Going on Vacation? Here’s 5 Tips to Keep Burglars Out of Your Empty Home

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Vacation coming? Protect your home while you’re away so you can really relax and enjoy yourself. This requires addressing both physical and cyber protection challenges. Naturally, burglars in New England want to get the easiest targets possible, as the Ashland, Massachusetts, police point out. They know where to go to find them: social media.

Once, crooks would look for obituaries to target houses, knowing when the residents would be out at a funeral. Now, convicted burglars themselves believe that 75 percent of their thieving colleagues are leveraging social media to locate marks, according to a Virginia-based law enforcement website. Read more →

Don’t Let Package Thieves Steal Your Holiday Cheer

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Christmas time is not only the season for giving — for package thieves, it’s the time for taking. That risk increases each day leading up to Christmas.  

 

Roughly 30 percent of Americans are victims of package theft according to ABC. With Cyber Monday sales estimated to have hit a whopping $8 billion, the opportunities for grab-and-go package thefts are just going to get worse. Ultimately, the threat of such thieves could put a dent into e-commerce itself, says an Inc. article. Read more →

Protecting the New England Holiday Retail Industry

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As the holiday retail season approaches, retailers and supermarket owners of all sizes in New England must defend themselves against theft. As a retailer, there are many steps you can take, including adding electronic surveillance systems throughout your store.

While the holiday season provides 34 percent of annual retail sales, it also accounts for 37 percent of yearly shrinkage, as a Forbes article notes. The biggest contributors to shrinkage are shoplifting and employee theft. Read more →

Security for Seniors: Maintain Independence and Peace of Mind

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Security and peace of mind for parents and other seniors is priceless. Accident and injury to elders frequently goes unreported, and many are unaware of the risks to their senior family members and friends.

Seniors want to spend their days comfortably and without worry or fear of the unexpected — not just from unwanted intruders or burglars, but from fires, falls and other types of injuries to which the elderly are especially prone. Fortunately, there are affordable and viable ways to protect seniors 24/7, via surveillance/monitoring and alarm systems. Read more →

Why Summer is the Best Time for School Security System Upgrades

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School is out and that means less activity in school buildings. Installing security cameras around campus will ensure that buildings are safe from vandals during the summer months. If your campus needs a security upgrade there is no time like the present. Read on for some of the reasons why. Read more →

Top 3 Video Surveillance Setup Fails Property Managers Should Avoid

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Residential property managers all around New England know warmer weather means more activity at the community pool, gym, pub and recreation room. This hustle and bustle is a good opportunity to showcase property amenities as welcomed guests spend the night or the weekend. However, with the warmer weather comes unwelcome guests crashing parties, enjoying the pool or stealing valuables. To protect residents from these intruders most property managers invest in business security systems that include an access control system and HD-quality video surveillance. The more advanced systems are integrated with the buildings IP network allowing all security  components to work together. However,  IP video networking and HD resolution have little impact if video camera installation and maintenance are substandard.

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How to Prevent Vandalism and Theft During Commercial Construction

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The construction industry is booming and shows no sign of slowing down. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects it will be one of the fastest growing industries by 2020. All that construction is great for the economy. It will create new residential and commercial properties and provide more construction jobs to the labor force. One disadvantage will be the increase in vandalism and theft on sites. Read more →

Enhanced Access Control for Your Building Means Fewer Break-Ins

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Commercial Real Estate SecurityWhether it’s an office, school or apartment building, secure access control is a concern for everyone. For property owners, the responsibility of keeping residents and property safe from criminals is a top priority. Surprisingly, most burglars choose the most obvious and simple ways to break in. The most common time for a break in to happen is between 10 am and 3 pm and they usually go right through the front door. If they are bold enough to do that in broad daylight, they probably have no reservations about sneaking through the gate of a complex. Read more →

How Social Media Posts Of Your Holiday Travels Can Impact Home Security

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Social media is a great way to keep in touch with family and friends around the world, especially during the holidays. However, even though you may set the privacy settings, they can only do so much to limit what others can see and learn about you via your social networks.

According to AAA, 107.3 million Americans will take planes, trains, automobiles and other modes of transportation to travel over the river and through the woods to grandmothers’ house for the holidays.

If you’re planning to join them, be aware that using social media could put your holiday safety and home security at risk. How so? Well, your friends and family may not be the only people paying attention to your posts. Smart thieves are watching not only your house but also your social media channels.  So your Facebook live broadcast of your holiday travels, or a photo of your vacation could signal a savvy burglar that it’s safe to probe your home’s security vulnerabilities. Read more →

How to Protect Your Home or Condo Complex from Holiday Package Thieves

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This year in the 25 days between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, UPS says it will deliver over 750 million packages to its customers. In fact, UPS says this record-breaking seasonal global delivery volume is approximately 5 percent above last year’s holiday peak shipping season volume.

FedEx, which also anticipates another record peak holiday shipping season, estimates it will deliver between 380-400 million packages. In the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, the U.S. Postal Service also expects to deliver 850 million packages, which is more than a 10 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Read more →