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Idiot Burglar takes Selfie

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About 7 a.m. on a Saturday a burglar entered a home through an unlocked side door (how anyone can sleep overnight while a door stays unlocked is a whole new article).

3BThe dumb criminal saw an iPhone and unknowingly triggered a video selfie—showing him standing in the living room during this recent L.A. crime—while three residents were fast asleep including two teen girls. (Again, why didn’t the adult of the home, a woman, lock all the doors…)

A similar scene played out in the UK when a woman tried to unlock a hot iPhone. It had an app called iGotYa. This application automatically sends a photo to the owner.

Another case has the owner of a phone receiving an e-mail of a photo of a man who tried to access the phone with a wrong PIN.

These “got ya” moments can happen to an innocent finder of a lost phone.

There’s yet another case of a man who apparently stole a phone on the beach while its lax female owner went skinny dipping. This occurred in Dubai, and the thief was not able to figure out how to switch off the auto-photo upload tool. As a result, a video ensued called “Life of a stranger who stole my iPhone.”

There are easier ways to locate a lost phone than a “got ya” type app, though this application might one day come in handy for the woman whose unlocked door let in the burglar—who is still at large and nameless.

Android

  • Google has a “Find My Phone” tool. Just type this into the Google search engine and take it from there.
  • There are many paid and free apps that provide numerous commands for remote control such as wiping data, locking the phone, setting off an alarm and resetting the passcode.

Apple

  • Apple has “Find my iPhone”.
  • The lost phone is tracked.
  • Users can remotely wipe it.
  • Just locking it (without wiping it) can still leave messages viewable to anyone who comes upon the phone.

A “kill switch” would allow the phone’s owner to remotely wipe all data and render the phone unusable. In California a new law was passed mandating that, starting this past July, all mobiles sold in the state must have a kill switch.

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

10 Get Smart Home Security Tips

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The season to give is also the season to steal. Burglars are always looking for great deals—you know—the house that looks like nobody’s ever home; the house that has lots of shrubbery crowding out the doors and windows so that nobody can see the prowler spending 20 minutes trying to break in; the house with the huge Christmas tree in the window and a three-foot-high pile of gifts engulfing it.

BeOnHere’s how to make your house look very unappealing to burglars:

  1. Make it look occupied at all times. When you leave, leave some lights on. Leave a TV on so that the flickering can be seen from outside. Better yet, check the preventative BeOn burglar deterrent home security system that adds a layer of security using light and sound as deterrents to stop break-ins before they happen. Their Kickstarter campaign is rocking two Boston sports celebrities, check it out! Backing BeOn on Kickstarter helps accelerate development of these features to make the occupied home even more convincing.
  2. Don’t just automatically open the door when the doorbell rings unless you know who’s on the other side. And, it is not rude to ignore someone at your door! “But it might be a neighbor!” You’re not obligated to answer your door if you don’t know who it is. Unless you can clearly see it’s a trust person, don’t answer.
  3. When you order something to be delivered to your house, make an effort to be there to receive it so that a casing burglar doesn’t see an unattended package and think, “Nobody’s home.” Its also a good idea to set up a UPS and Fedex account to be notified of such deliveries.
  4. Keep the gifts that are under the tree invisible to the outside.
  5. If you travel, put your newspaper and mail delivery on vacation hold.
  6. If you’re traveling, notify the police that you’ll be out of town; ask them if they can drive by every so often to make sure things look okay.
  7. If you have a dog, see if you can arrange to have someone house sit so that the dog can stay at the house to bark in response to any prowlers.
  8. Don’t leave the boxes, that expensive items came in, sticking out of your rubbish at the curb. Tear them down so that they can be concealed inside the trash cans.
  9. Do not reveal your travel plans online, and instruct your kids not to.
  10. If you have a security system, put their stickers on all your windows and their sign in your yard. If you don’t have a system, get ahold of some stickers and signs anyways and put them up.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BeOn Home Security discussing burglar proofing your home on NECN. Disclosures.

Finally: a Proactive Layer for your Home Security System

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Any complete security system requires proactive and reactive components.  Until now, no one had ever focused on the proactive side.  BeON has arrived to update this product category, and they have done it in a simple and elegant way that gives you security without the stress while you’re away…and also yields safety while you’re at home.

BeOnThere’s “smart” everything these days, including light bulbs. But the “smart” light bulb you’re probably familiar with is smart only in terms of convenience. It’s a dunce in terms of security.

But now, there finally is a truly intelligent light bulb: BeON Home’s smart lighting system, which is designed to repel home intruders. It’s one thing to detect crime in progress. But it’s a whole new animal when crime is prevented. The BeON Burglar Deterrent deters burglars.

BeON’s product goes in like any ordinary light bulb, but these special bulbs will then actually “learn” your home’s pattern of light usage. So if you then leave the house for a long time, BeON will replicate this pattern. If anyone’s been casing your house and observing your lights-on, lights-off schedule, they will be fooled into thinking you’re home when BeON replays the pattern while you’re out.

But there’s more. We all know about the light above the garage that suddenly goes on when a criminal walks up the driveway. He’ll have to be mighty dense to think that this light was flipped on by the homeowner’s fingers.

However, the BeON interior bulbs will be triggered at the sound of a doorbell (many intruders first ring the bell). The bulbs will flip on lights in a sequential manner, mimicking human-controlled use. This will make the would-be intruder think someone’s home. Even if there’s a power outage, these bulbs will work.

The bulbs include a rechargeable battery and all the fixin’s for top-flight security technology including connection to Bluetooth. The bulbs produce normal-looking light (similar to what a regular 60W bulb would emit).

BeON’s bulbs, though, talk to each other about your light-use behaviors. So if you habitually flip the kitchen light on at 2 a.m. for your middle-of-the-night ice cream splurge, these bulbs will learn this and go on at this time when you’re on your two-week vacation.

In addition to detecting the doorbell ringing, BeON will sense other alarms such as for smoke. Your lights will flare on so that you can escape the fire without having to fumble around for light switches.

The investment (reasonable) for these security light bulbs is well worth it, and shipments will commence April of 2015.

Support BeOn on Kickstarter so they can can continue to develop new security deterrents. I love this!!!!!!!!!!

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BeOn Home Security discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

4 Different types of burglary and burglars

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https://safr.me/webinar/  | Robert Siciliano is the #1 Security Expert in the United States with over 25 years of experience! He is here to help you become more aware of the risks and strategies to help protect yourself, your family, your business, and your entire life. Robert brings identity theft, personal security, fraud prevention and cyber security to light so that criminals can no longer hide in the dark. You need to be smarter than criminals yesterday so that they don’t take advantage of you today! If you would like to learn more about Security Awareness, then sign up for Robert’s latest webinar!

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Burglars are opportunists. They seek out opportunity often to support a drug habit or other uncivil reasons for turning your stuff into cash. Burglaries and burglars come in different flavors, here’s a taste.

  • Simple burglary: The act of entering any type of structure without permission (regardless if the entry is unlocked) with the intention of stealing something inside. A conviction will net prison time up to 12 years.
  • Aggravated burglary: The structure that the criminal gains unauthorized entry into contains a person, or, the intruder has a dangerous weapon, or, the burglar commits harm to that individual. The punishment is up to 30 years in the slammer.
  • Home invasion. Unlike aggravated burglary, in which the burglar doesn’t know that the structure is inhabited at the time of the crime, the home invader knows in advance that at least one person is inside, and premeditates using violence or force against that person. Or, the intent is to damage or deface the interior. Punishment goes up to 20 years and includes hard labor.
  • The looter takes advantage of an establishment, dwelling or vehicle that’s unprotected due to a hurricane or other disaster, or due to mass rioting. Prison time goes up to 15 years. If the crime occurs during a declared state of emergency, the convict will get hard labor that may exceed 15 years.

Type of Burglars

The common & simple. This thief seeks out easy fast targets, such as open windows and unlocked doors. Since the ease of the crime is the driving force rather than advanced knowledge of valuables, this burglar often ends up with “stuff” that can be exchanged for cash.

The hunter. The burglary is based on premeditation, scouting around neighborhoods for valuables. They’ll take advantage of unlocked doors and windows, but are willing to be careless and will smash through windows or bash down doors, then grab anything that they can stuff into pockets or a rucksack.

The prowler. This smarter type operates with more finesse, targeting structures where they know the valuable can be swiftly sold on the black market. Often, the prowler is a former hunter who developed savviness and efficiency along the way.

The specialist. This is the top fight burglar, concentrating on wealthy estates, selecting targets very carefully, usually working within a crime ring. Only high-value items will suffice, and thus specialist burglars may also target businesses and warehouses.

Now you know. So get a home security system.

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

How hackable is my Home Security System?

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In a few words, there are some issues. But, really, don’t worry about it. But be aware of whats going on. So are your home’s Internet-connected smart gadgets smart enough to ward off hackers? A research team found that they’re pretty dumb in this area.

4DA house was filled with smart gadgets in an experiment to see if researchers could hack into their security systems.

Baby monitors and Wi-Fi cameras bombed. One camera even granted access after the default login and password were entered. These gadgets use web server software to post online images, and that’s where the loophole exists—in over five million gadgets already online.

The researchers were able to take control of other gadgets as well. There’s a widely used networking system by the gadgets, called UPnP. This allowed the researchers to gain control. The gadgets use UPnP to reach servers that are out on the wider network, and this can expose them to hackers. When a password is built-in and can’t be changed, this makes the situation even worse.

A rather unnerving part of the experiment involved a microphone on a smart TV. The team was able to bug a living room through this. So if you’re sitting there with no shirt on enjoying a movie on that smart TV…someone could be sitting a thousand miles away—or down the street—enjoying watching YOU.

With the way cyber crime is evolving, the risks of having smart gadgets will likely grow bigger and bigger.

The prognosis from the research: Looks like smart gadgets will be easy prey for cyber predators in the near future. Manufacturers need to improve their ability to secure their products. And there’s no simple method for updating the flimsy firmware on the smart gadgets in the first place.

And would it be cost-effective to improve products? One researcher says yes for many products. Would “hardening” the products compromise their usability? For the most part, no. A balance can be struck. But right now, compromised usability is the least of the problems out there. There’s actually a lot of room to fix the flaws without hampering the user’s experience.

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

Brazen Burglars Broke into the Same House Three Times in a Week

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In the first hit they made off with a television and four-figure sum of cash, plus a key to the garden shed.

They came back, let themselves into the shed, and took garden tools but were spotted by the returning home owners.

The GazzetteNews reported the homeowner investigated after noticing the shed door was open, and saw four people in the park behind the house, two of them were holding the tools stolen from the shed and the group ran off.

The burglars then made a third attempt on the house and caused damage to the property.

Local law enforcement well aware of the ongoing break-ins assembled a team of detectives to thwart the property crimes and to try and break the pattern.

Their strategy is to visit well-known suspects, keeping tabs on their whereabouts and doing what they can to “divert” these individuals from crime.

“They also work closely with victims, providing them with support and giving them advice on home and personal safety.” “Anyone who has had to deal with a burglary will know that it’s not just the financial loss that is difficult; more often than not, items of huge sentimental value are taken, so it also has a huge emotional impact too.”

“This is completely unacceptable and the teams will be doing all they can to prevent this from happening to residents in our communities.”

Bravo to all involved in the effort to preserve the sanctity of citizen’s rights to safety and security.

But what’s missing in this story is the homeowner being proactive and doing something to keep the burglars out in the first place. Often a home alarm monitored at a dollar a day will do the trick. In my case, first my cameras see them coming day and night and that notifies me with an audible alert. Second, once they get close enough the German Shepherd lets me and them know she is ready. Third, the doors and windows are all locked. Fourth they need to get through the home alarm system and if they trip it, the local police are called.

If they do make their way in, the Shepherd knows what to do next. Me? If I’m home I’m taking the family out of there as quickly as possible and heading to safety, then pizza.

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

How to Mess With a Burglar’s Head

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So you follow set guidelines for home security tips and installed all the necessary technologies like a wireless alarm system to prevent the bad guy from breaking in. But Murphy’s Law dropkicked you and all failed for whatever reason and the bad guy is in your home while you are away on business or at work.

Here’s a do it yourself cheap way to have a home security camera system to spook the jerk and possibly get him caught. This is easier than it sounds. But take your time and have fun.

If you are like me, you have old computers in your closest collecting dust that are too slow to actually surf the Net and get things done efficiently. Now is a good time to put them to good and fun use.

1. Clean up the operating system and make it functional. Connect it to the Net and leave it on.

2. Install cheap $10 webcams that have audio and the cam will pan the area, tilt and zoom.

3. Dig out your old computer speakers and connect them to the PC and set them to LOUD.

4. Download and install free Skype. Skype is voice over the internet that also supports webcams. With Skype you can call anyone on Skype and talk to them via a webcam. Make sure your home and work PC has Skype and a webcam or your road ready laptop has Sykpe and a webcam.

5. You need to set up 2 different accounts on Skype, one for home and one for work. Each has a different user name and set them to auto login when the PC starts.

6. Download and set up the dusty home PC or laptop with free “LogMeIn.com” remote access technology software. This software allows you to remotely access the home PC from anywhere. When you log into your home PC from the road you can fully control that home PC like you are sitting in front of it.

7. From work, Skype into the Home PC and call it from your work PC then “answer” the call while remotely logged in.

8. Now you have full control over the web camera on the home PC and you can pan, tilt zoom and your voice now broadcasts over the home PC speakers.

9. Download Korn, Disturbed, MegaDeath, Marilyn Manson, Metallica or my personal favorite, the ultimate creep tune: “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.” Or the Police’s “Every Breath You Take… I’ll be Watching You.” Record a dog barking on a loop. If you’re a movie buff dig out some sound clips from horror movies with lots of blood curdling screams that play incessantly on a loop. Now we’re cooking with gas!

10. When you Skype in and see a burglar call the police. Then start talking to him like you’re in the next room and tell him that the cops are coming to get his sorry self. Then blast the music at level 10 to freak him out. If you really want to mess with him play anything from Yoko Ono. Loud!

Robert Siciliano personal security expert to Home Security Source discussing Using Skype and Webcams to Spy on The CW. Disclosures.