As I stated in my previous podcast, you could pay $10,000 for the world's greatest door lock and have your entire mitigation ruined by a spouse or absent-minded child who forget to lock the door. It happens more than we like to admit. I also surmise it's why some of us are so passionate about security awareness training at work. Given that we view them sometimes as the "weak" link, let's look at how we can get them better at not just maintaining mitigation but also becoming independent security stakeholders.
- Chill out and recognize who you're working with. You don't get to always hire friends and family. So, we're stuck with people who wouldn't know the difference between a padlock and deadbolt at times. And....why should they? "That's what you're here for" is a phrase I've heard countless times. Recognize the role you've taken as the security person of the house and how that has enabled them.
- Don't scare them. We know things about the world in which we live that our families should never be exposed to. It's kind of why we do what we do, right? But ignorance isn't always bliss. In sales, I learned a term called "finding pain". It's a term used to describe learning what someone's personal security nightmare is and then exploiting that to get them to buy a proudct you sell to alleviate that "pain". Sounds pretty awful, huh? But it works. Do the same with your family. Ssssssssssllllllllllooooooowwwwwwwllllllllyyyyyy. This is where you explain to them how they could lose things they care about very easily if mitigation isn't there to stop the bad guy or at least aid in getting their valuables back or replaced. I have found explaining value and risk in its most basic and pure form has been very helpful with getting children on early as stakeholders. It takes a lot of time and patience but it is well worth it.
- Invite them along to do a risk survey of the home. This sounds like something a bit too intense for your home but it's really not and rather easy to do.
- Give each person an area they're responsible for like their rooms or designated work/play areas.
- Have them inventory all of the items in that area they place value on. Tell them to ignore easily disposable items and clothes (absent something truly expensive).
- Also have them include photos of the most expensive items and to include any serial numbers if possible in the inventory.
- Give them value parameters. I make mine rather simple - irreplaceable, replaceable but painful to lose (cost too much or would take forever to get back), replaceable with very little to any pain. For smaller children, this could be a challenge so I encourage you to explain this a bit more in-depth and accompany them throughout the process.
- Do your vulnerability assessments with them. We've identified things of value and the amount of pain it would create getting them back if it were possible. Now, have them look at all of the ways someone or something could make that risk a reality. For kids, you're going to have be patient and listen to every "ninja scenario". With boys, you'll hear this threat profile thrown around a lot. Get used to it. Explain the difference between a likely exploitable vulnerability and one's that will probably always remain vulnerabilities (Bad guys cutting a hole in your roof). Get out a map or overlay and have them articulate the vulnerability.
- Address threats. Be sure to caution them to stay away from "thinking like a wolf" mentality. Most often, your family is a mix of really good people. So have them look at likely threats instead. With smaller kids, explain that because it's "likely" doesn't make it real. A bad guy could walk down the street and decide to randomly steal your kid - that doesn't mean every stranger is the bad guy. Explain that because we don't know every person who could be down the street means we can't exclude all of them as potential bad actors for certain crimes. This is also a good time to explain that most violent crimes occur when victims already know their attackers. If we know all good people, then we can reasonably say our probability of meeting harmful attackers is minimal. Crimes of opportunity can be more difficult to simply dismiss because the likelihood exists that you could be a victim of a stranger. Thus we have to mitigate that threat, as well. Discuss any sort of special security issues you face (i.e. any jilted lovers, enemies from prior jobs, stalkers, etc.).
- Buy door and window alarms from the Dollar Store and have them work through a variety of home security projects. My absolute favorite activity to do with children is building "booby-traps" with these Dollar Store gadgets. I have them take a map and examine their likely avenues of approach, chokepoints, and areas of final denial. Then, I talk about how the gadgets serve one purpose only - detection. Afterwards, we mark where the gadgets are on the map. Finally, it's time to deploy them. An old trick I learned was fishing line attached to magnet on the "alarm" and securing the sensor/annunciator to the object it's resting on. When the bad guy trips the wire that's wrapped around another object and attached on the other end to magnet, it will then yank the magnet from the sensor it's resting on and sound the alarm. Trust me. Kids love this activity.
- Go over "secret" codes and how the alarm system at your home works. Sounds pretty basic but you'd be surprised how easy it is to get them on-board by having them understand how the control panel works. Maybe, you don't share the activation code but you can show them how to work the duress code and how to call for help. I like the idea of a "secret" code that's for everyone in the family only, as a way of building into the family a living duress code system for everyday use.
- Next, go over contingency plans. Where do we go? What do we do? Who do we call? What are our "actions on contact"? Again, we're not making everyone in the house Jason Bourne but are making everyone in the house prepared for other events than just a house fire. Having a plan and even rehearsing that plan are absolutely key to having a comprehensive home security program.
- Address access control. Growing up in my house, my mother would call this "Don't you let anyone in my house I didn't invite". Yeah, it was that serious. It's almost as if she was grooming me for this trade. Explain the rules for allowing people into the home. BE VERY FIRM HERE, ESPECIALLY WITH SMALL CHILDREN (WHO SHOULDN'T BE ANSWERING THE DOOR ANYWAYS).
- Teach them situational awareness. This can be very challenging for some members of the family. Be patient and make it fun. I like to start with memory games by asking questions like "What was the color of the car outside as we pulled up?" or "What kind of hat did the guy walking down the street have on?" Do this enough times and you'll be in amazement with how fast they catch on.
Let me know if you have any ideas of your own.
