In the dorms on campus, doors play a crucial role in terms of security. A number of security features are intended to keep the dorm and residents safe (ID card scanners, restricted access hours, and PIN keypads). Furthermore, doors to individual rooms make use of locks and keys, and strong physical construction to maintain the security of a room. Unfortunately these measures are not always enough to prevent theft and unauthorized access.
What happens, then, when students live outside of the Notre Dame bubble in the neighborhoods surrounding campus? What measures are used on doors to maintain the security of off campus houses? In this security review, I will assess some common methods of securing the doors and overall safety of an off campus house.
Exterior doors can be equipped with different types of locks (handle locks, single-cylinder deadbolts, double-cylinder deadbolts), construction materials (metal, solid-wood, composites), and sensors (surface door contacts, recessed contacts). Not all methods provide the optimal security condition as the integrity of the physical barrier can be compromised. Ideally for the home owner or resident, the door will of course prohibit unauthorized entry and will not readily expose to view (disclose) the contents of the house. This also addresses the integrity of the house and its residents and associated property. In addition, the door should allow authorized individuals entry.
Would-be attackers would be interested in knowing what methods are used to secure the door. Do the residents make actually use the installed deadbolt lock when leaving? An underutilized deadbolt is pointless in keeping attackers out. Is the deadbolt a single cylinder (key used only on exterior), or a double cylinder (key needed on inside and outside) lock? A single cylinder lock located right next to a large glass window would provide easy entry after breaking the glass (alteration). Is there an associated alarm system that is actually activated? The presence of alarm equipment does not guarantee that residents turn on the system. Furthermore, some alarms are disconnected and only emit a loud noise. While this may scare an intruder away, he or she still has time to grab property before fleeing.
The overall construction of the door is something that most tenants can do little about. This vulnerability of really only a small piece of the puzzle. The quality of door design is null if users fail to adequately lock the door using the deadbolt. Seemingly the largest vulnerability in this case is human action. For instance, even if a door is well protected, there may be other means of entry. An open window (or a closed,yet unlocked window) or secondary door could prove the main door security measures unimportant. It would be like beefing up security on HTTP ports while ignoring the POP3 port in a computer system.
Attempts to secure the door through multiple and sometimes extreme ways must be tempered by sensitivity to the ease of entry by authorized individuals. Ultimately some risk acceptance is inherent in a system that literally opens doors. Nevertheless, the amount of risk can be reduced and transferred. Installing double-cylinder deadbolts (especially when doors are adjacent to windows or glass panels) and always making use of the deadbolt clearly demonstrate good protocol. By making a home doorway harder to breach homeowners can deter would-be attackers. Risk transference can be achieved by obtaining homeowner's or renter's insurance for property potentially lost to burglary.
alarmsystemreviews.com
homesecurityguru.com
Saturday, December 6, 2008
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I did a security review earlier in the year about bump locks, which also open deadbolt locks. So I agree security is very hard. I think leaving the lights on and making it appear as if someone is home is a good idea and worth the extra cost of electricity. Also just putting a security system sign out front even if you don't have one helps defray the people who might try to attack you. Overall you can never fully secure your house, so you should just take as many precautions as you can. Interesting post.
ReplyDeleteWhile we're on the subject of locks and keys, check this article out. It's a story about how you can make a copy of a key (in this case that used on some Diebold voting machines) based only on a photo of the key.
ReplyDeleteAnd here's a more sophisticated way of doing the same thing with computer software.
ReplyDeleteThe photo-duplication article is really quite amazing. I'm starting to rethink having my keys on the same keychain as my USB drive as the drive (and consequently keychain)is inevitably exposed while in use. And while the researchers used a 5" lens for one study, their successful utilization of phone-cameras was surprising.
ReplyDeleteThis article has really made feel unsafe with just leaving all my keys on the same chain. I was a victim to this flaw earlier in the year but it was because of my own carelessness. I lost all the keys I needed in a park and they were never found. Good thing I didn't have a USB with at the time.
ReplyDelete