17 Ways To Make Your Home Impenetrable And Save Up To Thousands Of Dollars

In this quick post, I am linking you to a good article, which contains 17 ways to make your home secure while saving money.  These tips are simple but are very effective in keeping unwanted criminals out.

Hackable Children Toys

Given the time of the year, we find ourselves with the holidays closing and most of us searching out the hottest toys, lots of which are now smart enabled toys.  Like with any new smart technology using Bluetooth to connect to other smart devices with access to the Internet creates the opportunity for these smart toys to hacked.

This includes children's smart toys.  In this short post, I will identify 3 hackable toys among many other smart toys currently available for purchase this holiday season.  In regards to a particular smart toy, there are really no differences.  Most of these smart toys, if not all, operate the same way, using Bluetooth technology to connect to other smart devices.

My Friend Carla:

Carla is a smart, interactive doll that can chat with children. Her Bluetooth capability works with her app and blocks pre-loaded “bad” words and subjects. 

Furby Connect:

The latest update to Furby connects to the Furby Connect World App to provide more physical and digital ways to interact. It also has LCD-screen animated eyes and can say more than 1,000 phrases. 

I-Que Intelligent Robot:

I-Que intelligent Robot is an interactive robot who can talk, tell jokes and quiz children. It uses Bluetooth to pair with its app, but smartphones can identify it as a hands-free headset without even installing the app.

How Important Is Your Front Door Lock?

So for my first blog post, I would like to discuss residential front door locks.  I have been meaning to upgrade my existing front and rear door locks for some time now.  However, not knowing which brands to purchase can cause hesitation.  When purchasing a front or rear door lock you want to purchase a device that will impede or even discourage a more knowledgeable and experienced burglar.  Burglars, usually seek easy targets, locks that are easier to bypass without having to apply force to enter.  Burglars look for door locks or brands they know are easier to pick or use a bump key.  When visiting your local Home Depot or Lowes Home Improvement store, there is usually a wide selection of front door locks.  The problem here is these home improvement store's usual focus is not necessarily based on the locks security performance but rather, competitive pricing.  Selecting a good front or rear door lock is vital not just for protecting your valuables but what's truly most important your loved ones. 

Crime statistics show that an astonishing 34% of burglarsenter through the front door, and 3 out of 10 burglaries, with someone, home show 7% of these victims experienced some type of violent crime.  What’s even more surprising is the high percentage rate, 95% of household front doors locks can be compromised by either lock picking or bump keys techniques.   The key here is time, the time it takes a burglar to pick a lock, the more time needed, the likelihood the burglar will skip your door and move on to an easier target.

In researching front door locks, I compared the pros and cons of the different locking systems.  The goal was to find a better locking system that would defend against lock picking and bump key techniques.  A good front door locking system will provide a high level of security effectiveness while also providing convenience.   You can read more about specific brands here, 12 Best Front Door Locks.  I will just list two differences between the traditional deadbolt and the new smart locks system.

Smart locks are not focused on security. They are more concerned with convenience. The automated nature of these locks provides its users with an added layer of convenience and efficiency than traditional locks do not give.  The smart lock keyless model cannot be picked open, however, are susceptible to a potential cyber attack. 

Higher end deadbolt locks incorporated defenses against lock picking and bump key attempts.  They do this by utilizing advanced quality made disk detainer systems.  The disk detainer system uses false gates on every disk inside the lock which makes picking attacks almost impossible for even some of the most skilled locksmiths and locks picking aficionados.  A false gate is a cut on the internal disks that simulates the feeling of the disk being moved to the proper rotation point. These gates are intentionally shallower than the true gate.  Bump keys do not work on this lock due to the need for rotation and not elevation.

Taking the time to do your home before investing in a front door lock can save you both time and money in the long run.  For more similar security related information you can follow me on twitter.

My Introductory Post

Dear readers, I am s security minded individual with many years of experience.  I want to share physical security best practices providing my reader's information they can use to protect themselves and their loved ones against the different security vulnerabilities affecting both physical and the cyber security realm.

So what is physical security exactly?  We can summarize physical security as protective measures that are meant to ensure the safety of people, resources, and other important assets, from physical threats.

My intentions with this new blog are two-fold.  Frist, I would like to establish myself as the security specialist as I have identified myself in my blog's profile.  Secondly, I want to provide useful information that can be used by both the ordinary individual and even the commercial industry.  My professional experience includes approximately 22 years of law enforcement and national security experience.  In fact, the last 12 years of my career have been working with a U.S. government employee focused on national security.  What most people don't understand is that the more layers of physical and cyber security we are able to put in place creates a solid security foundation which helps with maintaining and improving our national security.

My goal is to provide a steady flow of insightful information that can be implemented in your very busy lives to eliminate security threats which otherwise would expose you to dangers.