Hardcore Tips For Home Security

I though I was good about keeping my house in order when I went away for vacation.  Apparently I’ve been slacking.  ISECOM has published a Home Security Methodologies paper that is not for the faint of heart.

Some of the tips are common sense, some seem to me to be a little much, and some seem to be just insane.

Some of my favorites:

#5    If you have a safe, make sure it’s out of sight and bolted into concrete. Thieves can and will take it with them otherwise. If you don’t have one and want to buy one, get one from a hardware store far away, pay cash,carry it out yourself, and install it yourself. If there are potential thieves working there then they shouldn’t have your address. If you are really paranoid you could rent a van to pick it up so they don’t get your plate numbers. Remember that every person you involve in the process makes more people who know you have a safe.

#57    If you have a house-sitter or babysitter remove all phones in your house except the corded, main one in the central house location usable only at a standing location. This way if you need to say something in private to your child on the phone, you can be sure the sitter is not likely listening on another line. Furthermore it will make it more likely the sitter will not have a comfortable location for chatting long periods on the phone.

#65    Clean up the house, and wash down the doors, frames, and windows. Put small rip stickers (like stores use for price tags) at the base of doors that even your trusted people should not be entering. If you are snooped or robbed you want to be able to notice that something is changed or out of place.

All these and 67 more can be found here (pdf)

thanks to Brian Krebs at Security Focus for spotting this one.