Thursday, September 03, 2009

Hide In Plain View and Other Security Thoughts


I got my weekly email from the Associated Locksmiths of America this afternoon and there were some good ideas worth passing along. I’m gadget oriented and found the old fake rock hide a key of interest years ago, then came the shave cream can with the hidden compartment to hide your money. (You may recall how this was used in the movie Jurassic Park to hide the dinosaur embryos that were to be stolen.) Now there’s a company selling fake surge protectors that you can take along when you go on vacation or for just around the house. It looks like a standard surge protector except it’s hollowed out and can hold jewelry or cash. There’s yet another free advertisement to come out of my blog.

There’s a line from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 which fits the “hide in plain view” format. Montague is to teach the young firemen at the academy how to find contraband books, “Remember”, he says, “to find you must first learn how to hide.” Burglars and thieves would hardly think it worth their efforts to start tearing apart surge protectors while looking for a Rolex or some similar item. Should you decide to use a “hide in plain view” sort of device; don’t tell anyone, not even your children or you’ve wasted your time.

I put in safes many years ago, simple storage units for homes and businesses where the owner could keep valuables without having to go to the bank. I put one in a wall disguised as an air conditioning intake shaft. They didn’t want their kids to know they had large sums of money and they knew the last place the kids would look was someplace that was in plain view. I even threw in a moderately dirty air filter to cover the actual safe; great looking job if I do say so myself.

The other article which I wanted to share came from Belinda Goldsmith, Reuters, which warned of the dangers in blabbing everything about your comings and goings because Burglars (are) exploiting Facebook or Twitter . There is wisdom in keeping silent; what’s the old WWII admonition, “Loose lips sink ships”.

The same holds true for securing your house and property. If you’re about to go on vacation don’t tell everyone about it via the internet; not everyone who reads your entry is your friend. Some of these folks simply want to know what time you’re gone so they can take their time going through your belongings without fear of being caught.

“Reformed burglar Michael Fraser, ( not related that I know of) who appears in BBC’s “Beat the Burglar” series and helped Legal & General prepare the report, said this kind of information was being used by professional burglars to establish a list of targets.”

If you want to share your vacation experiences, wait until you get back home and then be a little cautious of what you put into your Facebook, Twitter or Blog article. It might not be a great idea to tell everyone you just got that new X-Box, Rolex, Plasma television or any other desirable items which burglars might also want. Share this information with your children and neighbors who might be a little too relaxed in their security measures.

I know of a scam that was used in the Houston area; may still be used for all I know. These guys would call and explain how you just won tickets to the ball game, pretending to be radio shows DJ’s. They’d get your address and send the tickets along with a promise that one of the winning ticket holders attending the game would have a chance at winning the big prize; a new car, a trip to the Bahamas or some other carrot to guarantee you wouldn’t be home for a couple of hours. Then when you got back from the ball game you found the back door kicked off its hinges, your jewelry, television, stereo and game players were all gone.

The point is this, if you’re going to the ball game; wait until you get home to tell your Facebook friends, to Tweet about it or to blog and post pictures of you sitting behind the home team dugout. The story will be just as good, maybe better now that you have pictures to go with it. Try not to give away too many secrets, who knows who’s hooked in to your page, could be one of Michael Fraser’s old cell mates.

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