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Home Security Source: Knowledge Is Definitely Power

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Crime and violence are generally not fun topics to write about or read about. Discussing a bloody home invasion isn’t exactly inspiring, nor does it make good dinner time chat.

Events like these are only “entertaining” when fictionalized in TV and movies and make for a gripping arms length “who dunnit”.

However the fact is these things do happen and sweeping these issues under the rug is no longer an option. For as long as I can remember “personal security” was always one of those misunderstood issues that our parents didn’t have any answers for.

The extent of our safety and security training revolved around “look both ways when you cross the street” and “don’t talk to strangers”. And it pretty much stopped there. For years and years I sought out a comprehensive resource to keep me updated on all issues personal security, however there was none.

And then there was HomeSecuritySource.com. Home Security Source is one of the few online resources with solid information on home and personal safety with new content every day. It’s a community website with the goal to offer the latest information to help homeowners to keep their homes, valuables, and family safe.

Home Security Source is your one stop to learn all about home security.  It’s where you can find information about the latest news, security products, and any information that relates to your safety.  On top of our large (and growing!) information, we also provide local crime maps for your area.

And to top it off I’m contributing all my research from over 20 years alongside stellar industry professionals dedicated to their craft.

It’s important to understand our culture has always been one to trust others and see the good in people.

While this civility has prompted us to get along and live in relative harmony, it also created a negative side effect of people putting the proverbial bedtime “sheet over their heads” so the monsters wouldn’t get them. This head in the sand, “it can’t happen to me” mentality has allowed the bad guy an upper hand for decades.

A change in attitudes is reflected by the success of Home Security Source. People want to know the truth. They feel they need to know their options and how to protect themselves and their families.

Here is an idea on how HomeSecuritySource.com has grown:

When comparing September 2010 data to an average based in the first three months, it’s possible to see:

  • Visits increase of over  400%
  • Page Views increase of over  580%
  • Unique monthly visitors increase of over 480%
  • Over 800 sites have sent traffic to the site.  Thanks to our awesome team of writers, HomeSecuritySource.com is mentioned in popular news and informational  sites

Today more than ever the bad guy knows that you are watching him. His job isn’t as easy as it used to be. Citizens are empowered like never before with the knowledge and tools to take control of their lives and protect themselves and their families. Armed with the Home Security Source, knowledge is definitely power.

Robert Siciliano personal security expert to Home Security Source discussing home security and identity theft on TBS Movie and a Makeover. Disclosures

Triple Murder Home Invasion Testimony Ends

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This is just a bad, bad story with no happy ending.

There are home invasions, then there is this home invasion. Just when you think humans can’t get any meaner towards each other there is Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky, the 2 men accused of a home invasion in Connecticut in 2007. Hayes and his lowlife accomplice allegedly met at a halfway house. They saw the mother (who was eventually murdered) in a parking lot one day and followed her home. A total random act.

The home was invaded at 3am. The father was immediately beaten and tied up in the basement. The father was held captive for a time but he escaped alive. The kids were tied to their beds and the mother was forced to go to the bank and withdraw money.

While at the bank the mother told a bank representative what was happening. The bank called the police who sent cruisers to the scene.

The police were outside for over 30 minutes to prevent the murderers from escaping. At one point the home invaders assaulted one of the children then killed the mother. They set the home on fire and the 2 kids died from smoke inhalation.

The NY Times reported that the state’s attorney John A. Connelly had “described the case as the ‘most horrendous murder in the state of Connecticut in the last 30 years,’ adding, ‘There are about five ways you could charge capital felony.'”

These guys might get the death penalty. But will justice be done? No. There is no justifying the death of a woman and two children and no justice in the prosecution or even death of the accused. And the father of the deceased, he will only mourn his loss, while he might crack a smile if they are prosecuted, he will never celebrate.

I can tell you right now my home security system will be on when I go to bed tonight. And then some.
Robert Siciliano personal security expert to Home Security Source discussing home invasions on the Gordon Elliot Show. Disclosures

Police Warn Burglars Are Using Social Networks

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The sage advice used to be “don’t tell the world you are on vacation via your outgoing answering machine.” Then we pretty much eliminated answering machines and the advice pertained to voicemail. As we got more technology, the same message was don’t tell the world you are on vacation via your emails auto responder.

For a few years now I’ve been warning people about how vulnerable they are when they post their whereabouts in social media. And it looks like the bad-guy figured it out and is taking advantage of peoples’ naiveté.

In Nashua, NH, police busted a bunch of burglars they say used Facebook as a tool to gather intelligence on who is home and who is not home.

“Police said they recovered between $100,000 and $200,000 worth of stolen property as a result of an investigation.  Police said there were 50 home burglaries in the city in August. Investigators said the suspects used social networking sites such as Facebook to identify victims who posted online that they would not be home at a certain time.

“Be careful of what you post on these social networking sites,” said Capt. Ron Dickerson. “We know for a fact that some of these players, some of these criminals, were looking on these sites and identifying their targets through these social networking sites.”

It is obvious to me that none of these homes had home security systems, alarms or cameras. Due to the fact they were successfully burglarized. And once an intruder enters your home and does their dirty deed, your “castle” and how you feel in it is never the same.

Protecting yourself is real simple. Be cautious about what you post on social media and consider an investment in a home security system.

Robert Siciliano personal security expert to Home Security Source discussing Social Media and giving out to much information on the CBS Early Show. Disclosures.

Apartments Likely Targets of Burglary

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According to the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), apartments are 85% more likely to be victimized by a burglary than any other form of housing.

There are many reasons why apartments are targeted for burglaries. Here are a few:

Problem: In an apartment setting the residents live among other people. One tenant in a complex who has a propensity for theft may target units within. When he knows you aren’t home, that’s when he breaks in.

Solution: Alarm it. Apartment security systems trump all other options. And keep your TV or radio on to give the impression you are home. Even if your car is gone and he knows it, the alarm will screech and alert the authorities when you’re gone.

Problem: Mailboxes often signal who lives at the apartment. A single name on a mailbox may give the burglar the impression you might not be home during the day due to the fact most people work 9-5.

Solution: Put Your Name and Another Name on the mailbox. Tell your landlord ahead of time so they understand why.

Problem: You go on vacation or travel on business and the mail piles up and the lights are always off. Your apartment is seen by many other who notice you’re gone. This is called : “a crime of opportunity”.

Solution: Give your apartment the lived in look. Keep a TV on, shades down, put your lights on timers and have a friend grab your mail.

Problem: People in apartments often do not lock windows on upper levels thinking they are more secure. They forget that ladders and fire escapes can provide access even 3-4 levels up.

Solution: Lock your windows and make sure your apartment security system is applied to your windows and alerts you via the alarm whenever they are opened. You can also install motion sensors and glass break sensors as extra layers of security.

Robert Siciliano personal security expert to Home Security Source discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Highway Killer” Gets Life

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Evil takes many forms. One of its forms is as Adam Leroy Lane. Lane was a truck driver from North Carolina whose route traveled up and down the east coast and attacked or murdered women in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

Apparently when the urge struck, he’d veer off the highway and stalk neighborhoods and jiggle door knobs until he found one unlocked with a woman inside. In all the cases, the killer picked his victims at random and attacked them at their homes near interstate highways that he traveled.

In July of 2007 Lane was arrested after he broke into a 15-year-old girl’s room in Chelmsford Massachusetts in the middle of the night and tried to rape her. The girl’s father heard her scream and held the masked and gloved Lane in a headlock until police arrived, authorities said.

Nice job Dad. Who knows how many more he would have killed.

Lane was carrying knives, a belt with Chinese throwing stars and choke wire during the attack. Police also allegedly found in the cab of his truck a copy of the movie, “Hunting Humans,” which is about a serial killer. “I study them until I’ve got their pattern and it’s easy to do the rest,” says a line from the movie Hunting Humans.

He was recently sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars for the attacks in Pennsylvania under a deal that spared him from Pennsylvania’s death penalty. Too bad.

This is exactly the breed of predator I’ve been screaming about my entire life. The always has been, there is, and there always will be Adam Leroy Lane’s jiggling another door knob.

Live your life and don’t worry about it.

BUT:

  • Lock your doors and windows day and night because you are smart.
  • Beef up the lighting outside your home because you are aware.
  • Install home security cameras because you want a layer of protection.
  • Install a home security alarm because you want your 15 year old to sleep through the night without some freak coming into her room and attacking her.

Robert Siciliano personal security expert to Home Security Source discussing Home Security on NBC Boston. Disclosures.