Here is a “Holiday Top Ten Checklist” from a security perspective that might just make your holiday season a bit brighter if you keep these in mind as you enjoy this wonderful time of year.

1. Check the doors – both when you are leaving AND when you are home.  This is a season of high theft so don’t encourage or make it easy for someone to enter your house, with or without you in it – keep ALL your doors locked.
2. Get extra keys made.  If you have guests from out of town or the kids home from college, rather than leaving the door open for them when they come home, just spend a few dollars and make another half-dozen keys to hand out – just get them back when everyone leaves and your house will be much safer.
3. When in doubt, lock it in the safe.  If you have a safe and you are buying some expensive jewelry for Christmas, just throw it in the safe until the big day, out of sight is always a great idea for not “tempting” would-be robbers.
4. If it’s big, ask the merchant to hold it at their location as long as you can get away with – maybe up until Christmas Eve.  Stores have restarted “layaway” programs, so let them keep the risk and pick it up at the last minute to avoid worry.  Thieves usually stake out a property before they hit and they are looking to see if it is worthwhile based on what they see.
5. Be extra cautious if you are using any of the social media tools.  It might be fun to post on your facebook wall that you are heading out to your company party, but it would be far better to tell them about it after the fact.  This is an announcement to thieves.  Same with twitter or other tools, tell them after the fact, not before to avoid any risk of the word spreading in a bad circle.
6. Be careful when you answer the door.  If you are home alone, don’t answer it unless you know who it is before you answer the door. If someone is going to stop by, then ask them when so you don’t answer the door before they get there.  Also, most people have text messaging today – simply ask them to text you when they arrive so you can answer the door when they arrive and not for a stranger.
7. Not everyone is who they say they are.  This time of year lots of people hire “stalkers” to go around neighborhoods and businesses to offer so called “free holiday services” because you are a good customer.  You don’t get the free service right away, they schedule it.  But what they are really doing is asking you to let them in to check out your house for possible items, find out when you are going to be around, and get a variety of other information to help them rob your house.  Always check with the company if you have any questions, usually before you let them in the door is a good idea.
8. Don’t leave packages in your car overnight if you leave your car out overnight.  Besides the possibility of increased car theft, it is easy to break, grab, and run before anyone is the wiser…especially at 3am.
9. Add a monitored security system and monitor it through this time of year at a minimum.  There might be times you don’t need to have it monitored but this is a great time to have someone ready to dispatch the police or fire units.
10. If you are a helpful citizen and collect presents for others less fortunate, don’t tell everyone the date and time when you will be delivering these “truckloads” of presents.  Generally, the less information you put out in the market the safer you will become.

We have lots more to give you but these 10 should at least get you thinking in the right direction.  If you would like to hear more, feel free to give us a call and we’ll give you even more that might be helpful to your particular situation.  He hope you have a safe and enjoyable holiday…

Their article, “Are You Running With Scissors? Physical Security: What You Should Be Doing Now!” talks about the difference between the two.  I loved their definition of the “copycats”, where they said, “Terrorists are simply thugs with a fancy name. And a thug is a person who wants to steal from you or to hurt you. Copycats are just thugs who don’t even have an original thought.”  Even though they might just be thugs we still have to protect ourselves and businesses from these criminals.

The article gives some great examples around the elements necessary to create a safe and secure environment.  It includes such factors as Risk Security and Assessment and having a Crisis Management Plan.  In essence, the key is to have a well designed security plan that starts with the perimeter and moves inside the organization.  It also gives a great description of how the organization should incorporate the employees as well as outside vendors and partners.  The goal is to build a team that can help provide the guidance and support throughout the organization.

First it is important to get a safe based on what you want to protect and how valuable it is to protect it from theft.  If you put your most valued possessions in a safe that can easily be removed or broken into, this is just wasting money.  Match the value of the goods with the value of protection the safe offers is the easiest rule of thumb.  Besides the size of the safe, there are major differences in how easy they are to open – and not just from professionals like ourselves.  Many safes are not that hard to open if they are cheap and their locking mechanisms are very basic.

The more a safe generally costs, the more protection it gives you against break in and fire.  Those are two key determinants as to the cost of a safe.  So ask yourself how valuable the goods are and that will help direct you to the right safe.  We are trained to ask those types of questions so please feel free to ask away and we will give you the answers based on our experience of seeing how “durable” the safes really are in the real world.  Our recommendations are based on the experiences we have seen first hand and to us, that is the only way to get the straight scoop.

Now for some comparisons.  There are two videos shown below, both are the same building after a fire.  The first video is one of a lower fire rating on a safe and you can see what actually happens to the contents after the fire.  The second one is next to it and had a higher fire rating.  I think you will enjoy seeing the differences.

We do a lot of work with Property Managers and Complex Managers for apartments and condominiums.  Our goal is to not only be readily available and accessible on a moments notice but to help them understand some of the best security options available to them at a reasonable cost.  There is no question it is a differentiator for the apartment complex if their renters feel they offer more security than another similar complex.  So many are using this as a key component, especially with crime rates on the rise due to the economy and other factors.

There was a good article published online by The Crime Doctor, “Apartment Security – Technology Promotes Safety“.  The author, Chris McGoey, talks about some areas to consider that we thought were a good overview of the areas apartment owners should consider.  There are several that are certainly common sense and some that we would encourage you to consider further – especially the ones around Security Technology and Access Control.  These are the two primary areas we help our Apartment building customers get the best protection for their needs.

If you would like to know more about some of the latest technology advances in this area, give us a call or click on the Contact Us” button at the top and we would be happy to answer any of your questions or direct you to the best resource.  Be safe…

According to Wikipedia, here is their description of a Locksmith:

Locksmithing began as the science and art of making and defeating locks. A lock is a mechanism that secures buildings, rooms, cabinets, objects, or other storage facilities. A key is often used to open a lock. Means of opening a lock may include a security token or two-factor authentication for greater security, such as requiring both something you know (a combination) and something you have (a key or keycard).

I loved the phrase “defeating” the lock – how appropriate.  Based on our experience, our locksmith have a pretty high percentage for getting a lock open.  There are certainly those out there that can stump you for a bit but generally speaking, there isn’t a lock that can’t be opened, it just might take some serious time and equipment.  The other key part is that Locksmithing “is the assembly and designing of locks and their respective keys.”

So the basic concept is pretty straight forward, but as with most things, it is all about the execution.  For example, if a locksmith shows up with a large pair of pliers in one hand and a new lock to sell you in the other hand, be wary.  Most of the time our locksmiths can open a lock without destroying it and making you spend the money for a new one.  Sometimes they can’t, but this shouldn’t be the first solution.  Also, many times the lock is “marked up” significantly over what you could buy it for from a store – so again, know who you are dealing with and how they make their money.

There are also big differences in locksmith in regard to quality.  Of course they should be with a company that is bonded and insured, but how do you know about their reputation.  If all they have is a number listed in the Yellow Pages, you might be getting what you pay for – someone operating out of their truck waiting for their cell phone to ring.  Our recommendation is to check them out – get the names of some of their customers and their backgrounds.  In the end, it will cost you a lot less to work with a well-trained, experienced, and reliable locksmith than the ones that appear to be “inexpensive” on the front end.  I hope this helps – it is always nice to learn what others say what you do…

There was a story out of Hollywood, “Universal Studios has massive security breach caused by…A.A. meetings?!“, that I wanted to share with you because it was so appropriate to this issue.  Apparently, as the story goes, Universal Studios claims to have some of the best security around and invests hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain this security.  At least they thought they did.  Apparently, it was as easy to walk onto the Universal Studios lot by simply uttering the phrase, “I’m a friend of Bill’s” and you were granted access.

I don’t know about you, but I thought that only happened with our kids and their secret passwords their friends muttered to get into their fort or play house.  I guess it is still alive and well today.  Check out this story, at a minimum it is good for a laugh but more importantly, I would check out your own security and see if there are any “secret codes or handshakes” that would allow someone to easily breach your security – even if you have spent thousands of dollars on all the right stuff.

There was an interesting story out of San Francisco written about “Ineffective Security Cameras” in public housing.  The article makes a very direct point that many times is missed by a company or organization, such as the case with this public housing project.  In a nutshell, they put all the time and money into having a security company, like ourselves, come in and install a very extensive camera monitoring system.  On the surface this seems like a great move.  But when you read further, you find out that no one was there to monitor the activity in real time – thus the crime levels didn’t go down.

In fact, the crime kept increasing because either the criminals figured it out or they just realized they weren’t going to be caught.  The other interesting part of this story is the “quality” of the surveillance system.  Whoever decided on the particular cameras they used, didn’t take into account that most of the crimes happened at night and so it was important to be able to review “night footage” to determine who the perpetrators were so the police could track them down.  Apparently, the cameras were not high quality enough to show detail at night so they couldn’t identify many of the criminals.

Two morals jump out of this story.

• If you are going to invest in any type of security system, make sure you go all the way and make it secure from top to bottom.  Don’t leave yourself vulnerable in one area because the criminal will capitalize on that weak link.  As in this case, monitor it if you install it so you can use the power of the technology to protect you and your assets
• Make sure you get the right equipment for the right job.  In this case, they should have purchased surveillance equipment that was specifically designed for night use since this is when most of the crime happened.  A good security consultant will help you see these issues and should point them out so you don’t invest the money and not get the results.

So in the end, do your homework up front and go all the way so you know you are as secure as possible.

Many people have now heard of a technique that is out there called “Lock Bumping” as a way of opening a door.  Essentially, it is inserting the key into the lock and then “bumping” it hard enough where the tumblers move and the lock is now open.  This is much more common with the cheaper locks on the market today and if you have a solid lock, like one from Medeco your likelihood is significantly reduced.  The blog goes on to point out that if you buy a cheap lock, you can expect to get it bumped.

Now here is the interesting point they were making in the post.  You can spend tens of thousands of dollars on IT, including security systems on the computers and servers but if the cyber thief can gain access to the computers they can do just about anything.  So while all this time and money is spent on “locking down” your computer systems, minimal amount of money is being spent on the lock to keep them out.  As noted in the article, these locks can be “bumped” in as little as 60 seconds.   So it doesn’t make sense to us to have all this security being spent to keep people out of your information and employee accounts, only to allow them much easier access through your doors.

Whether you use Watson Security advisors or someone else, get someone to come in who knows all about helping you build a “security strategy” so you are spending your money wisely and you are fixing the weakest link in your overall security systems.  Stop people or at least make it difficult for them to gain entry into your most valuable asset – your information.  Put a plan together where you look for these “weak links” in your system so you can avoid losing your most valuable assets just because you “didn’t know any better.”

One thing you might not realize is that it takes a special license to install and work on safes – and for good reason.  You don’t want just anyone installing or working on your safe who has the ability to open it without knowing the combination.  You are protected by law – as long as you use a reputable and licensed installer.  Safes offer a level of physical security that cannot be matched with the door and walls of a building.  Safes can provide burglary protection or fire protection in addition to normal building security.  Some questions you should ask are:

• What am I going to store in the safe?
• How much will I be storing in the safe?
• How often will I be accessing the safe?

Based on these questions, you can determine the best type and size of safe for your business or personal needs.  One of the most common mistakes when buying a safe is to not match it up with your specific needs identified in the questions above.  There is also the question of fire safety as well.  Another common mistake is to purchase your safe online because many shop based on size and not on need.  Size of save may not be the correct criteria if you need certain types of protection, including fire.  We recommend to have “Peace of Mind” that you talk with one of our Safe Professionals so you can specifically match your needs to the right product.