Security Company Urges Loudoun to Upgrade Locks After Last Week's Home Invasion

Feb. 16, 2011 - PRLog -- Last week's deadly  home invasion in Loudoun County  should make you ask yourself one question: "How safe is my home?"

A deadbolt lock is the simplest and one of the most effective forms of protection, yet many people either don't have them or have locks that are simply inadequate.

If you want to make sure your home is secure, there are a few things that you need to do:

- Make sure all off your doors and windows are locked.
- Install deadbolt locks on all of your doors (the door leading from your garage to your house is especially vulnerable and often overlooked.
- Make sure the deadbolt locks you have are equipped with bump guard protection.

Bump guard protection means that your deadbolt locks are not susceptible to lock bumping, a trick that is quickly becoming a favorite way for criminals to quickly and easily enter your home.

Lock bumping entails using a bump key (a standard key that has been modified) and a striking instrument, such as a mallet or even the handle of a screwdriver, to enter a home. Most locks installed before 2005, and many installed more recently, are highly susceptible to lock bumping. Lock bumping allows a criminal to enter your home in under 30 seconds, leaving no obvious evidence of a break-in.

In this video, a member of the Sensible Obvious Security team uses a bump key to enter a home.  He had less five minutes of instruction prior to shooting this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMjJ7ci4URU



In about the same time that it would take you to open your door with a legitimate key, a criminal could be in your home, looting your valuables, or even worse, lying in wait, ready to make you or a loved ones the next victim of a violent crime.

Bump keys aren't hard to come by. They can be easily made in a matter of minutes using common tools found around the house. There are even video tutorials on the internet that show exactly how to do so.

The only way to protect yourself against this shockingly easy crime is to replace your locks with deadbolts that have Bump Guard technology. Sensible Obvious Security recommends and uses SmartKey by Kwikset locks, which make bump keys useless and protects your home.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit Sensible Obvious security at https://www.obviouslysecure.com, or call (703) 732-2964.

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Sensible Obvious Security provides a wide variety of home security services in the Washington D.C. area.

We are focused on making your home safer by adding additional security measures and updating those that are outdated and vulnerable to criminals.