The holiday season is upon us and with it, putting up decorations, visiting, shopping, package delivery, food, and fun!
Below are seven quick reminders to ensure the security and safety of your family, friends and pets throughout the festivities.
On-line Shopping:
1) Keep your network updated and use strong passwords and two-factor authentications on your accounts
Before shopping, check to make sure you have the latest security updates installed on your phone, computer, antivirus software and your router. These updates help improve security and fight new attacks. It may seem inconvenient to have to wait for your computer or phone to update and restart, but the protection is worth it.
Don’t let your computer or device remember your usernames, passwords, or credit card information. To reduce the chance of being hacked you can use a password generator and manager to create and keep track of complicated passwords that are not worth a hacker’s time to crack.
2) Ensure your transaction is safe and secure – Verify that the online store is secure before entering any personal or financial information. Look for “https” at the beginning of a site’s address. If you don’t see an “s” at the end of “http,” then the site is not encrypted, and your data will not be secure. Additionally, avoid shopping on public networks – Free hotspots are great when you’re out and about, but hackers like them even more than you do. Because public networks aren’t secured, don’t log in to banking sites or payment sites like PayPal on a public network — and make sure that you are logged out of those sites before connecting to a public network.
Home Deliveries
3) Track it! – If the ordering system allows you to choose the time of delivery, select a time you know you’ll be at home. Always use the alerts option or tracking numbers to follow your packages along on their journey so you can arrange to get your packages off the porch as soon as possible. If things appear slow or stopped, contact the delivery service or store for assistance in locating your package.
4) Limit Porch Time – If you’re not home much, alert a neighbor that will be home or consider having the package delivered to your office, a friend, or neighbor’s house for safekeeping.
Also, if you participate in Nextdoor.com or a similar neighborhood app, you can let neighbors know if something has been stolen from your porch so they can keep an eye out and report suspicious behavior.
5) Consider getting a smart doorbell. Upgrade your current doorbell to a Skybell doorbell and you’ll enjoy a higher level of safety and security with remote monitoring and cloud recording features. When the delivery person rings the doorbell, you can see when and how packages are delivered. You can also check for any unwanted visitors at your doorstep.
6) Control Deliveries by Controlling Your Garage Door. With Total Connect 2.0 integrated with the MyQ garage door app, you can monitor and allow deliveries to be placed inside your garage. To learn more about how convenient this can be, click here or call us at 919.387.1800 or fill out the form below.
Protecting Your Fuzzy Friends
7) Check out this short, adorable video with puppies and kittens demonstrating tips for keeping them safe during the holiday season.
The holiday season is a fun and exciting time of year. Following these tips can help ensure that it is a safe and joyful time.
Happy Holidays from Secur-Tek, Inc.!
Secur-Tek is locally owned and operated in Apex, NC, offering home and business security, monitoring, automation audio, and central vacuum systems. Our service area includes Apex, Cary, Fuquay-Varina, Chapel Hill, Clayton, Garner, Holly Springs, Durham, Raleigh, Morrisville, and Pittsboro in North Carolina.
