This content was created by Robert Siciliano. This content was uploaded by Robert Siciliano. This is a YouTube segment titled "Summertime Social Media Scams and Home Security, Robert Siciliano for ADT Pulse" (recorded July 14, 2011). It contains an English interview-style conversation between a Sacramento & Company host (SPEAKER A) and home security expert Robert Siciliano. They discuss summertime risks from posting vacation updates on social media, how thieves exploit online information and unsecured PCs to commit home burglary and identity theft, and practical, low-cost measures to protect homes (signage, locks, basic alarm systems, securing Wi‑Fi and encrypting data).
Chapters
Sacramento and Company brings you— Well, sharing information with family and friends, including vacation plans via social media sites, is a great way to keep those within your inner circle up to date. But it's also information that tech-savvy thieves can use to plot their scheme to break into your home. And thieves aren't just robbing your home while you're away, they're also using your computer to find out personal information to steal one of your most important assets. That being your identity. But there are ways to fight back. Here with valuable tips on how to use technology to outsmart the crooks is home security expert Robert Siciliano. Hi, Robert, how are you?
I'm great, thank you.
Alright, so it's kind of a no-brainer that you need to be safe when you go out of town. So tell us, why are more people at risk, um, you know, for home theft during the summer months? Is it merely that people are just out of town on vacations?
Well, certainly when people are traveling, they are leaving their houses abandoned, so to speak, empty. And the bad guys casing neighborhoods, they're looking for homes where the lights are off, where the newspapers are piling up, where the mailbox is stuffed with mail. And they target those homes because they know that the jewelry box of the wife is on top of the dresser, the man's jewelry might be in his— in the top drawer of the dresser. And that there's probably, you know, other valuables within the house that they can take, and you may or may not have even locked your doors in some parts of the country.
Well, tell us, because social media is becoming such a big part of our lives right now, how to use it and not use it in terms of keeping our house safe.
Well, it's certainly not a good idea. It's not a good idea at all to post on your status update that you're Toes buried in the sand and you're having a margarita in Acapulco.
As much as you would want to.
Enough intelligence that they need to break into your house.
Definitely, definitely. And don't— and we, you know, we read the news and saw on the news about the whole tweeting gang that broke into celebrities' homes because the celebrities were saying that they were out of town or in Europe or wherever.
And they're also posting, you know, the new handbag they bought and the new pair of shoes and all the different items that they have recently acquired. And the bad guys, in this case was teenagers, they were actually, you know, doing their shopping watching other people's social media and then breaking into their homes when they were gone.
That is so amazing. Okay, so obviously they want to get into the home to get the goods and the cash and the jewelry and those types of things, but they're also getting onto your computer and stealing your identity as well. Talk about that.
So it's extremely important to, uh, you know, um, make sure that your PC itself is locked down, usernames, passwords, administrative access, making sure that your wireless connection to the internet is secured so it requires a network key to get in. Make sure that all the information on your PC is encrypted so that the data, even if they do steal the information on the computer, if it's encrypted, they can't do anything with it.
Okay, so talk about people who may or may not be able to afford a security system in their home. Is there anything that they can do?
That's a really good question. So, um, security systems today are not your dad's home alarm system. I mean, they're much more sophisticated and they're much more cost-effective as well. I know ADT does a system for about a dollar a day. Those signs that you put in your front lawn, that's a layer of protection. I would definitely recommend, you know, getting signage that says this house is alarmed. Getting a "Beware of Dog" sign is, you know, it's a buck. Put that on the front of your house. Go to the pet store, get a big dog bowl and put the word "Killer" on it, giving the impression you have a big dog. Right? So these are inexpensive ways to protect your house. You know, locking your doors, investing in better locks, locking your windows. This is all common sense stuff that a lot of people don't do because they don't think it's going to happen to them.
So Robert, are you saying that the sign that I have on my gate that says "Killer Cats" probably won't do it?
Well, if it's a bobcat, you know, that'll definitely deter it.
Awesome. Well, Robert, I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with us. Robert Siciliano, home security expert, keeping our homes safe during the summer, during vacation time. Thank you so much, sir.
