Page 26 - Bloomberg Businessweek July 2018

Bloomberg Businessweek
THE HEIST ISSUE

The Best in Burglar Defense

NETWORKED DOORBELL CAMERAS HIGH-SECURITY LOCKS
Ring video doorbell, starting at $100; Medeco Maxum, about $300 with
Nest Hello, $229 installation; Abloy Protec2, about
With a network- $250; Mul-T-Lock residential cylinder,
connected doorbell about $265
camera system, a If you’re concerned
homeowner sitting about a truly
on a Caribbean beach determined intruder,
can see who’s ringing consider high-security
her front door and communicate locks such as those
over a loudspeaker, creating the sold by Medeco,
illusion that someone’s inside. the preferred choice for many
Complement the hardware by U.S. government facilities. Their
joining a free hyperlocal social mechanisms are tricky to pick, their
network such as Next Door, which build quality makes them hard to
lets owners compare notes with destroy, and their keys are difficult to
neighbors about who’s been copy. But no lock is perfect: Security
visiting the block. The forums researcher Marc Weber Tobias
on nextdoor.com also offer some discovered that he could bypass a
comic relief, alerting you to Medeco lock using counterfeit keys
smaller dangers such as mysterious fabricated from old credit cards.
smells, backyard wildlife, and
neighborhood sex scandals. X6 SAFE
ALARMS Various manufacturers, starting at
$4,400
Aura starter kit, $199; Bosch Most safes are rated
ISN-SM-50 seismic detector, for, well, safety,
starting at $95 by an organization
Even a basic alarm called Underwriters
system can deter a Laboratory. A TL-15 safe
burglar, but high-end can withstand at least
financial institutions 15 minutes of a sustained tool attack
take more exotic by an expert; a TRTL-30 can survive
The name Sawzall, shorthand grudging admirer: “My favorite precautions. An air-pressure at least 30 minutes of a tool and torch 53
for a powerful type of machine tool is the Sawzall. Whoever alarm can sense when the air in attack. An X6 rating means all six
known as a reciprocating invented it is a genius.” Its a room has been displaced by an sides of a safe are equally secure—
saw, originated with a device criminal potential goes beyond intruder’s body or a rapidly opened absent this feature, only the door
made by the Milwaukee Tool breaking and entering, he door; a seismic alarm can pick up is truly fortified. The LAPD’s Black
Corp. The saws have a small, says: It’s being used to slice footsteps or the rattle of a drill. If says it can take 12 hours or more to
ultratough blade that rakes valuable catalytic converters off you’d like your home to feel like drill into a TRTL-30X6: “Burglars
back and forth at high speed. the undercarriages of pickup a Zurich bank at a fraction of the just aren’t going to spend that much
Retired LAPD burglary detective trucks in a rash of thefts around cost, consider the Aura, an alarm time.” Most residential safe burglary,
Chris Casey considers himself a the country. developed by Canadian company he adds, could be eliminated if
Cognitive Systems Corp. that picks everyone bought an X6 safe and
up changes in the contours of your bolted it to a concrete pad. (An X6
home Wi-Fi signal. doesn’t do much good if a crook
Android phone HOME SMARTS can wheel your safe out on a dolly.)
Santore, the safecracker, suggests
ITTS active shooter/critical response
trying the secondary market: Older
Google Pixel 2 , starting at $649; plus course, $525 safes often have higher-quality
builds, and deals can be found.
At International
custom signal-capture software Tactical Training
Seminars, retired SAFE ROOMS
LAPD SWAT team Various manufacturers, from $5,000
member Scott Reitz
The spread of keyless smart locks, and his wife, Brett McQueen, to $100,000 and up
Failing all else,
which you open with the tap of teach civilians how to deal with a there’s the safe
a smartphone app, has brought home invasion. Since the school’s room, colloquially
with it a profusion of subversions. founding in 1990, ITTS has been known as a panic
Arguably the quickest method imparting brutal truths, from room, a true inner
is a replay attack, in which the knowing how to burglarproof your sanctum promising an
radio signal sent to open a lock home, to safely and legally handling impenetrable last-ditch refuge for
is captured by someone hiding a gun, to applying a tourniquet in someone trapped by intruders. High-
nearby, then “replayed” to open the event of a stab or bullet wound. quality ones can resist explosives;
the same door. Drew Porter, “You don’t have to be paranoid, but feature dedicated, uncuttable
founder of security firm Red you have to be aware,” Reitz says. phone lines; and come with gas
Mesa, warns that these attacks “It’s about some of the simplest masks and emergency oxygen in
will increase as smart locks catch things you can do to ensure your case of a chemical attack. The best
on. “You can even target police safety and to harden, for lack of a are modular and stealthy. The first
cars,” he says. better term, your location and to rule of having a safe room: Don’t let
harden yourself.” anyone know you have a safe room.