Smart Security for Your Commercial Business

Smart Security for Your Commercial Business

Smart Security for Your Commercial Business…You already know that home security and energy savings can be controlled from your smart phone. You can check on a door left open or be notified if a water pipe has burst. You have peace of mind security in the palm of your hand.

Smart Security for Your Commercial Business

Now with Total Connect Remote Services from Protection Concepts, you can have security to manage your commercial activities, monitor your employees and provide other damage control from the palm of your hand.

A remote key pad on your smart phone can act like the key pad on your security system. Isn’t it time you invested in smart security for your commercial business?

If you have video services at your business, you can keep tract of everyhing that is going on at your business from your home computer or your smart phone. Now that is staying on top of your business!

Give us a call and we will explain how Total Connect Remote Services can work for your commercial business.

Secure Online Holiday Shopping

Secure Online Holiday Shopping

No doubt you are part of the millions of Americans that are doing part of their holiday shopping online.  With data breaches from well know retailers like Target, Home Depot and EBay, you are aware that credit card information can be hacked.  The vast majority of online transactions are secure.  Still, we need to take precautions with our online purchases.  Here are a three simple tips from American Express on ways to make your online purchases more secure.

Be Protected with Fraud Alerts
Most credit card companies will allow you to set up protection alerts on your card.  You can customize these alerts to fit your particular situation.  When you combine your alerts with the credit card company’s oversight, you are spotting suspicious activities very quickly.

Change Your Passwords Regularly
Credit card companies recommend that you change your password regularly to help prevent unauthorized access to your account. Here are some tips to keep in mind: Create strong passwords for your accounts using a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. Use different passwords for all the sites you use.

 Spot a Scam

Fraudulent emails look as if they’ve come from legitimate organizations. If you receive an email you’re your credit card company that does not address you by name and include the last five digits of your account number, you should forward it to the company.  Do not automatically respond to these emails with your personal information.

Conclusion

By following these simple tips, you can make your online purchases and your holiday celebrations more secure.  In the next post I will share some thoughts on making your retail holiday shopping more secure.

Commercial Security–Employee ‘s Desk Maybe Holes in Your Security!

Commercial Security–Employee ‘s Desk Maybe Holes in Your Security!

Is your commercial business secure? You have building security in place.  Your parking lot has security cameras.  You have established a firewall to protect your data.  Did you know that your employee’s desk maybe a huge hole in your commercial security?

Here is what a security company found when they did an afterhours check of their employee’s desks and their suggestions for plugging these security holes.

Writing passwords on sticky notes.  Employees may have a difficult time keeping track of all of their passwords, writing that information down on a piece of paper and leaving it out for all eyes to see is never a good idea. Keep in mind that after the office closes, many strangers can access the work space. One can never tell when a person might try and use employee passwords to compromise an account.

Writing sensitive information on a white board.  Staff often brainstorm together and write down their ideas on a whiteboard. Several offices here at CSO had whiteboards. We found one with client names and billing information written on it. The information would have been very valuable to any potential competitors. After a work session, employees should put information in a less obvious place and put it away after hours. Advise staff to erase all whiteboards regularly.

Leaving sensitive documents on the desk. Also on several desks, we spotted detailed client contracts with billing terms. Like the whiteboard, the information might be valuable to competition. But depending on who views it, the client’s information might also be used for ill-gotten gains. Any documents with sensitive data belong in a locked drawer. Bottom of Form

Leaving a calendar or day planner out on a desk.  One day planner we found contained private sales-related information. But a calendar might also contain the agenda or travel itinerary of a member of the staff. Depending on the company, that staff member (an executive, for instance) might be a potential target. All calendars and day planners should be locked up or taken out of the office at the end of the day.

Leaving an access card out. We found one desk with an access card hidden under a keyboard. That’s not much better than leaving it in plain sight – it’s like putting your house key under the welcome mat, the first place a thief will look. Access cards are used to protect staff from an unwanted intrusion. If an access card gets into the wrong hands, it can allow unauthorized people to roam around freely. Staffers should keep possession of their cards at all times.

Forgetting the printer.  The printer in our office had several vendor contracts discarded in a pile of papers. After staff finish with printing jobs, they need to be mindful of any documents that were printed, even the ones that aren’t needed, and dispose of them appropriately.

Do a check on your employee’s desks for security holes in  your commercial security. Then incorporate polices to plug the holes.

What the Ray Rice Video Teaches about Commercial Security

What the Ray Rice Video Teaches about Commercial Security

What the Ray Rice Video Teaches about Commercial Security…A picture is worth a thousand words.  In today’s words, a video is worth ten thousand words!  It was one thing to hear that Ray Rice committed domestic violence; it another thing to actually see the domestic violence on video.   The video has created a fire storm across the country.

With technology advancements in cell phone cameras and security cameras in almost every aspect of our lives, video has become the new “witness.”

How does this impact your security as a small business owner?

Small Business Owners and Video Surenillance

A small business owner cannot watch their business 24 hours a day.  They could hire security guards.  This is a very expensive option.  Business security cameras are a more effective option.  With today’s technology, these cameras have become very sophisticated and security effective.

You can install these cameras in your office, your parking lot, your warehouse, or anywhere you want to watch for security issues.   Wireless options make it even easier to have cameras that see when you are not present.  Streaming technology makes them easier to view the video and store the video data.

Criminals are not stupid!  More and more they realize that video cameras can be used to apprehend them. The notification of cameras on your premise can act as a deterrent to break-ins and other security breaches.  If someone does breach your business, the police can use the videos from the cameras to apprehend the criminals more quickly.

Cameras and videos are the now part of every aspect of our lives.  If you would like us to give you an assessment and demonstration on how video cameras can provide security for your business, give us a call.  It is only a matter of time before cameras in the work place will be the common security devise as locks were in the past.

 

Benefits of Wireless Home Security for Your Atlanta Home

Benefits of Wireless Home Security for Your Atlanta Home

Benefits of Wireless Home Security for Your Atlanta Home

When people ask me about the benefits of a wireless security system for their Atlanta homes, I usually reflect with them about the changes smart phones have brought to our daily lives.

We can now buy on line anywhere our smart phone operates. Home computer no longer rules our world. We can share pictures and texts with our friends on social media sites. When we want directions or a good place to eat, we use our smart phones. We have become a mobile society.  For some their smart phones are never more than 3 feet away, even when they sleep.

The technology that brought us the smart phones is the same technology behind the wireless home security systems. Using the wireless home security system you can get complete home security protection 24/7. You can install a variety of options like motion detectors, water and fire sensors, video cameras as well as windows and door sensors. With today’s wireless technology you can control your home’s lights, heat, and cold, raise window blinds along with remote door locking.

At the heart of these options, is that control you have wherever you go. With all of these home security options, you control them from your smart phone or remote computer. You are always in charge.  You can be two places at once!

When you consider the hard wire home security alternative, the choice favors wireless. Hard wired systems involve messy installations with holes in your wall; they involve phone lines that can be cut by the bad guys to gain entrance to your home; they involve higher costs for hard wired home installations; and hard wired systems do not give you the ability to take your system with you if you should move.

Wireless home security systems have revolutionized the home security business just as the smart phones have revolutionized the way we live. Give us a call and let us explain how a wireless system can provide the home security you want for your family.