The Biggest Threats To Home Security

Now that a new year is upon us, it’s time to turn your attention to your home security, especially if you’ve never conducted a security review of your property before, or have sadly been a victim of crime and want to reduce the chances of it happening again.

The best place to start is to look at the biggest threats to your home security since without acknowledging the vulnerabilities, it’s impossible to strengthen your game. So here are some of the top aspects to consider to guide you. 

Not Taking Your Security Seriously

home security

It might sound like an obvious point to start with, but given there were 267,931 burglaries in 2021, it’s clear that improvements still need to be made where home security is concerned. 

Nobody ever thinks a burglary or any other kind of crime will happen to them. However, thoughts alone will not stop you from becoming a victim of crime, though taking preventable action to deter criminals will certainly go a long way to help. 

If you have never taken an objective look at your property to check for vulnerabilities, then now is the time. Consider if there are any ways a criminal could enter the property or any aspects which could be attractive to thieves. Even leaving garden tools outside can make it easy to gain access to your property, and wheelie bins can also be used to access upstairs windows. The sooner any such issues are rectified the better, but you must think like a criminal in order to be able to outsmart them. 

No CCTV

As a supplier and installer of CCTV across the UK and Ireland, it would be impossible for us to cover the biggest threats to home security without mentioning the eyes and ears of your home security – the humble CCTV camera.

Without CCTV, you have no tangible evidence to hand to the police should a crime take place. CCTV can even alert you about suspicious activity before a crime can be committed, whether you happen to be at home, at work or on holiday. Compared with waiting until you get home to experience the devastation of a burglary, CCTV makes it much easier to not only prevent the situation but identify any culprits. 

There are many types of CCTV systems available these days, though here at RE:SURE, we supply remote CCTV monitoring. This means we can communicate with any perpetrators directly and even call the police on your behalf. Your property will never be left unattended as our motion sensor technology will instantly alert us if we need to take action, which we will do without hesitation.

Insecure Boundaries/Fencing

Similar to how Jordan Pickford could be seen animatedly reminding the England defence to keep the ball away from the goal in the 2020 Euros, your fencing is there to do the same job for your property – i.e keep unwanted people away from the goods. 

In domestic homes, the legal height limit for fences is 2 metres (6.5ft), and planting trees or hedges along your boundary walls can offer even more privacy. So if your current fence is either quite low, non-existent or has gaps that need to be repaired, consider that there is nothing stopping criminals from crossing your private land to gain access to your home. Very few criminals happen to be Olympic pole vaulters, hence being able to step right over a boundary line is more than ideal for someone looking to make a quick getaway. 

Gates are also pretty sophisticated these days, with electric gates or gates that have spikes on top some of the most secure available. Another option is to place your mailbox outside so that only those who buzz for access can be allowed into your grounds. Though, you’ll need to place a CCTV camera over your mailbox to prevent theft. 

Lack of lighting

If there’s one thing that puts a spanner in the works when you’re trying to commit a crime, it’s when a strong beam of last is cast upon you. That’s why sensible homeowners install motion sensor lighting so that anyone who approaches their property will instantly be illuminated.

Also, lighting improves the general safety of homeowners too. For example, if looking for your keys or leaving in your car at night, because you’re able to see what is going around you, any would-be attackers have less chance of being able to strike. 

Light will also help improve CCTV image quality, which could make all the difference if it’s relied upon to secure a conviction since the likes of facial features and number plates will be easier to identify. 

Social Media

You might wonder how a few innocent snaps on Facebook or Instagram could possibly cause a security problem for your property.

The reality is, even if your accounts are set to private, there’s still no way of knowing for sure who is viewing the information you post, which could include details of valuable possessions, or even that you are away on holiday meaning nobody is there to stop a burglar. With public accounts, such messaging could potentially reach hundreds if not thousands of people without you even realising it. 

In addition, social media posts that reveal you are on holiday may also invalidate your insurance if a burglary were to take place, seen as in the eye of insurers, announcing your home will be vacant is practically sending out an invitation to criminals. 

Inferior Locking Systems

broken locks security issues

When was the last time you changed your locks, let alone upgraded them? Given how easy it is to have a copy of a key made, if you live in rented accommodation especially, then any number of people could have a key to the property.

Likewise, inferior locks that are easy to pick or don’t have a multi-point locking system could be easy to break into. 

If you haven’t caught our post on smart locks, we’d highly recommend giving it a read to learn how to best protect your home or commercial building. 

CCTV Installation

We hope the above tips have given you food for thought when it comes to improving your home security.

As mentioned, the one aspect we can certainly help you with is installing CCTV in your home, whether you currently don’t have any systems installed, or want to upgrade to remote CCTV monitoring

We’re ready and waiting to help secure your property, so please get in touch on IRE 01 691 7100 | UK 028 8676 1183 and our friendly team will assist you further. 

5 Signs It’s Time To Upgrade Your Security Systems

The purpose of security systems such as CCTV, burglar alarms, secure fencing, motion sensor technology, smart locks etc is to protect your property from criminal activity.

The presence of any security system is sometimes enough of a deterrent, though each type of system is designed to either scare off the criminal or prevent them from being able to carry out their intended action.

Continue reading 5 Signs It’s Time To Upgrade Your Security Systems

Home security mistakes to avoid

Home is where the heart is, but it’s also where a lot of your valuable possessions are too. In recent months, we’ve all been spending far more time at home than usual. This makes now a great time to review your home security to make sure your property isn’t vulnerable to criminals. After all, being the victim of crime in your own home goes far beyond the financial implications, as it can be emotionally distressing too.

Continue reading Home security mistakes to avoid

Why It’s Time To Upgrade Your CCTV To 4K

If you thought 4K was only for watching your favourite shows in ultra HD on your TV, then think again. Like most devices that have a camera, CCTV systems work by capturing an image and sending that back to the user. The capabilities of said camera are vital, especially when in the case of CCTV it’s acting as the eyes and ears of all that is occurring around your property. Continue reading Why It’s Time To Upgrade Your CCTV To 4K

Home Protection Tips

Did you know there are over 422,000 burglaries in England and Wales every year? Having your home ransacked by thieves is a very distressing experience. As well as the shock of having your items stolen and the damage caused to your house, the incident can have a lasting effect. Some homeowners never feel safe in their property again. Unfortunately, criminals will look for any opportunity to steal and our homes that contain all our worldly possessions. Continue reading Home Protection Tips

Security Tips For Working From Home

Due to recent circumstances, you’ve likely found yourself working from home for the first time. While your attention might be on Zoom meetings and trying to homeschool the kids (if applicable), you’re probably not spending a lot of time thinking about your security. After all, when you are working from home you are guarding your property, right?

While this is true to some extent, there are ways in which criminals will still be looking to target you. So, here are our top tips to outsmart them so you can protect your home and possessions.

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Where To Position Your CCTV Cameras At Home

Installing CCTV is one of the best ways to protect your home against unwanted intruders. That being said, the positioning of your cameras can have a huge impact on their effectiveness. After all, there’s little point having cameras if they aren’t positioned correctly to capture what’s going on. The last thing you’d want is to need your CCTV for vital evidence, only to find it didn’t capture what you needed.

Considering the location of your CCTV is therefore of huge importance. Here are our top recommendations on where to place yours to help you get the most out of your system.

Continue reading Where To Position Your CCTV Cameras At Home

How to get the most out of CCTV systems

When installing CCTV, your prime reason is to encourage the safety and security of your home, business premises or the surrounding area.

While it absolutely is the right step towards achieving just that, it’s equally important you take action to ensure your CCTV systems are running at their maximum potential. After all, CCTV not only deters potential intruders, it can also provide vital evidence to the police in case of a crime having been committed. Imagine how frustrated you would feel if you’d gone to the effort of installing CCTV cameras, only to discover they weren’t working correctly, so the evidence was lost or unusable? Continue reading How to get the most out of CCTV systems

Staying Secure Over Christmas

For most of us, Christmas is a time for spending time with our loved ones, making memories and counting down to the new year. For opportunist thieves however, it’s a time to raid your home or business when you least expect it.

According to UK Crime Stats, there were 316,110 reported burglaries between January and October 2019, an average of around 30,000 per month. When a burglary happens, it’s devastating both financially as well as emotionally.

Here at Re:Sure, we want all of our customers to have a safe and happy Christmas, so here’s our top tips to staying secure over the festive season.

Continue reading Staying Secure Over Christmas

How to Really Secure Your Home against Burglars

Burglary and theft are nothing new. Since man first became civilized, he challenged the lives of other people at every step. No development in the economic set up of the nation can lower the level of crime.

In spite of so much improvement around, safety is still one of the most common issues we all face. With increasing complaints about theft and robbery threats, a range of security surveillance systems has entered the market. While some are extremely handy or beneficial, others often fail to serve their purpose.

If you think that you live in a crime-free and peaceful region, just stop and think again. Considering the unstable condition of the job market, the number of criminal activities can increase over time. Just because your neighbours are nice and hospitable doesn’t mean that you won’t experience any theft or vandalism.

The following is a good checklist to go through before leaving your home empty or for beefing up your protection against burglary.

Continue reading How to Really Secure Your Home against Burglars