Home Security Basics

Physical security for the home describes measures that are designed to deny access to unauthorized personnel (including attackers or even accidental intruders) from physically accessing a building, facility, resource, or stored information; and guidance on how to design structures to resist potentially hostile acts.  Physical security can be as simple as a locked door or as elaborate as multiple layers of barriers, armed security guards and guardhouse placement. Good physical security uses the concept of layered defense, in appropriate combinations to deter and delay intrusions (passive defense), and detect and respond to intrusions (active defense). Ultimately it should be too difficult, risky or costly to an attacker to even attempt an intrusion. However, strong security measures also come at a cost, and there can be no perfect security. It is up to a security designer to balance security features and a tolerable amount of personnel access against available resources, risks to assets to be protected, and even aesthetics. There are also life-cycle sustaining costs to consider.

Physical security is not a modern phenomenon. Physical security exists in order to deter or prevent persons from entering a physical facility. Historical examples of physical security include city walls, moats, etc.

The technology used for physical security has changed over time. While in past eras, there was no passive infrared (PIR) based technology, electronic access control systems, or video surveillance system (VSS) cameras, the essential methodology of physical security has not altered over time. Fundamentally, good physical security is a combination of defensive principles designed to:

deter
delay
detect, and
respond (and ultimately, deny access)
... to intrusions into critical physical spaces. The first two actions of deter and delay are considered passive defense, while the remaining are active in nature.

Added  Home Security May Lower Insurance Rates For Home And Business Owners

One thing that many home and business owners neglect to check when establishing security measures for their homes and businesses is whether or not the standards being established will actually work to lower their insurance rates. Just as many companies reward safe drivers and drivers who own cars with GPS tracking enabled, they also reward home owners that take logical and practical steps to reduce the vulnerability of the homes to invasion as well as other security risks such as fire.

This is one question you should ask the security expert that assesses your home or business for security measures and upgrades as he should be able to give you a 'heads up' when it comes to this sort of information and which insurance companies prize these sorts of upgrades more heavily. The bottom line is that the experts keep up with this type of information in order to encourage hesitant buyers to make the purchase. In all fairness toe the experts; the fact remains that much of the costs involved in these security measures can be recovered through the discounts that are applied to the insurance costs.

One thing that may be worth mentioning is that in some cases, the savings translate into enough money to cover the monthly monitoring fees that the security services charge. When compared to the insurance savings, the peace of mind that is involved in providing these added security measures to your home or business is well worth any additional costs in most cases. This is particularly true if ever the time comes when these things pay off by protecting your family or employees as these security measures are designed to do.

Insurance companies are well aware that property is not only damaged due to theft but in many cases possessions are taken away from homeowners, never to be recovered. Some of these possessions are priceless in value, as dollar signs do not begin to touch their significance. However, by taking preventative measures to protect your belongings, most insurance companies will find you a more acceptable risk simply for taking the small step of hiring a monitored security company.

Other things you can do when it comes to the safety and security of your home or business include getting a new roof that is fire resistant, installing a fire extinguishing system, offering courses on fire safety (to employees), and installing fire barriers in larger companies that should work to protect some of the building even when all of the building cannot be protected.

Upgrading the electrical services in your home or business can also help you save money on your insurance as it reduces yet another fire risk. Fire is one of the greatest damaging forces that the average business will experience as far as structural risks goes and one that is in many cases preventable by taking certain measures. There is very little that can actually be done to protect a business or home from the ravages of flood or tornadoes so there is little hope available for lowering the price of your insurance premiums by seeking to defend against these types of damage.

In many cases, small steps can net big rewards when insurance companies sees the combined total of your efforts to protect your home or business not only from invasion but also the dangers that often arise from within. Protecting the structure of your home or office is only a small part of the security efforts that should be implemented by taking the steps to do just that often make a big impression on big business and will result in savings for you down the road.

Remember always that prevention is the best cure and insurance companies know this as well as you know it. For this reason, they are willing, in many cases, to reward those who take this information to heart and act upon it. Check with your insurance company and see if your new security measures for your home and business will actually cost less in the long run than you may have originally thought.

Pros And Cons Of Hidden Surveillance Cameras for home security

Hidden surveillance cameras are more common around the world than most of us realize. They can be found in bus stops, convenience stores, fast food restaurants, homes, and ATM machines on almost every continent. These cameras are often fed into video recording devices though on occasion they are monitored by real life security personnel in order to deter crimes and rapidly identify offenders. Chances are fairly certain that if you've been in any casino in the modern world that you have been carefully scrutinized on camera. Actually, chances are that if you've been almost anywhere in America your image has been captured by a hidden surveillance camera somewhere along the way.

Among the reasons for the extreme popularity and wide use of these cameras for both home and business security purposes are the facts that they are small, they do not take up a lot of real estate, they are not obvious, and they are quite affordable when compared to other security methods. However monitored surveillance methods are more costly, for those who would require this type of monitoring it is well worth the price. These cameras are as effective in small 'mom and pop' type stores and restaurants around the country as they are in identifying those who break into homes that have these cameras.

There are however, a few drawbacks that should be addressed when considering a small, hidden, surveillance camera as part of a home or business security plan. One of the drawbacks to these types of cameras is that they offer a very narrow or limited view. If these cameras are being used to identify perpetrators in a court of law reasonable doubt could easily be established unless the perpetrator in question happens to be well within the field of vision for the camera. Another drawback is that these devices are very small and do not necessarily offer the best quality and highest resolution when it comes to photographs.

Another common complaint when it comes to the use of these cameras is that they do invade the understanding of privacy that many expect. Most are more upset by the fact that they were filmed and mistrusted in the first place far more than the fact that they were caught in the act so to speak. People, especially in the United States, have an expectation of privacy that many feel hidden surveillance cameras trample upon. For this reason the use of these cameras in order to identify perpetrators is hotly debated and highly contested. At this point in time as long as there is no audio recording most states will allow the video. Check with state laws in your area however before recording sounds as some states require that those being recorded by audio devices are informed of this fact.

If you are hoping to catch employees, nannies, and housekeepers in the act of stealing from you or abusing their authorities and privileges then a hidden surveillance camera is an excellent choice. The same holds true for customers who would steal as well. These cameras can quite often be valuable tools in identifying those who transgress against you. However, the hidden nature of hidden cameras really prevent them from being an effective crime deterrent and this should be carefully considered before relying on them as a sole means of defense or security for your home and/or business.

Technology Adds Security To Home Security And Business Door Locks

There are many technological wonders in the world today. Not the least among these wonders is the new technologies that exist in order to allow families and employees to feel a little bit safer within the confines of their homes and workplaces. One way this is accomplished is through a new technology that allows people to unlock a door by entering a key. Well, this is not exactly new technology though it is newly implemented in the average market. For perhaps the first time, this is an affordable option for use as another home or business security measure even for the smallest of businesses.

More than offering another layer of security for keeping intruders out, there is an added layer of security for allowing family members and/or employees in quickly even when keys are not easily found. Parents will never need to worry about teens forgetting their keys and being locked out. More importantly, families will no longer need to implement a hiding place for keys in this unfortunate event. Cold weather, rain, and panic (because of noises in the night) will no longer mitigate the ability to find keys in the bottoms of purses, handbags, and backpacks-a simple key code is all that will be needed in order to gain entry.

In addition to this benefit however is the added benefit that many of these interesting door locks also have the technology to read a card in order to unlock as well as a device attached to key fobs. You can also avoid fumbling around in the dark trying to force the key to actually fit into the lock. This will be taken care of automatically. No more lost time, broken nails, or dropped groceries in an effort to gain entry into the home. This home and/or business security feature can eliminate these issues all together.

For employers who own businesses, this adds another layer of security, as it can be a requirement for entry into the building. Pass out cards to all employees with a unique identifying number and at any given time there should be a clear record of who was in the building after hours or who gained early entry into the building. If anything is amiss there is a record of who came and went when (of course this isn't infallible but it will help if ever there is a need for this information).

Security is important to all of us in this day and age. In fact, security is probably a greater concern for most at this point in time than it was during the height of the Cuban missile crisis. No longer are the unseen enemies far away but now they can work in the same office or live next door. The bad guys do not always wear black hats and, unfortunately, they most often do not carry signs around proclaiming their evil intentions. We need to protect our families, our employees, and ourselves from the potential evil within as much as the evil that exists outside our borders. This device allows business owners to closely monitor who comes and goes within their business and that isn't necessarily a bad thing in the modern world.

The technology exists and is now more affordable than at any other time in the past. As a matter of fact, it isn't much more expensive to obtain this technology as it would be to purchase one of the higher end door locks and deadbolts that are on the market today. For this reason alone it is a good idea to keep this technology in mind and consider incorporating it into both your home and your business as an added security protocol.

If you are considering a security upgrade for your home or business, an electronic entry system is well worth looking into. The benefits go far beyond the typical security measure of keeping those who aren't exactly invited in but also allows record keeping of those that come and go in businesses and much easier access for homes.