Neighborhood Watch: Beyond Break-In's
One of those old sayings we often hear in reference to crime is "You could go to sleep and leave the door unlocked." That is a wonderful notion, but the truth is that most of us would not leave unlocked doors even in the lowest crime areas. Locks on doors serve as a detterent to those who may want to get in and steal from us at a time when we wouldn't be very aware . . . while we sleep.
Locks are very important and necessary for most of our property. This includes our houses, cars, etc. When it comes to our cars what do most thieves do? They walk from car to car looking for the one with the car door left unlocked. Most incidents involving car theft involve the car door not being locked. Thieves require one thing . . . opportunity. Your best defense is to eliminate that opportunity.
Make a walk-through each night before going to bed and make sure all doors are locked. If my husband comes to bed after me, I always asked if he checked.
Keep the car locked at all times.
Make sure your garage door is locked at all times.
If you take the dog out at night, keep an eye out for anyone walking around that you don't recognize and they are not walking a dog. I know in my neighborhood, no one is out at night except the dog owners. It's just how it is. So the one walking around or lurking by a house that I do not recognize is suspicious to me and it's probably time to make a phone call.
The following is a link to a pamphlet provided by the National Neighborhood Watch in regards to protecting yourself against crime:
http://www.usaonwatch.org/pdfs/RuralCrime.pdf
Now, let's look at another kind of lock we may forget about . . . lock your computer! The wireless router has become commonplace in many homes and especially businesses today. These devices carry alocal internet signal over a house, office, or other building and allow the convenience of accessing the internet without plugging into anything. It is a great technology, but also adds security risks especially when used in households (this is where security measures are less likely to be taken). What most don't realize is that these devices will project that signal outside of your walls. Try taking your laptop outside and you'll see that you still get signal and internet access. The problem emerges that besides you using that signal . . . so can anyone else in the area . . . even those in a neighboring house. Are they just able to use the internet service you are paying for? It actually can be more than that. Once connected to that router, it is possible then to access folders and other information you may have on your PC(s). This is especially true if you ave multiple PC's and "share" folders. The great thing is that every router has security built into it that can be conigured to keep others out. The manufacturer of your router will have the information on how to set this up. Here are some tips to keep your computer locked up:
Change the password to your router. Every router comes with a default password, and anyone attempting to 'sneak' into your PC will know what it is. They then have the ability to chnge whatever security changes you set up if the password isn't changed.
Enable WEP Security Encryption. I recommend 128-Bit. It's kind of a pain because it randomly creates a very lengthy Alphanumeric code which must be entered twice into the PC trying to use the signal from this router. The good thing is, you only have to do it once. I recommend storing both the router password and the WEP Key in a safe place. You may never know when you will need them again.
Keep virus and security software up-to-date on ALL of your PC's!
Firewalls are great and are usually built into each router. I recommend turning off the Windows Firewall if you are using a router since you may encounter multiple blocking issues causing software not to work properly. It tends to be overkill, and quite frankly I have found the Windows Firewall was designed really keep block everything . . . including you actually getting on the internet and using it.
Again, STAY AWARE & STAY SAFE!
Question asked via StreetAdvisor
The opinions expressed here are those of the individual and not those of Douglas Elliman.
Locks are very important and necessary for most of our property. This includes our houses, cars, etc. When it comes to our cars what do most thieves do? They walk from car to car looking for the one with the car door left unlocked. Most incidents involving car theft involve the car door not being locked. Thieves require one thing . . . opportunity. Your best defense is to eliminate that opportunity.
Make a walk-through each night before going to bed and make sure all doors are locked. If my husband comes to bed after me, I always asked if he checked.
Keep the car locked at all times.
Make sure your garage door is locked at all times.
If you take the dog out at night, keep an eye out for anyone walking around that you don't recognize and they are not walking a dog. I know in my neighborhood, no one is out at night except the dog owners. It's just how it is. So the one walking around or lurking by a house that I do not recognize is suspicious to me and it's probably time to make a phone call.
The following is a link to a pamphlet provided by the National Neighborhood Watch in regards to protecting yourself against crime:
http://www.usaonwatch.org/pdfs/RuralCrime.pdf
Now, let's look at another kind of lock we may forget about . . . lock your computer! The wireless router has become commonplace in many homes and especially businesses today. These devices carry alocal internet signal over a house, office, or other building and allow the convenience of accessing the internet without plugging into anything. It is a great technology, but also adds security risks especially when used in households (this is where security measures are less likely to be taken). What most don't realize is that these devices will project that signal outside of your walls. Try taking your laptop outside and you'll see that you still get signal and internet access. The problem emerges that besides you using that signal . . . so can anyone else in the area . . . even those in a neighboring house. Are they just able to use the internet service you are paying for? It actually can be more than that. Once connected to that router, it is possible then to access folders and other information you may have on your PC(s). This is especially true if you ave multiple PC's and "share" folders. The great thing is that every router has security built into it that can be conigured to keep others out. The manufacturer of your router will have the information on how to set this up. Here are some tips to keep your computer locked up:
Change the password to your router. Every router comes with a default password, and anyone attempting to 'sneak' into your PC will know what it is. They then have the ability to chnge whatever security changes you set up if the password isn't changed.
Enable WEP Security Encryption. I recommend 128-Bit. It's kind of a pain because it randomly creates a very lengthy Alphanumeric code which must be entered twice into the PC trying to use the signal from this router. The good thing is, you only have to do it once. I recommend storing both the router password and the WEP Key in a safe place. You may never know when you will need them again.
Keep virus and security software up-to-date on ALL of your PC's!
Firewalls are great and are usually built into each router. I recommend turning off the Windows Firewall if you are using a router since you may encounter multiple blocking issues causing software not to work properly. It tends to be overkill, and quite frankly I have found the Windows Firewall was designed really keep block everything . . . including you actually getting on the internet and using it.
Again, STAY AWARE & STAY SAFE!
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