Now that it is getting darker outside and the kids are back to school lets talk about home security. This just isnt about locking your doors... we talk about everything from internet security to some easy tips and tricks to keep your entire home safe including the packages sitting on your front porch. Thanks for listening to Around the house if you want to hear more please subscribe so you get notified of the latest episode as it posts at https://around-the-house-with-e.captivate.fm/listen

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[00:00:28] Eric Goranson: And now that we're getting into the fall, it gets to be more of a battle. This is where we're talking about. These things like for instance, porch pirates, you know, those packages in the, in the fall and winter coming up on the holidays that disappear off your porch because somebody comes and grabs them.

[00:01:13] Eric Goranson: Welcome to talk about security around your home. And I'm not just talking about putting up some lights and making sure you lock the door. We're going to talk about everything from password security to internet security to everything else. And so we're going to talk about all those great things that you can do this fall to make sure your life is just a little bit more secure.

[00:02:03] Eric Goranson: And these days that could be somebody taking over your social media accounts. That could be somebody taking over your bank accounts. That could be somebody accessing more private information, like your social security number, your taxes or anything else. So this is probably the first and biggest thing that you run into is password security.

[00:02:44] Eric Goranson: Yeah, that's me. That's how you get hacked into that's how you lose your information That's how you create a lot of headaches for yourself. So, creating something that is a word that, or not even a word, but a combination of [00:03:00] letters, numbers, symbols, whatever the application will let you do, the more complex, the better off you are.

[00:03:28] Eric Goranson: So take a look at the password management software out there. I don't have one that is my favorite. Uh, they're not any sponsors of the show, anything like that, but take a look and see what password manager software could do for you because that can get it where you can change your passwords. If you have a hack.

[00:04:08] Eric Goranson: And I tell you what, I know I have a ton of information of mine that's been stolen out there, which means I run a risk and that means that you should be changing. Those sign ins, maybe even change your login credentials to use something different, and then use a completely different password. Don't just change two things.

[00:04:45] Eric Goranson: So those are things that I would spend the time and get dialed in the number one thing I would worry about right now if there was one thing I was gonna tell you about is this Get your password secure and lock down and know what they are and no don't tape it to the [00:05:00] bottom of your keyboard If you have one password you can remember into that software Then from there on out you can create all the passwords And, uh, keep them in your own password vault.

[00:05:34] Eric Goranson: So it's harder to get into that way. People can't log into your system and get access into it. So again, making sure that you've got that dialed in means that you're going to have less people trying to get involved. And on top of it, I don't want one of my neighbors or somebody in the neighborhood snagging my internet and using mine to do their searches on because I don't know what they're looking for and I don't want it on my machine or my system.

[00:06:21] Eric Goranson: It's going to make life so much easier for you. And you'll never be forgetting that passport as long as you have that one, you're good to go. So that way you are secure. Now there are different things out there and, and you know, I get it. There's, there's all the different, um, lockdowns to your credit.

[00:07:32] Eric Goranson: So, somebody can't come up and just easily knock that door in. If you've got a deadbolt where you've got big screws into the studs and you've got metal behind it, so it's not going anywhere and you've got a solid core steel door or a solid core wood door. And, uh, if you've got multipoint locks, it's even better, but all those things are great, you know, cause here's the thing, guys, you want to deter.

[00:08:13] Eric Goranson: And that's where you got to run into the problems too. If somebody goes and steals, breaks into your car and steals your car, do you have your garage door opener in there already to go so they can just come up to your house and pop and open it back in, are you locking your door between your garage and your house?

[00:08:58] Eric Goranson: Something that can communicate [00:09:00] with the ones inside. Cause if you've got a small fire in the garage, you want the ones inside to go. So that way you can find it versus having a large fire and you figuring it out when it's already coming into the living part of the resident. So spend the time, get those dialed in together and you'll be good, but really high quality door locks, and that goes for your garage door opener as well.

[00:09:39] Eric Goranson: A little bit of security goes a long way and makes it harder. More security just Satchel from Satchel.[00:10:00]

[00:10:21] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to the round the house show. This is where we have to get the most out of your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. We're talking, uh, my security tips around your house. Now these are important ones here that, uh, you should be thinking about and, uh, you know, security can be a lot of different things, right?

[00:11:08] Eric Goranson: So what happens? This is where you can fix this and NB Sentinel, which you've heard him on the show before, has their box gobbler. This is a box that, uh, let's say you've got a garage that you walk up right next to to get to your front door. You can mount this in the wall and it'll put the packages when they put the code in.

[00:11:48] Eric Goranson: It's a little bit of money for these, but they are completely worth it. And, uh, take a look, my buddy Jeff's company over there, MB Sentinel, these guys make lots of different mailbox options, whether you want it on the [00:12:00] side of the house, if you want it out in a pillar out in the front. We're out by the curb, whatever you're doing, these guys have a solution for you.

[00:12:24] Eric Goranson: So people it's getting darker soon. So people can be a little sneakier out there. So this is where we got to watch out for those, uh, package thieves. Because they will do a ton of damage, and then you're just inconvenienced. I get it that, uh, Amazon and all these other companies can, will resend it out to you.

[00:12:59] Eric Goranson: So it's a [00:13:00] really great to go. Now, another one we've talked about and we talked about this earlier, so we're not going to talk about this much, but just making sure that things are well lit and that you, uh, people are not have places to hide around your house. So these are all secrets here to make sure that you've got things secure.

[00:13:37] Eric Goranson: You can see everywhere. It's well lit. Um, you know, they don't want to get caught. So make it so the neighbor down the street is the easier target and you're the harder target. And you'll be better off. So that's a good one right there. Now, camera systems are an interesting one. So let's talk about the weakness of camera systems.

[00:14:14] Eric Goranson: He's had a car stolen right out of his driveway. And so these are things that he struggled with, and these are things that you can easily struggle with anywhere you live. But what happens is, is you have cameras which are great at documenting a crime, but you have to be watching them to see if it's happening.

[00:14:58] Eric Goranson: You don't want to hear that every [00:15:00] time your neighbor's cat goes walking across the yard. But if you've got somebody coming up and peeking in the window, you want to know. And so these are some of the challenges that we see with camera systems out there. Is they're great for documenting, but many times, They don't, um, prevent things from being stolen.

[00:15:39] Eric Goranson: Luckily, the windows were new, the windows didn't get... Through there, but they could have easily broken them or gotten in there. And these people were just so brazen. They were clearly teenagers under the age of probably 22. And, uh, they were out going around, you know, Basically burglarizing homes. So the problem is, is he didn't [00:16:00] see it until afterwards.

[00:16:17] Eric Goranson: One, you're gonna look for a monitored system where you're paying a company to monitor for you. So you're starting to see more and more of these. The first one that I've, uh, used and it's a big fan of his deep Sentinel. You've heard me talk about him here in the show before if you're a long time listener, but these guys use a I.

[00:16:51] Eric Goranson: We'll see if that ever goes to market, but they're working on something like that. But the big thing with this is, is when you're looking at it though, and this is the cool part, is that you have somebody [00:17:00] sitting there 24 7 looking at the camera going, Hey! This person's up to no good. I better send off the alarm and call the police.

[00:17:30] Eric Goranson: The ones that are the best to have the cameras that can now look across there and see if someone's actually trying to get in. In that way, what happens is, is when somebody calls, maybe it's that guard calls in and says, Hey, it says, you know, 6 foot to 250 pound. White tattooed guy wearing a black hoodie.

[00:18:08] Eric Goranson: What caused that? And so that's where those issues are. These days, um, to me, I would not spend the money on an alarm system that doesn't have some kind of monitoring on it because I need somebody there to look at it. And just because an alarm's going off, most likely that's going to be a false alarm. And the worst part is, when that happens, you're probably going to get the alarm code.

[00:19:00] Eric Goranson: Hey, this is Ron Keel, the metal cowboy from Keel, the Ron Keel band and Steeler, we are rocking around the house with Eric G.

[00:19:29] Eric Goranson: And it's something that's starting to hit the news, but it's something that we haven't really seen before, and that is the campers and squatters showing up on your property. Now, this could be a home that you've got as a vacation rental. It could be a home that was maybe your parents or grandparents, and you're working on it.

[00:20:08] Eric Goranson: And we're seeing a lot of these, these days where there's a vacant home or a foreclosed home in somebody is going on Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, wherever in putting up for rent. And then they have a key which isn't hard. I mean, literally, if there's a door unlocked, I can go up there, take a lock off a door, put my own lock on it of similar with my own key on it.

[00:20:49] Eric Goranson: All of a sudden, the next time you go by, someone's living in it that you didn't give permission to. And this happens all the time. And so the problem is, is that now these people, it could take [00:21:00] months to get them out of this home. And I've seen it take 3, 4, 5 months, 50 thousand dollars to get through the legal system.

[00:21:45] Eric Goranson: Squatters can be horrible. I have seen this happen. Um, I have gone in and helped clean up afterwards where they come in and you know, because maybe the power wasn't on, the water wasn't on. It is absolutely crazy. [00:22:00] And then people are taking cabinet doors and burning them in the fireplace. They're trying to keep it warm.

[00:22:31] Eric Goranson: You can have somebody show up and be camping in your yard and it can be nearly impossible to get somebody to remove them. Now, I know that's not everywhere in Texas. You've got a whole different way of handling and I can appreciate that. But nonetheless, if you're in an area where they're very sympathetic to people.

[00:23:10] Eric Goranson: To move them, even though legally they're trespassing, and that's a tough thing to deal with, and it's a tough thing to deal with people, especially when you're just trying to make it and you're trying to survive and having to spend money for an attorney to get somebody to be evicted from the tent in your front yard seems absolutely ridiculous, but it is something that we're seeing in more and more cities.

[00:24:04] Eric Goranson: So pay attention to this stuff. Having uninvited guests like squatters can be one of the most destructive and expensive things to deal with. So deal with it quick, deal with it swift, get them moved out of there. And when in doubt, put up some no trespassing signs. And make sure that you have things documented really well and that you get people out of there as soon as they start to show up, spend some time and make sure they're moved out of the way, because you don't want them camping on your front yard, especially when you're trying to be there.

[00:24:53] Eric Goranson: When you get emails in and let's talk about some email best practices here, because you can lose a lot of things here [00:25:00] because all of a sudden, if you let somebody in your computer, they can have access to your bank accounts to your credit card accounts to anywhere that you have things stored electronically, they can get into it and you don't want to lose all that stuff, especially if they're taking a hostage that way.

[00:25:47] Eric Goranson: There are so many, I get probably four or five different requests during the week. Where, hey, I'm sending you, um, you're gonna get paid from this. It's completely fake. [00:26:00] And they're trying to get me to open a document because once I open it, I've opened up the Trojan horse and they're inside my machine and they're taking every bit of information.

[00:26:34] Eric Goranson: Second of all, if you click on it and it opens up and you've opened it up, slow down, don't go click inside anything on the body. Take a look and see where it's coming from. It could say it's coming from your uncle Ken, but when you look at the email address, it's some weird. Offshore email address, so take a look and see where it's coming from that.

[00:27:26] Eric Goranson: So make sure you are only opening things, you know, 100 percent are real when in doubt, go back, write another email. Independently, don't respond back, write another email to him and say, you know, Hey, Jim, did you just send me an email? Is that okay? And don't send it from that one? Because you could be sending it back to the people that sent it to you.

[00:28:03] Eric Goranson: When in doubt, don't open it, throw it in the dump bin and say, hey, I think I got a spam email from ya. As you write a new email and if they did, Oh, sorry, that wasn't, then you know what you've got. But when in doubt, don't open it up, delete it, and then reach out to that person and find out what they were sending you.

[00:29:01] Eric Goranson: It's the end of the show. Now drinkin down people, it's time to last call on the line. Welcome back to the Round the House show. This is where we help you get the most out of your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us. I've been talking about home security tips. Whether or not it's the internet, it's, uh, you know, your identity, whether or not it's your home.

[00:29:38] Eric Goranson: But if you don't get them to 100%, You're gonna have weak points and I want you to make sure that when you get the camera in that you keep them charged That if you're putting in that new deadbolt, that's great You've got a you know, you've got the deadbolt and you've got the new jam in there. So it's really strong Did you think about putting screws in there longer?

[00:30:16] Eric Goranson: I want you to replace those out with structural screws. I want you to go in there and, uh, get some structural screws, get those in there, get that sunk into the wood, make sure that that's tight and making sure that you have those kinds of things dialed on is key. And it's just like going around the house, going around your perimeter.

[00:30:54] Eric Goranson: Unfortunately, if it's a firefighter, they're going to have to work a little bit harder to get in. But more importantly, if you've got somebody trying [00:31:00] to break in, it's going to take some effort. They're going to be swinging an axe at that window to get in. And, uh, that's the kind of stuff you want to see to deter people from coming in.

[00:31:33] Eric Goranson: If you're living in a regular home and you've got a good door lock, you've got, um, window tint on. The windows that is, uh, makes it so it harder to break and it sticks together. So you can't just bust the window and kick it out. Somebody in today's sawzall can cut a hole in the side of your house really easy and walk right in.

[00:32:18] Eric Goranson: And the only thing at that point is going to be, if you're there to defend it or not, and that's not a good position to be in, whether you're ready or not for it. So those are some keys right there. Just making sure nobody wants to put like, you know, all the bars over the windows and all those things like that.

[00:32:52] Eric Goranson: Hopefully not. That's pretty extreme in most cases that you have to do that. Now, there are some neighborhoods that I've been in before where maybe that's [00:33:00] going to be a cost effective solution. But to be honest for me, if my neighborhoods that rough, I don't think I want to be there for that up and coming part of it.

[00:33:23] Eric Goranson: Now, I think these are great for multiple situations. I think a safe room in the inside of the house where there's no window access, or things like that, if you're in an area that has hurricanes, Tornadoes any kind of a large wind event like that, where you need to get into a place that is quick and safe and you're not worried about flooding.

[00:34:01] Eric Goranson: And many times it's not that big a deal to do it. You could make it as big as you want to. But I've seen people go in there and hollow out that closet and go down and build a footings, go down through the hole into the crawl space. They put in Port footings in there. They put in a block wall with rebar and They've got everything tied together.

[00:34:46] Eric Goranson: If you've got high winds and things like that, where you're trying to get into a safe place. So creating that where you've got food, water, a method of escape, a method to defend yourself. And a way to communicate with people might not be a bad idea in some [00:35:00] situations. Do I want everybody out there going out building bunkers and doing their own thing?

[00:35:24] Eric Goranson: And maybe it's a pantry that you're doing. Maybe it's a closet. Maybe it's a, uh, a bathroom, whatever you're doing, make sure that you've got something there. And as long as there's not any exterior windows and it's inside of the core of the house, you know, if it's a strong place, it's by near where the stairs are.

[00:36:03] Eric Goranson: But literally you could go through there and, uh, have your own place that is going to be safe. And, uh, those are things that you can do as well, especially and again, like I was saying, guys, tornadoes, hurricanes, that kind of stuff. If you need to have a safe space to go, uh, that's not a bad way to go. And of course, you can make it as complex as you want to.

[00:36:42] Eric Goranson: Do you have a safe? Do you have a safe deposit box? Where are you keeping your, your titles for your vehicles, your deeds, your stocks, any paperwork that you need to have? You know, your, your, any of those things, do you have a good safe? And I'm not talking about your cheap going and buy the off brand safe at [00:37:00] Walmart.

[00:37:17] Eric Goranson: So do your research, see the testing, see what you can do. There's a lot of them out there. You put a fire out there, like it was in a house fire and they won't survive. Everything on the inside burns up and you're like, well, that was an expensive vault to keep the ashes of my important documents that didn't work.

[00:37:50] Eric Goranson: So if it's an emergency, you might want to be able to have stuff sooner. So. Think about what's being stored in there and do you need it now or do you need it within 48 hours? If you need it [00:38:00] within 48 hours, you can probably get it from the bank. If you need it now, probably not going to happen. So maybe you've got something where you've got your high value things.

[00:38:25] Eric Goranson: That's emergency preparedness as well. And make sure that you're good that way. And then, um, really guys just making sure your lighting is good and making sure that if you've got any kind of a neighborhood watch system going on that you're playing a part of it, and maybe that's something that you need to organize for your neighborhood.

[00:39:02] Eric Goranson: Thanks for tuning in. Make sure you head over and catch the podcast. Where you can catch our exclusive content over there head over to around the house online for that. Thanks everybody We'll see you next saturday. Thanks for tuning in to about the house