The Holiday Season is a wonderful time of year. Time for gratitude, celebration, and oftentimes a time to travel. As we enter the Holiday Season, we’d like to remind you to keep your home safe while you are away- especially in light of all the “new” ways we are in communication with one another.
Here are some tips:
(1) Be careful with your status updates on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Don’t be too specific. For example: “Can’t wait to see Grandma & Grandpa” might be better than “Leaving for Ohio in 2 hours. Back on Sunday.”
(2) If you still have a newspaper delivered instead of reading online, make sure you suspend delivery.
(3) Take advantage of the “nosy neighbors” you have (assuming you trust them!). Ask him or her to keep an eye out while you are away. Make sure they know how to reach you in case of an emergency.
(4) Think twice about setting up an auto-responder or voice mail message that says you are out of town - expecially if you work from a home office. A better idea might be to just say you are not checking messages until a certain date (as if you’re taking a “Stay-Cation”.)
(5) Set up timers on certain lights in your house. Install motion detector lights outdoors.
(6) Don’t forget to lock the interior garage door. Exterior doors are relatively easy to compromise.
(7) Stop your mail. Or have a neighbor collect it daily.
(8) Don’t publish your physical address or personal information on your social media profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. It’s amazing how many people advertise their birthdate, home address and more - just because the site asked you to fill it in when you set up your account. It’s not just children who do this, but many adults who are new to the world of social media are guilty of this as well. Even if your site is “friend-protected”, you’d be surprised at what web-savvy folks can find out. Be discreet!
(9) You can always employ the tactics of Kevin McAllister in “Home Alone”!