Summer Burglaries On The Rise. Robert Siciliano for ADT Pulse

Right now we're going to go to Robert Siciliano who is standing by. He is the CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com. Hi Robert, you're joining us via Skype, right?

Yes, I am.

And you're here today to talk about, um, not necessarily good news, but you have a good news spin on it on how we can protect ourselves from home burglaries because this is in fact the start of home burglary season. Is that right?

Yes, it is. July and August are prime time for burglars. I'm working with ADT, the home security systems, to get the word out regarding your personal security. The fact is there is a burglary every 15.5 seconds. An ADT study recently showed that 33% of all home burglary victims, they feel anxiety from that point forward, meaning that those feelings never really go away. It can be a very traumatizing experience that you don't want to happen to you.

And the amount of time that burglars actually spend inside your home, it's really short, 4 to 5 minutes. So they get in, they get their stuff, and they get out, right?

That's really it. So you don't have, um, they don't have a lot of time. They know that there's a chance that law enforcement's on their way. But, you know, generally you can, you know, what you want to do is prevent them from getting in in the first place.

And what are some of those home safety tips that you have for us?

So home security, uh, like every form of security, is all about layers of protection. Uh, and, uh, if you lock your doors, of course, that's one layer of protection, you know. And very simply, you know, you've seen these signs all over the country. I mean, they're everywhere.

They're all over the world.

That right there is a layer of protection. That in your front yard gives the bad guy the impression that you have a burglar— a home security system installed. And you should have a home security system installed. You know, a buck a day, uh, it monitors your home. It, uh, for a little bit more money you can have cameras inside the house. Uh, in the event that the doors are open or the window's broken, then it sends a piercing, screeching alarm alerting you and the neighbors. And then of course it calls local law enforcement who are dispatched to come out and secure the property. Everything that you can do, every layer of protection you can install, is one more way that you can increase your home security and the sense of safety that you and your family have.

But I gotta tell you, you gotta turn those on. My parents, actually my mom, they had that ADT sign in front of their yard, but someone busted in the front door anyway and she was standing right there. Didn't have the alarm on, so that didn't really help her in that case. And there are some other tips that you have in terms of like indoor and outdoor lights, put them on timers. She was okay, by the way. They ran away when they saw her standing there. So go ahead.

It's unfortunate that she was in the house when that happened. That generally we refer to as a home invasion.

Yes.

A home invasion essentially is when somebody's home and their house is burglarized. That can often turn violent. And that's something you certainly don't want to happen. Having the doors locked, having the alarm on, again, the sign out front, all of those things. 3 different things you can do right there.

Just simply locking the windows, having a beware of dog sign in the front window or, you know, stapled to the front of the house. Having a big dog bowl that says, you know, killer on it, uh, right, gives the impression that the house is being protected by a really big dog. So again, it's all about layers of protection. The more that you can do, the better off you're going to be. The worst thing you can do is nothing.

And you think that you should also invest in a home security camera system and, uh, um, as well?

So in my home, I have the ADT Pulse system, and what that is, it's home automation meets home security. It's really cool because I can turn electricity on and off. I could turn cameras on and off. I can monitor my security cameras from anywhere in the world via my iPhone or the internet. So it's, it's remote control systems that gives me, you know, peace of mind when I travel. I can see what the kids are doing in the living room. I can see what's going on in my garage or in my backyard. I actually have 16 cameras inside and outside of my property, so at any given point in time I could pull up my iPhone and I could see everything going on around the perimeter of my property and inside.

That's pretty amazing. Now why should you unplug garage door garage door openers. You have that down.

So your garage is often the path of least resistance. The bad guys, you know, they can hack your, um, an older garage door opener. They can hack garage door openers. They also can go in through side windows or side doors in the garage. They can easily jimmy open your garage. So there's a number of different ways. But again, if you unplug the garage door opener, especially when you travel, again, that's one layer of protection. It's one more thing you're doing to prevent the bad guy from, let's say, hacking your opener.

And something I see people do all the time on these social media sites, they talk about where they are. There's this Foursquare thing where they check in other places. So obviously people know that you're not home when you're doing that.

Yeah, I never ever post on Facebook or any other social media site where I am and what I'm doing, my location. I don't have any location-based services that I'm checking in with via my mobile phone. It's just a bad idea to let the whole world know that you're in Acapulco with your toes buried in the sand you're having a margarita, and your house is vacant. It gives the bad guy the intelligence necessary to make an educated decision as to whether or not they want to break into your house. You're much better off saying nothing. Like, you wouldn't leave a message on your answering machine saying that you've gone away for a week, and so you certainly should not do that on social media. You definitely increase the likelihood of becoming a target when you let the bad guy know that you're not home.

Yeah, just post your vacation pictures later so everybody can be jealous of where you are.

Agreed.

Now, this is costly though. I mean, we're making light of it a little bit, but it's very costly. $4.6 billion each year, is that right? In electronics, jewelry, cash?

Yeah, when your house is burgled, when your house is robbed, when things are taken from you, financially it's a burden. I mean, certainly you hope to have insurance, and I know that I have insurance on most of my stuff, but you know, you buy a new piece of jewelry, you buy a new TV, you buy these new items, and they may not be covered unless you're on top of making sure that they are properly insured. But it's not so much the financial burden, it's the emotional liability. The sense of overwhelm, the sense of invasion, when that happens to you, it's an unease. It's an unsettling feeling that you don't feel safe and secure in your own bed. If you are not sleeping at night because your house was burgled and you're uncomfortable in your own bedroom, chances are a black cloud is going to develop over your property. You're not going to want to live there. You're going to leave. When you leave, you're going to probably sell at a discount because you just want to get out of there. That's a sense and a feeling that you don't want to have. Your home really is your castle, and you want to protect it like it's a fort. That's what I do and that's what I recommend everybody else does.

Finally, I did want to ask you, you talked about it off the very top, why exactly are July and August? Is it because people take vacations and they're not home?

It's a little bit of everything. It's the fact that days are longer and burglaries often happen during the daytime. It's that people are out, people are about, they're not at home as much, they do travel, they leave their windows open, they leave their doors unlocked. Me and the kids, we're going to head down and get an ice cream real quick, we're going to run down the street, we leave the doors open, unlocked, the windows unlocked, The windows are open for a breeze. We are creating opportunity for the bad guy.

Okay. And finally, as we wrap up, before we say goodbye to you, your number one piece of advice for people, for homeowners to protect themselves.

Real simple. I have a home alarm, home security system. I have the ADT Pulse system, and I have it turned on 24 hours a day while I'm home and especially while I'm sleeping. While I'm sleeping, I consider myself most vulnerable. If you have it on while you're sleeping, the bad guys aren't going to choose your house at night. Even if they do, the alarm goes off and scares them away.

Alright, thank you so much. We appreciate you joining us, Robert Siciliano. Thank you.

Thank you.

Some great tips, and we have right there on the screen online how you can get additional information if you'd like some more tips. Definitely some helpful information for us as we head into this season of burglaries, apparently.