SECURITY SEEKER......................................................................................SPRING 2002

SPRING 2002

This email newsletter can be seen in its entirety at URSecure.com.
Download the Spring Seeker 2002 PDF file here!

Welcome to the 5th online issue of the The Security Seeker Newsletter. The Security Seeker offers security advice, statistics and stories. If you find this email interesting, forward it to a friend and keep your friends secure, too!

MINIMIZING THE RISK OF IDENTITY THEFT

Avoid obvious PINs

When selecting your PIN (Personal Identification Number) for credit and cash machine cards, avoid using birth dates, social security numbers or addresses.
If your wallet gets lost or stolen, these are the first numbers criminals will try. Instead, use numbers you can easily remember but ones that don’t appear on anything you carry with you.

While you probably can't prevent identity theft entirely, you can minimize your risk. By managing your personal information wisely, cautiously and with an awareness of the issue, you can help guard against identity theft:

Before you reveal any personally identifying information, find out how it will be used and whether it will be shared with others. Ask if you have a choice about the use of your information: can you choose to have it kept confidential?
Pay attention to your billing cycles. Follow up with creditors if your bills don't arrive on time. A missing credit card bill could mean an identity thief has taken over your credit card account and changed your billing address to cover his tracks.
Guard your mail from theft. Deposit outgoing mail in post office collection boxes or at your local post office. Promptly remove mail from your mailbox after it has been delivered. If you're planning to be away from home and can't pick up your mail, call the U.S. Postal Service at 1-800-275-8777 to request a vacation hold. The Postal Service will hold your mail at your local post office until you can pick it up.
Put passwords on your credit card, bank and phone accounts. Avoid using easily available information like your mother's maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your SSN or your phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers.
Minimize the identification information and the number of cards you carry to what you'll actually need.
Do not give out personal information on the phone, through the mail or over the Internet unless you have initiated the contact or know who you're dealing with. Identity thieves may pose as representatives of banks, Internet service providers and even government agencies to get you to reveal your SSN, mother's maiden name, financial account numbers and other identifying information. Legitimate organizations with whom you do business have the information they need and will not ask you for it.
Keep items with personal information in a safe place. To thwart an identity thief who may pick through your trash or recycling bins to capture your personal information, tear or shred your charge receipts, copies of credit applications, insurance forms, physician statements, bank checks and statements that you are discarding, expired charge cards and credit offers you get in the mail.
Be cautious about where you leave personal information in your home, especially if you have roommates, employ outside help or are having service work done in your home.
Find out who has access to your personal information at work and verify that the records are kept in a secure location.
Give your SSN only when absolutely necessary. Ask to use other types of identifiers when possible.
Don't carry your SSN card; leave it in a secure place.

HAVE YOUR SMOKE DETECTORS MAINTAINED!

Your smoke detector is essential to protecting your property and family’s lives. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) estimates that there are now more homes with smoke detectors that do not work than homes without smoke detectors at all. Once installed, your detector should never be forgotten.

NFPA recommends a maintenance plan to insure the proper operation of smoke detectors. Homeowners should test their smoke detectors frequently, and make sure to contact their security dealers when replacing the detectors.

Replacing detectors after 10 years may insure reliability by protecting against the accumulated chances of failure, but monthly testing is the crucial element to making sure detectors work, according to the NFPA.

Visit the website of the NFPA http://www.nfpa.org to learn more about fire prevention.

PROTECT AGAINST CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING

Carbon monoxide (CO), a colorless, odorless gas, lurks in homes and garages across North America. When CO flows from faulty furnaces and appliances, its effects can be deadly.

When people inhale CO, it obstructs the flow of oxygen to their heart and brain. Symptoms include headache, dizziness, fatigue, reddish skin, nausea, vomiting and disorientation. Victims may also lose consciousness.

People sometimes mistake CO poisoning for the flu or food poisoning, because the symptoms are similar. Here are some tips to guard against CO poisoning.

A professional should inspect and clean your furnace, flues and chimneys once a year. In some communities, the local gas utility provides this service.
Change air filters as recommended by the manufacturers. Always repair cracked or damaged parts right away.
The National Safety Council, EPA and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommend that homes have at least one CO detector with an audible alarm installed near the sleeping area.

If somebody in your home shows any CO poisoning symptoms, evacuate your home and get the victim to the hospital. If no one appears ill and you have opened the doors and windows, call the fire department’s non-emergency phone number. Somebody will come to your home to take a CO reading. Warning signs that a home may have a CO problem:

The hot-water supply is low.
The furnace doesn’t keep the house warm.
You smell an unfamiliar or burning odor.
You notice increased condensation on walls or windows near the furnace.
You detect soot buildup, especially on appliances.
You notice fresh rust or stains on vents and chimneys.

FEAR OF MASS DESTRUCTION

According to a just-released survey commissioned by Scientific American (http://www.sciam.com) and the Nuclear Threat Initiative (http://www.nti.org), more than three-fourths of Americans are fearful of a possible attack with weapons of mass destruction and less than half have confidence that the government's current efforts to protect the nation are sufficient. According to the survey, respondents are most likely to fear attacks similar to ones that have already occurred--a plane hijacking and a biological attack.

Slightly more than a fourth (27%) are at least "very" personally worried about an attack by any weapon of mass destruction.
Nearly half (49%) are somewhat worried about a biological attack.
A plurality are somewhat worried about a chemical or nuclear attack (43% and 39%, respectively).
More than one-third (35%) feel extremely or very worried about a "conventional" terrorist attack (deploying homemade bombs, hijacking or kidnapping).

TIPS FOR REDUCING FALSE ALARMS

What every first aid kit needs

The contents of first aid kits vary by where they are located -- office, home, gym or pool. But every first aid kit should have these basic supplies:

-assorted Band-Aids in assorted sizes

-gauze bandages

-pint of rubbing alcohol

-tube of antibiotic ointment

-bottle of aspirin or other pain reliever

-cotton balls and swabs

-bottle of hydrogen peroxide

-tube of burn ointment

No dispatch period:
As with any new piece of technology, a certain degree of trial and error occurs within the first week to ten days as the end user becomes comfortable with the equipment. Our suggestion is that you request from your monitoring station a specified "no response" period to ensure that, should a mistake be made, the authorities will not be called.

Double keystroke keypad panic buttons or a security feature on the panic button:
In the time of duress a call to 911 is the most efficient means for summoning help if you are near a phone. The second most effective button you could employ on your key pad or pendant is the panic button. However, these panic buttons are also a major source of false alarms. Children and adults alike can accidentally trip this feature if it is a one keystroke activation. Request the double action codes (where you must simultaneously press two separate keys down).

Eliminate Silent Alarms:
While the silent alarm is an effective tool for catching thieves in the act, it is also a source of false alarms as the end user does not know when they have made a mistake. Installing a sounding device not only informs a thief that an alarm has been tripped, but will also warn you and your family of an error or a crisis situation.

One device per security zone:
Many false alarms have been caused by problems occurring after a repair has been performed. This is because the technician will have a difficult time isolating the problematic device and will sometimes repair/replace the wrong piece. By isolating each device to its own zone, the technician can quickly asses the problematic device and repair it.

Security Success Stories

Your central station saves a life!

The daughter of a subscriber recently contacted the central station commending one of our operators for saving the life of her elderly mother! Within just a few moments of receiving a fire alarm signal, our highly trained operator called the subscriber, then dispatched the authorities, giving the subscriber ample time to evacuate the residence. Although the home was lost, a life was saved.

And that's another success story from your central station.

Do you have a success story you would like to share with your central station and other security minded people! Send us an email and let us know!

CRIME RATE UPDATE

Household burglary is defined as the unlawful, forcible entry or attempted entry of a residence. This crime usually, but not always, involves theft. The illegal entry may be by force, such as breaking a window or slashing a screen, or may be without force by entering through an unlocked door or an open window. As long as the person entering has no legal right to be present in the structure, a burglary has occurred. Furthermore, the structure need not be the house itself for a burglary to take place; illegal entry of a garage, shed, or any other structure on the premises also constitutes household burglary. If breaking and entering occurs in a hotel or vacation residence, it is still classified as a burglary for the household whose member or members were staying there at the time the entry occurred.

	Source: The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). Ongoing since 1972, this survey of households interviews about 80,000 persons age 12 and older in 43,000 households twice each year about their victimizations from crime

Note: The National Crime Victimization Survey redesign was implemented in 1993; the area with the lighter shading is before the redesign and the darker area after the redesign. The data before 1993 are adjusted to make them comparable with data collected since the redesign. The adjustment methods are described in Criminal Victimization 1973-95. Estimates for 1993 and beyond are based on collection year while earlier estimates are based on data year. For additional information about the methods used, see Criminal Victimization 2000.

CONTACT INFORMATION

The Security Seeker is a customer service publication designed for security-minded consumers. If you have any questions or suggestions of how we might better service your security needs or have a success story you would like to submit for consideration, please contact Editor Peter Prestipino at (773) 725-0222 or (800) 827-3624, ext. 6033. Visit our web site: www.ursecure.com.