eight; Oregon is 10; and Illinois is 14 … even though many girls begin babysitting late into the night at age 11.

Robert Siciliano personal security and identity theft expert and speaker is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen. See him knock’em dead in this identity theft prevention video.

Step by step how to reinforce Door Locks

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Don’t let the idea of reinforcing your house’s doors intimidate you. Here is step by step instruction on installing new stronger locks.

2HYour House’s Door Parts Inventory

  • Any door without a deadbolt gets a deadbolt, which should be a grade 1 or 2.
  • Are the screws of any existing deadbolts tight?
  • If you open the door and turn the knob, the deadbolt’s throw-bolt will pop out the side of the door. It should be at least one inch and appear secure.
  • The screws in the strike plates and deadbolts should be at least three inches.

Deadbolt Replacement

  • Chances are, your inferior deadbolt is held by four screws total.
  • Take the measurement of the distance between the center of the cylinder hole and the edge of the door. Write these down; you’ll need them for your new deadbolt.
  • Notate the horizontal and vertical center of the new hole.
  • Now drill, and slowly. Then test out the deadbolt. You may have to make refinements to the hole if the deadbolt doesn’t fit perfectly.
  • Before attaching the deadbolt, see if the attached throw-bolt strike plate has a flush fit.
  • Do not use a power drill to put in the screws, as this could strip the wood.

Lockset Strike Plate Replacement

  • Your new strike plate should be attached with three inch screws.
  • If the hole, through which you’re driving the screws, is too small, you’ll need to drill it out for a good fit.
  • The screws should be slightly angled to catch the framing.

Deadbolt Strike Plate Replacement

  • Your new deadbolt, upon purchase, will come with a strike plate. A very sturdy strike plate requires four screws.
  • Mark the old deadbolt strike plate’s center.
  • The new faceplate will be temporarily put in so that you can mark its position.
  • After taking out the plate, make sure that the holes through which you’ll be drilling screws will fit the screws. You may need to make adjustments to enlarge the holes.
  • Using a wood chisel, remove the wood so that the faceplate and strike box fit.
  • You’re now ready to mount the plate and box, using four screws of three inch length.

Installing strong locks is just one step in the process. However, I must say this: Kicking in a typical house door is a lot easier than reinforcing your door to make it kick-in-proof. A burglar needn’t be a karate expert or soccer player to kick open a locked door that’s inadequately secured.  Watch this video “Anti-Kick door reinforcement” on how to secure your doors with door jam reinforcement technology.

Robert Siciliano is a home and personal security expert to DoorDevil.com. Disclosures.

Strengthen your Entry way Security

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Did you know that often, burglars gain entry by simply kicking open locked doors? You just would not believe how easy this is. This is why it’s crucial to beef up the strength of your house’s doors. And this can be done several ways.

2BDeadbolt Strike Plate

  • It’s ironic that this piece of hardware is called a strike plate, because an inferior type can be struck by the burglar’s foot and blasted apart.
  • The strike plate is that metal piece that’s on the door frame, where the deadbolt latches into.
  • A low grade strike plate serves the purpose of holding the door shut. Period. It’s no match for a burglar’s foot.
  • In addition to a sturdier strike plate, you need a full metal enclosure and longer screws. The burglar will then worry about breaking his ankle as he continues to try to budge this hardware—which is possible, if he’s persistent, has a decent kick and doesn’t tire easily.

Door and Door Jamb

  • So to stop a persistent burglar who doesn’t mind repeatedly kicking, you must reinforce the door and door jamb.
  • Sturdy door reinforcement can be found at Door Devil.

Solid Wood or Metal Doors

  • A hollow wood construction has no place in an exterior door.
  • A solid wood door would ideally be made of a hardwood variety. It’s not cheap, but it will buy you peace of mind.
  • A steel door is even more secure.
  • The ultimate door may be a hurricane-resistant steel door.

Hinges

  • Burglars have been known to remove the hinge pins and lift the door up and out of the frame.
  • A door that swings out and exposes the hinges is not secure.
  • Safety studs, crimped pins and a setscrew in the hinge will prevent a burglar from removing the hinge pin.

Still More…

  • A door that’s highlighted with a motion detecting light (out of reach from an adult) will help deter intruders.
  • A fake surveillance camera (again, out of reach) is an effective deterrent.

Robert Siciliano is a home and personal security expert to DoorDevil.com discussing Anti-Kick door reinforcement on YouTube. Disclosures.

Technology and Home Security wed

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Gone is the day when, while out on a romantic evening with your special someone, you suddenly realize you forgot to turn on your house alarm. You spend the rest of the long evening fretting about this.

2HNowadays, all you need do is whip out your smartphone and activate the alarm. You can even view the interior and exterior of your property in realtime with smarthome security cameras. And rest assured, if someone breaks in while your eyes are glued to the big movie screen, you’ll get a vibration alert.

We are getting closer and closer to a Jetson’s lifestyle; you know, George Jetson, the cartoon character who lives in the future? The Jetson household includes a female-looking robot dressed as a maid.

Robots

A house robot is no longer the thing of science fiction. Google is working on creating a robot that will help protect the house (and cleaning it is already being done with a Roomba). One of the tasks this robot would be able to do is prevent false alarms with the home security system. “What can be conceived can be achieved,” so the saying goes.

Laser Beams

  • Laser beams have been in existence for a while, that can detect motion and set off an alarm.
  • But this technology has much room for advancement in the security world and is growing.

More Advancements

  • Like an airplane on autopilot, your home’s security system will one day truly be on autopilot, with you at the helm no matter where you are.
  • But remember, robots, laser beams and other forms of technology will never replace common sense. You can have the most state-of-the-art technology working to protect your house, car, boat, even your person (with smartphone apps that can sense an unintentional fall, or with one touch of a button, summon an emergency response and give out your GPS coordinates) – but all this may mean zilch if you’re not wearing a seatbelt or if you’re texting while driving. Or if you’re climbing up on the rails of the cruise ship you’re on.
  • So even though the war against home intruders is closing in on them, sometimes our greatest enemy is oneself.
  • In the meantime, take advantage of what the booming home security market has to offer. Home security companies typically offer free consultations.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Mortgage Scams plague Homeowners and Agents

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There are things you should know before you purchase your next house—even if you foresee that being years away. Take note of what’s in this article—and keep the notes where you’ll never forget where they are.

3BA hacker could fool you into thinking he’s your agent and trick you into sending him money—which you’ll never get back. It’s so bad the FTC even sent an alert warning consumers that Real Estate Agents email accounts are getting hacked.

  • Let’s say your Realtor’s name is Bill Baker.
  • Bill Baker’s e-mail account gets hacked.
  • The hacker observes Baker’s correspondences with his clients—including you.
  • Ahhh, the hacker sees you have an upcoming closing.
  • The hacker, posing as Bill Baker, sends you an e-mail, complete with instructions on where to wire your closing funds.
  • You follow these instructions.
  • But there’s one last step: kissing your money goodbye, as it will disappear into an untraceable abyss overseas.
  • This scam can also target your escrow agent.

It’s obvious that one way to prevent this is to arrange a home purchase deal where there are zero closing costs.

The scam is prevalent, perhaps having occurred thousands of times. It was just a matter of time until scammers recognized the opportunity to target real estate agents and their clients.

The lax security defenses of the real estate industry haven’t helped. Unlike the entire financial industry who have encrypted communications, the real estate industry is a hodgepodge of free e-mail accounts and unprotected communications.

In addition:

  • Realtors, so often on the go and in a hurry, frequently use public Wi-Fi like at coffee houses.
  • Anyone involved in a real estate transaction can be hacked, such as lawyers.

Preventing the Scam

  • Eliminate e-mail as a correspondence conduit—at least as far as information on closings and other sensitive information.
  • On the other hand, you may value having “everything in writing,” and e-mail provides a permanent record. In that case, use encrypted email or some setup that requires additional login credentials to gain access to the communication.
  • For money-wiring instructions, request a phone call. And make this request over the phone so that the hacker doesn’t try to pose as your Realtor over the phone.
  • Any e-mailed money instructions should be confirmed by phone—with the Realtor and the bank to send the money to.
  • Get verification of the transfer ASAP. If you suspect a scam, have the receiving bank freeze any withdrawal attempt of the newly deposited funds—if you’ve reached the bank in time, that is.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Home Security Cameras 101: the Audio Element

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Before buying a security camera, ask yourself:

  • Where do you intend on placing it?
  • How well-hidden can/will the unit be?
  • Are you familiar with laws pertaining to surveillance of people without them knowing about it and the associated audio recordings?

1HLaws vary from state to state regarding the audio element of a surveillance camera, but on a federal level, the requirement is that one person needs to be aware of the recording. Because this is the federal law, it makes it impossible for any state to allow zero people being aware.

So what this means is that it’s illegal to audio record in the form of eavesdropping. It’s prohibited, for instance, to secretly record a conversation that two people, without them being aware, are having across the room at a coffee house that you’re all in.

However, that federal rule that one person needs to be aware of the recording means that you can get away with “secretly” recording those two people—as long as you’re part of their conversation, sitting right with them. So if those two people learn you recorded them, they can gripe all they want, but you’re protected by federal law since you sat and talked with them.

The law for audio recording isn’t the same as for visual, in which the latter is allowable for publically seen environments. This is where “Dual Consent” comes into play for ANY audio recording. Some states require both parties need to consent to audio recording in order for the recording to commence.

These rules apply to phone conversations as well as cameras, which is why you often get an alert that your customer service call “may be recorded for training purposes.”

Loopholes

  • If one of those two people is informed you’re recording them, then all is well, though once at least one of them knows this, it’s sure to influence the conversation (unless it’s dual consent state).
  • What seems to be a contradiction of that aforementioned federal rule is that you CAN secretly record those two people—provided that you don’t intend to use the recording for any illegal purposes (unless it’s dual consent state).
  • So it looks as though you can secretly record a conversation between your wife and the man she’s cheating on you with, then present it to her later as evidence you caught her. Nothing illegal about that (unless it’s dual consent state).
  • But if you covertly record your boss conversing with his secret mistress, then threaten you’ll give the recording to his wife unless he gives you a $1,000 bonus, then that’s illegal.
  • This is NOT legal advice. Consult your attorney and local laws.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Home Security Cameras 101: Filming

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Before buying a security camera, ask yourself:

  • Where do you want to place it?
  • How well-hidden can it be or does it need to be?
  • Are you familiar with laws pertaining to filming people with or without their knowledge?

5HWhere is setting up the camera illegal? Bathrooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms and residences other than yours (unless you have that other individual’s permission to set it up for their use).

Assume this list is not complete; the bottom line is that video surveillance is prohibited where anyone could be naked or even partially nude. There may be some gray areas, however. In that case, consult with an attorney.

A gray area would be some kind of private room where a person might be undressing, such as a dressing room for a theatre production, a cabana at a country club or beach, or a mock dressing room for a model posing for an oil painting class.

What if you want to set up a camera in the locker room, dressing room or bathroom of a business you own—not to be nosy, but to catch any thieves or other criminal behavior?

Sorry, it’s against the law. The propensity to be partially naked wins out over the possibility of someone stuffing unpaid-for items in their pants or sexually assaulting someone in a bathroom stall.

But this doesn’t mean you can’t place cameras outside the targeted room, to capture entrances and exits on a timeline. Set the camera up so that it can’t capture activity inside the room when the door opens.

Home Cameras

  • The general rule is that if a scene is viewable to the public, your camera can be stationed to record it, such as the parking lot smack in front of your front door or the neighbor’s outdoor deck across the parking lot (where it’s not expected anyone will undress).
  • Though it’s legal to point a camera at the neighbors, it can incite them and cause you grief, including legal action against you (people can sue for anything and everything; doesn’t mean they’ll win, but the anticipated defense legal fees and the whole headache of being taken to court often convince the defendant to retract the behavior that triggered the lawsuit).
  • This is NOT legal advice. Consult your attorney and local laws.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Child Predator screws up, gets caught

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If you’re a pedophile, you’d be wise not to keep any prescription containers in view of a webcam with your lewd pictures. The information on such a bottle is what helped pedophile Stephen Keating get 110 years in the slammer says a CNN article.

4HBut the amazing thing is that the bottle’s information was extracted from a blurry image of it in the background of a photo that Keating took of one of his 14 victims. Keating posted the photo online, not knowing that that innocent little prescription bottle would get him busted—along with the fingerprints that were extracted off his fingertips in the image.

Yes, this is what forensic technology can do these days. Only some of Keating’s name and the prescription number were actually extracted in a photo lab, but it was enough information for a record check of the pharmacy to get his identity.

Homeland Security Investigations Cyber Crimes Center specialist Jim Cole says his Project Vic teamviews half a million images every week.

How does this technology work?

  • Computers use “Photo DNA” to speedily sift through hundreds of thousands of photos, separating previously viewed ones from new ones, sparing investigators from having to see disturbing images more than necessary.
  • Cole says that what used to take nine months now takes one month.

In another case, an image showed a woman and her victim holding a fish at a campground. The woman was a known offender…but where was this campsite?

The image of the fish was sent to Cornell University for analysis of the species: Where is this type of fish found? The location was narrowed down to a specific area, and then the campsite image, minus the offender and young victim, was sent to all the campsite advertisers in that region. They got a hit, and in fact, the reception room of the particular camping grounds had the same image on display. All of this took place in under four hours.

Even a blurry company logo on a shirt can be extracted for identification. In one case this led to a plumbing business where an offender used to work.

Where are all these images coming from in the first place? The public sends in tips to the CyberTipline. So do giants like Google, Facebook and Twitter. Cole says that the advanced technology has caused an exponential increase in the number of victims rescued.

Good guys 1. Predators ZERO.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Should you take active Shooter Training?

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Gunman Storms Building, Shot Dead by Receptionist

Wouldn’t it be great to see a headline like this for once? More than ever, employees are being trained to react tactically should a gunman go on a rampage.

2BThere has to be a better way, for instance, to protect children in a classroom than the teacher diving between them and the bullets and getting killed. Being hailed a hero is no consolation to the family he or she leaves behind.

In Boston, active shooter training is taking place, says an article at myfoxboston.com. Todd McGhee, a former state trooper, is the instructor. He charges $150 per person for an hour. May sound like a lot, but think of all the ways someone can mindlessly drop $150 over one weekend.

Active shooter training is also offered by some private firms in most metropolitan areas. It’s catching on in this day and cyber-age when every public gunning incident seems to get news.

In a real life scenario, the victim has maybe less than two seconds to make a life altering decision: bolt, dive out a window, hide, put their body between the gunman and children (and often, this results in death), rushing the gunman, playing dead once the bullets start flying (this has actually worked), and who knows what else—like whipping a pistol out of your pocket and shooting back. Reasoning with the gunman has also worked, but these are truly exceptional cases.

In a workplace setting, often the gunman is a former employee. The grievance he has may be towards his boss or someone there he was dating or wanted to date but was rejected.

The myfoxboston.com article notes some risk factors for deviantly violent behavior including divorce, loss of the job, financial woes, being bullied and experiencing child custody issues. However…it stands to reason that anyone who’d bulldoze into a business or public setting and start shooting has at least several of these problems.

Though issues such as being passed up for a promotion, ridicule by coworkers, being recently fired and other workplace problems normally don’t turn employees into killers, these situations are a common thread among such gunmen.

Sometimes the most meek employee turns out to be the shooter, and employees need to learn how to respond with tactics, strategy and proven methods rather than with panic and screams.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.