Here is the situation: You contracted with an alarm company or purchased your own self-monitored alarm system a year ago. When prompted to whether you want to splurge on a pet-sensitive motion sensor, you said no because you only had fish and if they are tripping off a motion sensor, you have other problems. You recently fell in love with the latest and greatest mixed breed of dog to hit the market and had to have one. You bring home your Labradoodle, Puggle, or other mixed breed of your choice. The next day you set your home alarm, leave for work, and within an hour you are being notified that your alarm is going off. You come to find out that your alarm is being set-off by your motion sensor which is now being triggered by your new best friend. So we have identified the problem. What is the solution?

1. Discontinue use of your alarm system and leave your home and new best friend to fend for themselves.
2. Disconnect your motion sensor and rely solely upon your window/door sensors. (Maybe your new four-legged buddy will intimidate anyone looking to break-in.)
3. Contact your alarm manufacturer and pay to upgrade your motion sensor to be pet-sensitive. If you have a contracted alarm provider, you may be able to negotiate with them on the price of the sensor but they may still charge you for installation and set-up.
4. Save some cash and do the following suggestions from SmartSecurityPeople.com

Motion sensors have a zone of reference and range. This zone of reference depicts what the range is of your motion sensor. The chart to the right reflects a motion sensor that has a 20ft reach with a left to right range of 90 degrees and an up and down range of 30 degrees. So what does this mean? Well, this information helps up to figure out how we can make the best use of your motion sensor while avoiding false alarms from Fido.  You have 2 solutions: You can either tilt your motion sensor up or you can put a piece of medical tape on the bottom half of the sensor. (We suggest medical tape only because it will blend in better with the color of your sensor.) The ultimate effect of either of these solutions is that you now have a motion sensor that only detects movement that occurs higher than 3 feet off of the floor. If your dog is taller than 3 feet, then you probably don’t need a security system! Keep in mind though, if your potential robbers are vertically challenged (short) they could avoid this set-up as well.

A question that comes to mind: Is this how other pet-immune motion sensors work? The answer is most probably no. The pet-immune motions sensors of today have circuitry built into them that only cause the alarm to be triggered if a large mass of movement is detected (usually anything under 40 lbs is ok). That is how these sensors differentiate between human movement and pet movement. If the sensor detects movement by an object larger than 40 lbs, it will trigger the alarm. Under 40lbs, no alarm.  As long as you are not being robbed by anorexic robbers or kindergartners, you should be just fine with this set-up.

Hope this information is helpful. Should you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. we are always glad to help our readers at SmartSecurityPeople.com.

SmartSecurityPeople.com is pleased to provide the following campus safety and security tips for college bound students.

1. Do Not Stroll Around Campus After Hours- If you do, make sure you utilize the buddy system. If you don’t have a buddy available, call someone with your cellphone and talk to them during the walk back to your residence hall.
2. Be Careful Of What You Post On MySpace Or Facebook- Social Online Networking is the greatest and worst thing to hit the campus community. Don’t make yourself a target. Filter what you post on your account and control who has access.
3. Don’t Let Just Anyone In- If your campus has residence halls that have controlled access, please be aware that they do this for a reason. It is to keep bad people out. If you are going into your dorm and someone that you don’t know tries to follow in behind you, shut the door. If you see a suspicious person in your residence hall or on campus, call the security office. They are there to help. You should memorize their number or program it in your phone.
4. Get To Know Your Campus- The first week that you are on campus, you should familiarize yourself with the campus. You will be there for the next 4-5 years, so it will prove to be useful on many levels. Make note of the more common routes, the security phone locations, and the “safe zones” that your campus provides. That is why we also recommend #5….
5. Avoid Shortcuts- Especially after dark! This should go without saying. There is a reason why people are not taking the shortcuts. They are typically not the safest route, have very little to no lighting after dark, and always end up drawing the most unscrupulous of characters. Just avoid them and take the extra time to get to your destination safely.
6. Excessive Alcohol Consumption Is Never Good- I know, I know.. college campuses and alcohol consumption appear to always go hand-in-hand. We are not suggesting that you can not drink. You just need to drink responsibly. If you wake up the next morning and are missing half of your clothing, find a new tattoo and have no idea where you are at… you are probably drinking too much. If keeping yourself safe means drinking a little less, then so be it.
7. Do Not Leave Your Belongings Unattended- Bookbags and purses are the number one items that come up missing on campuses all the time. You may feel as though you can trust your environment and leave your bag at the table when you go to find another research book in the library or get another helping of food from the food court but if you leave your bag unattended you are taking a chance that it will not be there when you return. Take it with you or ask someone nearby to watch your stuff (assuming that you know them or at the very least they look like a trustworthy person). Besides… textbooks are expensive to replace!
8. Share Your Class Schedule With Friends and Family- and no.. don’t post it up on MySpace or Facebook for all to see (refer to #2 above). If your friends and family have your schedule each semester, it gives them a good idea of when they can expect to see or talk with you.  If you are ever going somewhere outside of the normal schedule, let someone know. Also, tell them when you think you may be back. It just makes good sense.
9. Don’t Carry Cash- This should be easy for most college students just because they don’t typically have a lot of cash. However, we at SmartSecurityPeople.com encourage you to keep cash in the bank and use your debit or credit card for your purchases on and off campus. Also, cash under your mattress in your dorm room is a bad idea as well!
10. Visit the Security Office- When you are choosing a college and safety and security is an important factor, stop by the campus security office and ask them for a recent copy of their security report. By law they are required to make these available to everyone that asks. In the report they should have graphs, charts, and statistics showing the number of incidents they have had on campus during the last year. Most reports go back at least five years. While you are stopping by, ask them if they have a safety manual for their students. If they are a reputable security office, they should have something available in a handout or brochure form.

SmartSecurityPeople.com strongly encourages students to follow these Campus Safety and Security tips. We also recognize that while we have only published these ten tips, there are probably a lot more ideas out there amongst our peers. If you have additional suggestions to help out our college bound students, please feel free to share below.

Check washing happens when someone utilizes simple chemicals available around the home (nail polish, bleach, etc..) to remove portions of the information you have written on your check.  Check washers typically take your check and put a piece of masking tape over your signature. Then they soak your check in the chemicals mentioned above and all the other handwritten ink will disappear from the face of your check. After letting the check dry, they now have a blank check with your legitimate signature. They complete the check for any dollar amount that they feel appropriate and are off to the local bank or check cashing store (PayDay Loans, Check Into Cash, etc..) to get your money. You don’t find out for days or weeks later and when the bank researches it and compares signatures, they say that it is an official check with your signature. Studies show that check washing is costing Americans over $800 million dollars a year!! (FTC 2006 annual report)

Help is on the way! Uni-ball, with the guidance of Frank Abagnale (author of Catch Me If You Can), has put into production a new line of pens that are impervious to check washing. The Uni-ball 207 utilizes a technologically advanced ink that won’t wash away with standard check washing solutions. The ink is formulated so that it chemically bonds to the paper that you are writing on.

SmartSecurityPeople.com recommends to our readers that the next time you go pen shopping, you should look for the Uni-ball 207 and make use of it when signing documents of importance. It is a cheap investment that provides great protection.

Check fraud has been in existence for as long as we have had checks. Over the course of time and technology it has gotten better though. Banks have implemented new strategies to help keep check fraud at bay and with continued success with debit card adoption rates, check fraud will probably be near extinction in the next decade. We can only hope anyway.

Bank of America has been implementing a fingerprint policy that coincides with the cashing of checks for non-bank customers. This has been a nationally recognized procedure for about ten years. So it is nothing new.. except for one customer. Joe Moses, grocery owner in a suburb of Boston, recently went to a Bank of America trying to cash a check for $80. Since he did not have an existing relationship with them, they required him to supply a fingerprint along with the check for identification purposes in case he was doing something fraudulent. Most people have accepted Bank of America’s request and supply them with whatever they need. Mr. Moses, however, was not so quick to comply. He refused to give them his fingerprint and they refused to cash his check. Apparently Mr. Moses had frequented this branch many times, always happy to supply any identification that was requested. He felt as though the fingerprint request was over the top. His direct quote was “Anyone who gives a fingerprint to someone other than the police is an idiot.” Needless to say, Mr Moses did not get his $80 and the bank did not get their fingerprint. He was quickly escorted from the branch.

So the question that comes to mind.. is the bank’s fingerprint policy infringing upon any rights? Do you think they are mandating a fair request based upon the liability they are assuming by cashing a potentially fraudulent check? I know that we leave fingerprints all over the place without regard. So do you think this is a good practice for banks to continue or do you think they should find an alternative solution… maybe retina scans!!??

If you are keeping up with the political debates, you will see that Russia briefly came under fire most recently and talk of a potential cold war could become a reality. Quite scary to think that our relationship with Russia could revert back to a pre-Reagan era.  So.. back to the topic at hand. Why blame Russia for identity theft? Our society is quick to blame Russia (or any other country for that matter) for the problems of the world but in this instance we have historical proof.

Upon the death of Ivan the Terrible, three imposters all claimed to be the rightful heir to the Russian throne. These men, known as the three Dimitris, went to great lengths to usurp the power and riches that came with assuming a royal identity. This was 400 years ago, and identity theft was already a profitable trade. Back then such a scheme required years of deceitful effort, stores of charisma, and the ability to live every day as a fraud.

In today’s electronic world, however, a fraud need not don the clothes of his mark. An identity can be stolen with nothing more than a stolen string of numbers and malicious intent. With a few pieces of personal identifying information, an identity thief can easily secure an account in someone else’s name. This information can be obtained from a variety of sources, including stolen mail, computer hacking, fraudulent address changes and other nefarious schemes.

My assumption is that identity theft probably occurred long before the days of Ivan the Terrible.  So, we really shouldn’t blame the Russians. However, it does give you a good idea of how identity theft has adapted over the years.

Smart Security People recognizes that Identity Theft is a growing trend in our nation and around the world. That is why we are pleased to provide you with the top ten most effective methods to protect your identity from unscrupulous characters.

1. Move to the Ozarks! - not really.. The upstanding citizens living in the Ozark Mountains are just as much at risk for identity theft as someone living in New York city. What they have going for them though is that they are “off the grid”. Living in a remote area of the country with little to no access to technological advances certainly makes it harder for someone to have their identity stolen. Statistics actually show that North Dakota is the best place to live and avoid identity theft. If you are curious as to how your state ranks, give this map a whirl.
2. Get Your Free Credit Reports Now! - Seriously.. right now!!  However, please don’t go to freecreditreports.com. The service that they provide is far from free. You need to go to annualcreditreport.com This site is maintained by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and it allows you to get a free credit report from each of the three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, Trans Union) every 12 months. What you want to do is get your free credit reports but spread them out throughout the year so that you always have a good snapshot of what is going on with your credit file. For example, get the free credit report from Experian in April, Trans Union in August, and Equifax in December.
3. Pay in Cash! - This is a really antiquated approach to protecting your identity and Smart Security People only recommends this tactic if you are truly worried about the security and safety of your identity. Did you know that every time you pay someone with a check you give them everything they need to know to steal your identity? Each paper check you write has your bank routing number, your bank account number, the check number (lets identity thieves know how established your account is), and usually your address (with phone number). That is why Smart Security People recommends that you…#4
4. Use A Credit Card - Did you know that when you use your debit card, you are giving everyone direct access to your checking account? When you use a credit card, you are giving everyone access to your credit account which carries fraud protection and allows you to dispute and not pay for charges that you did not authorize. If someone fraudulently uses your debit card account, you can still dispute the charges with the bank but it can take weeks for them to research your account before replacing your money. Pay with credit card and make one transaction out of your checking each month to pay it off.
5. Never Mail Anything From Your Home - Identity thieves love to go through your mail. They especially like to snag your outgoing mail which may include private information from credit card applications or checks that you are paying your mortgage and utilities with. They drive around neighborhoods and see the little red flags popped up on your mailboxes and think it is Christmas time. To combat this, you should always drop your outgoing mail in one of those blue R2D2 shaped USPS receptacles on the corners that you pass while going to or from work. If your financial institution offers a free bill pay service, you may want to enroll in this. It will keep less of your paper checks from circulating through the mail system.
6. Bring In The Experts - If you find that your schedule is hectic and you have very little to no time to dedicate to the protection of your identity, then you will want to sign up with someone that does have time and can help you. Two top ranked companies that provide this type of service are LifeLock and TrustedID. These companies can keep a close watch on your identity and alert you immediately when someone attempts to apply for credit using your good name.
7. Don’t Go Phishing! - More importantly though, don’t be a target of phishing. By now everyone has already gotten the “Your PayPal Account is under review for suspicious transactions, please log in to confirm the status of your account”.  PayPal is a popular target for phishing but it is not uncommon to get similar phishing emails under another bank name. The emails are coming from people that have set up databases in third world countries and are hoping that you will click on the link in their email and supply them with your user name and password. Fortunately, if you quickly realize that your account has been compromised, you can change that information before they have a chance to sell it out on the identity theft black market.  If you don’t remember anything else about phishing scams or questionable emails, please remember these 2 things. DO NOT CLICK ON ANY OF THE SUPPLIED LINKS IN THE EMAIL & ALWAYS OPEN UP A NEW BROWSER WINDOW AND LOG INTO THE ACCOUNT IN QUESTION USING YOUR OWN BOOKMARKS OR BY TYPING THE WEB ADDRESS.
8. Log out. Log Out. Log Out - Computer labs are a pretty common occurrence now-a-days. You can find them at cyber cafes, public libraries, college campuses, airport terminals, etc… If you ever find yourself using one of these(which we hope you don’t!), please make sure that you log out of any accounts that you were accessing during your session. A lot of web browsers remember your data and unless you hit the LOGOUT button, your account will remain open and accessible just by someone hitting the BACK BUTTON on the web browser.
9. Invest In A Shredder!  - Dumpster Diving has taken on new form. It used to be that people would lurk through the trash of others to try and find something of value. What is the old adage “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”? That same saying still rings true. However, the dumpster divers of today are looking for a different kind of treasure. They are looking for your personal and private information. Anything you throw away that contains this type of information should be shredded first. Ideally you want a cross-cut shredder for the best impact but any shredder will do. Even just ripping stuff in half or quarters would be better than throwing whole documents away.
10. Be Aware Of Your Financial Activities - Keep track of your bank and credit card statements. You should know when these come to you each month. If for some reason you stop getting these, it is possible that your account has been taken over and diverted to go somewhere else. When you do get your statements, take a few moments to quickly look over the transactions and make sure that everything is as it should be. If you keep your receipts you should be able to do a quick reconciliation to confirm each transaction.

Smart Security People understands that there are more than ten approaches to helping protect your identity. However, we have come up with this list to help jumpstart your path to maintaining your identity as your own. If you have any other suggestions to share with our readers, please feel free to share. The more we know, the better prepared we will all be.

A recent article from Pioneer Press reveals a situation where a student engaged in a relationship with a professor at the University of St. Thomas that ultimately ended with her email account being compromised and the professor being arrested by the FBI and being charged federally for his actions (not the relationship with the student - the breaking into her email actions). As you read through the article, you can very quickly realize that both parties (Koster, 27 and Grzeskowiak, 34) in this situation are not dealing with a full deck. Their history together carries a number of restraining orders, accusations of stalking, and both have apparently been getting counseling. It is certainly something that you would expect to see on Jerry Springer. None-the-less, the relevance of this situation is to educate you about a software package (SniperSpy) that was used by the professor. Apparently, you can install this on anyone’s PC and instantly give you access to everything that person is doing on that computer. It has the ability for you to access the computer remotely and view the same screen shot that they are seeing on their monitor. Here is a list of all that it can track:

• Web Sites Visited
• Applications Executed
• Keystrokes Typed
• Passwords Typed
• Documents Opened
• Windows Opened
• File Changes
• Folder Changes
• Active Window Shots
• Full Instant Messaging Chats
• Live Screen Viewing

If anyone you know, or don’t know, tries to install something like this on your computer, please delete the program immediately. No good can come from it. Based upon the list of what this program can accomplish; your identity, not to mention your privacy,  could be greatly compromised.

Does anyone know of any other programs, similar to SniperSpy, that we should try to avoid?