Security Options Your Family Should Consider for Your Home

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Protecting your family involves keeping your home safe. According to the FBI, burglars break into approximately 2.2 million homes in the US each year. Fortunately, the advancement of security systems has brought about more versatile methods than ever. Modern systems, combined with the following preventive measures, can help you reduce the risk of criminals vandalizing your home.

1. Light up the Landscape

Criminals never like being in the spotlight. So, use ample outdoor lighting to your advantage, especially when no one’s around the house—place lights along pathways, around your back and front yards, and other outdoor structures. You can also use timers to turn the lights on and off. This gives the appearance that you’re in the house even when you’re not. To make your lighting system even more effective, install motion sensors. They provide an element of surprise when someone moves around your house.

2. Secure All Possible Entrances

Possible entrances include your doors, windows, fire escapes, gates and fences. Inspect all your doors leading to the outside to ensure the hinges are protected, and the frames are strong. When moving into a new home that someone else used to reside in, remember to change the door locks. That way, you’ll be sure that no stranger has a key to your home. Besides, it allows you to buy locks that best suit the house.

There are so many ways to secure your windows effectively. But the best method majorly depends on the type of window in your home. For instance, you can secure double-hung windows by screwing together the frames.

Most burglars rarely break glass windows, but your windows should have steel bars across them or hard-to-break glazing for maximum protection. Also, you can invest in post and cable fencing or similar.

3. Beef Up Your Garage Security

Apart from doors and windows, garages are the most common places criminals use to burglarize a home. The situation can be even more troublesome if you have large garage doors and easy-to-break windows. Burglars often rely on windows to carry out an initial visual inspection and know the contents in the garage.

And if you have an automatic garage door opener, windows give them a way to bypass it. One perfect solution is to spray your garage windows with frosted paint. You can also go the extra mile and replace the glass panes with unbreakable material.

Inspect your garage doors to make sure the bolts and hinges are tight and secure. If the doors have their original locks, consider an upgrade or install an additional manual lock to use when you’re out of town.

Just like lighting up your landscape, motion-activated lighting on the garage interior and exterior is an added deterrent during the night. It also helps to lock and equip the passageway door to your home’s interior with a deadbolt.

4. Set up a Security System

Home security systems present one of the best ways to secure your home. Although they don’t prevent an intruder from accessing your home, the alarm is enough to scare them off. Besides, they provide alerts in case of a breach, and some can even trigger a call to security guards. This minimizes the amount of damage you experience from a break-in. When choosing a security system, consider the needs of your family and your current lifestyle.

5. Lock down Your Wi-Fi Network

The wireless network in your home is a doorway to critical data such as your financial and personal information. If you use home automation, it gives intruders direct access to your house. This can happen if you’ve connected your Wi-Fi network to home gadgets or a security system. Apart from locking down your network when not around, keep burglars off your home by:

• Renaming and hiding your home network

• Securing your wireless router

• Enabling Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) encryption

• Using a firewall

• Installing anti-malware protection

If you’ve got children, use a parental control app to keep them safe from cyberbullies and online predators.

Make Your Home Safer Today

Getting all these security options may be quite costly at a go. Therefore, depending on the security of your neighborhood, you may have to choose what’s more urgent to start with. Getting your gate and fences secured could be a good priority.