A shot of a young man in a server room with hi-tech supercomputers on display, LED lights are surrounding the equipment he is using.

6 Ways Employees Might Compromise IT Security

6 Ways Employees Might Compromise IT Security

A shot of a young man in a server room with hi-tech supercomputers on display, LED lights are surrounding the equipment he is using.October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, so what better time to bring up the topic? Company owners want to be able to trust their staff. Yet, 52% of employers have noted that employees pose the greatest risk to company security. Considering that nearly 68% of businesses admit that their security risks are growing year after year, it is imperative that employers be able to rely on their staff to uphold security measures – even when no one’s watching.

Consider these six common ways employees compromise IT security. Once you understand where your employees need more guidance, you can offer it to them in a way that makes them feel valued and supported – a win for them and your company. 

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A Hanging Birdhouse

How to Disguise Hidden Home Security Cameras Indoors and Outdoors

How to Disguise Home Security Cameras

A Hanging BirdhouseApproximately 67% of all burglaries occurring in the United States target residential properties. This results in nearly 3.5 billion dollars in homeowner property losses each year. Of those burglaries, 15% occur in homes in the Northeast, and nearly half of those take place while the resident is at home.  

This makes security cameras a very important tool for both the safety of the home and the homeowner. Yet, an effective camera isn’t enough. You also need effective camera placement

In some cases you may not want your cameras right out in the open where they can be tampered with. Instead, you want to ensure that they are well hidden, yet still placed in prime position to capture any would-be intruder.

Here are a few great places to hide your indoor and outdoor cameras to ensure that they are as useful as possible while remaining undamaged by potential burglars.

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Two Security Cameras (dirty and cobwebs)

Keep Your Security Cameras Free of Insects

Keep Spider Webs, Bugs or Insects From Security Cameras 

Two Security Cameras (dirty and cobwebs)High resolution surveillance cameras are key tools in protecting our New England homes and businesses from thieves and intruders. However, as reliable and proven as these solutions are, they require maintenance and that includes preventing the camera lenses from being obscured by such obstructions as spider webs or insect nests.

Spider and insect interference may be a bigger problem than you might realize, particularly for homeowners with exterior camera-based security systems. Spiders do in fact habitually spin webs across lenses, as this industry blogs notes. This can create blind spots in your surveillance system, in effect disabling it. 

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High school students at school, wearing N95 Face masks. Teenage girl wearing eyeglasses sitting at the school desk and listening to the teacher.

Returning to School: Security Tips for Parents

Depending on your state, county, city or town, your child may be returning soon to the classroom. With the threat of COVID-19 remaining here in New England, you’ll want to take the best approach to ensure your child’s safety in and outside the school or playground.High school students at school, wearing N95 Face masks. Teenage girl wearing eyeglasses sitting at the school desk and listening to the teacher.

The challenges for successful reopening and education are considerable, as a Mayo Clinic article on the subject notes. It states, “As schools reopen, they must balance the educational, social and emotional needs of their students along with the health and safety of students and staff in the midst of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.”

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Wallet with cash inside sitting on a stone hand rail

Security Technology to Help Find Lost Items

Wallet with cash inside sitting on a stone hand railThe average person spends ten minutes per day looking for a lost item. That’s nearly 2.5 days per year spent trying to retrieve glasses, keys, wallets, and other valuables that have slipped out of sight.

What’s more, Americans spend over 2.7 billion dollars per year in replacement costs for lost goods. Yet, in 2020, there’s no need to waste money replacing what’s been lost. Here are several technology tools you can use to ensure that you always keep track of your most valuable possessions. 

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intrusion of a burglar in a house inhabited

How Burglars Think: How to Outsmart Them

intrusion of a burglar in a house inhabited

Every New England home or business owner wants to protect their property from burglars. Such invaders are a real threat today. According to the FBI, in 2018, the most recent full year with available statistics, there were 1.2 million burglaries in the United States. This represents some 17 percent of all property crime.

Naturally, you can take basic steps to defend yourself, such as locking doors and windows when you are absent, alerting neighbors if you are going on vacation, and so on. To take it a step further, however, try to think a bit like a burglar and develop your defensive strategies accordingly.

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Two people discussing CCTV project. Video security equipment and blueprint on a table

5 Warning Signs You Need to Upgrade Your Business Security

Two people discussing CCTV project. Video security equipment and blueprint on a tableAs a New England business owner, you may not think much about your various security and surveillance systems — until you need them. That means your existing solutions may have become outdated, suffer from gaps, or are just plainly obsolete and not fully functional.

It may be too late to address these security shortcomings by the time you realize them. This is most relevant in areas where the growth of new technology, such as the Internet of Things, is creating even more risk than before.

Is Your Security Ready?

With the arrival of COVID-19 and new safety and health regulations, businesses face a whole new set of challenges to protect their employees, customers and partners. As the Boston Herald notes, a failure in protection might lead to a crippling lawsuit that could financially ruin a small firm.

Members of your company, or your partners, may be working remotely in unfamiliar environments or conditions, as mentioned in a recent Boston Business Journal article. Your security procedures and solutions may be vulnerable, given they must function across geographically distributed locations, or at hours and in circumstances they weren’t designed for.

Protection Assessment and Evaluation

Given the current situation, here are five indicators to consider if you’re in doubt about how current and robust your current business security system is. You might want to consider an upgrade or revamp if:

  1. You can’t view/record activities in key areas for ongoing compliance and safety. This particularly applies to customer-facing businesses, such as restaurants or retail stores. Given the new rules around hygiene, you must be able to demonstrate you follow social distancing and similar guidelines.
  2. Your business has changed or expanded substantially since the last surveillance/alarm installation. Are you in the same location? Did you expand your existing one? Are new areas sufficiently protected? You have to regularly re-evaluate your existing infrastructure to match your growth.
  3. You can’t respond in real-time to disruptive or risky situations. Thieves or vandals can strike at your business at any time. Plus, given the various restrictions caused by COVID-19, members of the public have lately demonstrated disruptive behavior, as mentioned in this blog post. A high-resolution camera system feeding into a 24/7 control system can enable the fastest, safest responses.
  4. You lack communications and/or power redundancy. Thieves are shrewder than ever. They can take out your landline to prevent a burglar alarm reaching first responders. As we’ve previously noted, you should have backup communications in place, such as cellular connectivity. Likewise, if the power in your facility goes out, back up battery power will ensure the alarms stay live until electricity is restored.
  5. It’s been years since you upgraded your surveillance/security systems. High tech criminals never rest. They create new viruses and hacking schemes. You can help defeat that by making sure your network has all the latest software patches and security protocols in place. Can your cameras clearly record all activity on your premises? High resolution cameras improve regularly and enable ever better visibility into your facilities or shop floors. Cloud-based solutions can provide further security by allowing securely encrypted off-site video storage and streaming 24/7.

If any or all of these situations applies to you, it’s worth considering a security upgrade. New surveillance and sensing systems can protect you and your business in this ever changing and challenging commercial environment.

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fire place glowing outside

5 Summer Fire Safety Tips

fire place glowing outside

Fire-related incidents are responsible for thousands of deaths and injuries each year, as well as millions of dollars in property damages. The best way to stop a fire is to prevent it from starting in the first place. Consider these five summer fire safety tips to greatly reduce your risk of a fire taking hold of your home. Using caution, campfires, cookout grills and more can be safely enjoyed all summer long.

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CCTV Security monitoring student in classroom at school.Security camera surveillance for watching and protect group of children while studying.

A Great Time for School Security System Upgrades

CCTV Security monitoring student in classroom at school.Security camera surveillance for watching and protect group of children while studying.Upgrading School Security Systems

As a school administrator, are you wondering how to respond to new threats such as COVID-19 when you reopen your facilities? Besides the usual risks (vandals, thieves, intruders and potential shooters), administrators must now factor in hygiene and cleanliness protections (surveillance and monitoring may assist with these efforts).

The upside is that school buildings are less occupied and quieter than usual because of the pandemic. This provides the opportunity to get large projects done with less disruption, including bigger and more ambitious security infrastructure upgrades than would be possible during a normal summer season.

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Shot of an unrecognizable little girl playing with a sparkler at night time outside in nature

Safety Tips for the 4th of July

The Fourth of July brings the excitement of backyard barbeques during the day and awe-inspiring firework shows at night. However, as Pew Research describes, Fourth of July weekend is also considered the most dangerous and deadliest weekend of the year. Emergency rooms experience thousands of patients on normal weekends for a variety of causes, but Independence Day adds a high number of firework, alcohol and water-related injuries to the Shot of an unrecognizable little girl playing with a sparkler at night time outside in naturelist. 

There’s no reason to let these statistics dampen your enthusiasm. Most – if not all – Independence Day accidents can be avoided by observing a few standard safety precautions. Implement the following tips to ensure that your Fourth of July remains a fun weekend of relaxation and entertainment.

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