Security Hacks

[Tom Van den Bon]

Hi All,

As some of you know my house has been burgled twice in the past two weeks. Monday night being the second time, (luckily not in the BinarySpace area). I've got the usual setup, alarm connected to armed response etc, but I'm looking for more ways to improve security ala hacker/maker way. What hacks do you guys implement at home to improve security. I know there are lots of commercial options but they costs a fortune, so at this point I'm planning some of my own devices (wireless sensors etc), but I'm keen to hear what other hackers are doing at home?

T

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Tom Van den Bon 

[Corrie Strydom]

I make sure any intruders know that a giant stays there. 

I can borrow you a pair of my old 18-19 size shoes?

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[Tom Van den Bon]

hehe, that sounds pretty hardcore. Not something you want to set off accidentally. My main goal at the moment is prevention/detection before they get access to the home. Inside the house I agree that a commercial alarm system is the route to go since it's what the insurance prefers. Unfortunately by the time that alarms get triggered they have done lots of damage to get there, for example with the 2nd breaking the value of the damage far outweighs the value of stolen items.

T

On Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 9:12 AM, Jacques <serve...@gmail.com> wrote:

Not a security hack, but in the lab at the office we have pepper gas and a sonic "mine". The sound is so loud you can't think even with your hands over/in your ears. The gas burns eyes, nose, throat, lungs, and is dyed orange. This should give armed response enough time to respond.

We thought about a "home brew" system but the fact that someone has to go look/confront the intruders, and the insurance wanting "tried and tested" systems, deterred us from going that route.

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[Tom Van den Bon]

hehe, sounds like a good idea!

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[Philip Booysen]

Your pocket wisdom rocks!

Many thanks, it's some of the best advice regarding this matter I've read in years and I especially liked how you painted the wrong doers mind maps and criminal intent processes, then reverse engineer solutions around those.

P

On Jun 12, 2014 8:19 PM, "Marcus Dekenah" <marcus....@gmail.com> wrote:

HI Tom,

On Wednesday, June 11, 2014 9:01:45 AM UTC+2, Tom Van den Bon wrote:

Hi All,

I have been involved with my neighbourhood watch last 7 years, and inspected about 100 breakins, written reports on them.

My Pocket Wisdom follows:

**

Use a layered-approach to home security.. 

Crime is a process. Guys scout, get into perimeter, then break in, then escape.

This process is driven by crime intel (what they can see from the street , and what they hear from others).

Crime is a business, so its about risk & return. Your security raises their risk, lowers return.

PERIMETER SECURITY: First, make it difficult to breach perimeter onto property. If you can jump your fence with a struggle, bad-dudes are fitter and can do it 5 times faster, so sort that out.

The prime target is normally the clutch on the electric gate. If you gate can be lifted or defeated from inside the property without you knowing, you are vulnerable. If you just alarm this to you house, it's Very effective.

PROPERTY SECURITY: Next thing is make sure if someone is walking about your property, you know about it. Crooks get onto your property then do an audit for weak points. A trespasser is just  a burglar that hasn't broken in yet. Prosecute any trespasser, always.

I have placed IR beams in my garden at strategic "choke points", through which one must pass if you are looking for open windows to break into. Full coverage of the property is not viable and leads to false alarms and disabled sensors. These sensors must be on "day chime" (or know your dog, mine used to get up and go look for the day chime). If you have a garage, include day-chime IR there. Too much day chime dulls the senses, so moderation is important. Use narrow beam IR, and place it so that false alarms are

very exceptional. It can take quite some persistence to position them well, but life Is much better after. Make sure the sensors are not easily visible, as they can be shielded, or just knocked off the wall for later break-in attempts (armed response never seems to notice missing IR).

Outdoor lighting is only useful if it faces away from windows into garden, is up, out of reach, and does not activate falsely (dulls the senses).

DWELLING SECURITY: Next, make sure your house is secure. this means burglar guards on all windows. If any doors are opened at night, you want to know about it with magnetics/reed switches. Generally physical security on doors cannot withstand the long levers that crooks carry.. can break bricks and walls. If they have time, they will defeat any physical barrier (I have seen guys dismantle a trellidoor over a day). So you need to put them under time-pressure.

Lastly, make sure the inside volume of the house  is protected as much as possible by IR, but not to the point where it interferes with your family. We have set up our alarm so that when we are settled" for the night, doors garage, outdoors and volume of furthest rooms are protected.

SECURE HABITS: When we go out, generally we close everything and arm all. Our alarm is SMS based (all adults get an SMS) and can be controlled by SMS. When we away, its obvious when there's something up.

We then call the neighbours to confirm. Because its about 150 times quicker (real number)  than armed response and witnesses are a deterrent. All surrounding neighbours are on our fast-dial.

ARMED RESPONSE: Almost useless. They hardly ever make arrests , and do almost nothing about prevention of scouting. They have no more legal rights than an ordinary citizen. Their only contribution is to put crooks under some time pressure, and they mostly arrive after the crooks leave with your stuff. They never improve their client's security model (as described above). Their continued income is in fact based upon a continued threat of crime. Its a positive feedback loop, IMHO.

If there is an issue, our neighbourhood watch is activated by radio and Swarm all over the show...this is extremely effective in making arrests. I once had a false alarm and they cleared my property and reported back to me before I could drive from Menlyn to Centurion.

If you don't have a neighbourhood watch, make one. They'll Love your IT skills. Our neighbourhood watch spends a lot of time confronting Scouts. Every 2 scouts spotted is roughly one burglary prevented.

SECURITY CAMERAS: Don't add much value. They get turned, and are not "evidence grade" most times. They are useful to see around corners, or review events history.

It's not important to have the best security in SA, but it's vitally important to have security that is relatively better than most of your neighbours. Soft targets are easy money for crooks.

**Pocket wisdom ends.

Regards

Marcus

[Tom Van den Bon]

Thanks for all the replies, got a few good ideas. Marcus, your breakdown of home security was great, a real eye opener.

Thanks :)

T