So that long awaited vacation trip has now arrived. The whole family is excited to go on that cruise, tour that foreign country or whatever your plans are. Preparing your home for this trip is as important as the trip itself. You will want to come home to the same home as you left it.

 

First, don’t broadcast your plans to anyone. Many people brag on their trip and you never know who might be listening, tell the kids not to talk about it as well. Tell everyone about your trip when you get back. It will make a much better story anyway.

 

-Make your home look like someone is there.

-Have a neighbor park his/her car in your driveway.

-Have the lawn cut before you go. If need be, have it cut while you are gone.

-Have the mail and news paper stopped or have it picked up by someone.

-Don’t hide a key to the house. Leave it with a neighbor or relative.

-If you use automatic lights have the kind that come on at different times. Not the same time everyday.

-Unplug ALL electronic devices VDR”S, DVD Players , TV’s, Cable Boxes etc. All have a circuit that is still active even if it is turned off.

-Notify the police to watch over your property when they drive by. They would rather do that than fill out a burglary report.

-If you have an alarm system, notify them what times you will be traveling and of course be sure you set the alarm before leaving.

-Leave an itinerary with a neighbor or relative of where you will be staying and phone numbers that you can be contacted.

-Have a list of all medications of family members and any medical needs they may have. List your doctor’s, your pharmacist’s, and at least one emergency contact person’s phone number.

-Be sure you have all the necessary travel documents current. Pass ports and visa’s have and expiration date. Check with a travel agency or government office to see what documents you may need. Requirements change often so be sure ou have the latest and correct documents.

-Some countrys require a special driver’s permit so don’t assume because you have a valid US driver’s license you can drive in that country.

-Hope you have a great trip and take a lot of pictures. Oh yes, don’t forget the camera and film.

 

Locking doors and windows are 90% of the battle when dealing with burglary. If it isn’t easy for someone to get in, he or she will move on to an easier target. Simple burglary prevention tips include:

 

-Use double-cylinder deadbolts with movable collars on all outside and inside doors.

-Ensure padlocks are made with hardened steel mounted on bolted hasps.

-Always keep padlocks “locked” (even when not in use). This will help prevent someone from swapping the lock.

-Move from view any expensive displays or other items that may entice someone to break a window to gain access.

-Secure all openings larger than 12”x12”. This includes any entries on roofs, in basements and more.

We often think as people who put graffiti on surfaces as criminals because the act is considered “Criminal Mischief” under Oregon and Washington laws. The graffiti person considers themselves as an artist. If their graffiti is remove soon after they apply it then the likelihood of them return is sharply reduced. There goal is to display their graffiti art for others to see. We recommend that graffiti be remove the same night it is applied.

 

The below graph depicts the results of a study done on graffiti removal. The study found that the longer graffiti is left on a building, reoccurrence percentages sharply increase. As cited in a study if graffiti is left on a surface for a 2 week period there is a 100% chance of reoccurrence.

There have been a lot of news articles about tens of thousands of internet users, ID and Password being obtained and posted on the web.  These are being obtained when the user answers a bogus email that solicits them to update their accounts in one way or another.  Once they have one of your passwords they can get into many of your accounts because people tend to use the same password for all accounts.  If you think you have compromised your logon and password then you simply need to change your password.  I have attached a web address for an article on the sonic wall cite.  It give you information see below and has a practical teaching exercise a test that will help you to identify phisher emails.  PPS’s computers have adequate software to block these but you may have received some at home.

 

Sonicwall-

Chances are that in the past week you've received an e-mail in your inbox that pretends to be from your bank, e-commerce vendor, or other on-line site. Hopefully you've realized that many times this e-mail is fake - a phishing or spam e-mail. The sender (phisher) of these fake e-mails wants you to click on the link in the e-mail and go to a phishing Web site - which will look just like the Web site of the company being phished. Once on the phishers Web site they hope to obtain your account, financial, credit and even identity information. Of course not every e-mail you receive is a phish. In fact you should expect your bank or e-commerce vendor to send you legitimate e-mail. But how can you tell the difference? Well that's what the Phishing IQ test is all about - give it a try.

http://www.sonicwall.com/phishing/