Protect a Home from Common Break-In Methods

Home invasions and burglaries can happen anywhere at any time, no matter how safe a neighborhood is.

Having a home burglarized can be an incredibly traumatic experience, even if the homeowner is lucky enough to be away from home when it happens. Nothing can more quickly make a person lose their sense of security than a break-in. Because of this, homeowners must take the proper steps to secure their homes against home invasion or burglary to ensure the safety of their property and family.

The easiest way to do so is to learn how to think like a thief, identifying any possible “weak spots” in the home’s security and then taking the simple steps to remedy those weaknesses.

Home invasions and burglaries can happen anywhere at any time, no matter how safe a neighborhood is. The problem is that much advice on preventing break-ins revolves solely around ways to deter thieves from breaking in while the homeowner is on vacation or otherwise away from the house for a few days. Of course, making sure newspapers and mail don’t pile up, setting the lights on timers, or leaving the radio on are all good ideas when going away for even a few days; however, the truth is that burglaries are just as likely to occur while the homeowner’s at work, or worse, in the middle of the night while they’re sleeping.

Burglars are opportunists, and if they want to get into a house badly enough, simply leaving the radio on probably won’t stop them. Therefore, the best thing to do is to ensure all possible entry points are as secure as possible.

Windows

One of the most common ways thieves get in is through the window, so homeowners should ensure there are solid locks on each window to prevent them from being opened from the outside. Of course, locks won’t stop someone from simply throwing a rock through a window, which is why a window alarm would be a good idea. However, reformed burglars mentioned that the primary way they entered a house was through an unlocked door or window or a locked door or window with weak locks.

Garage

Burglars have a sneaky tactic of pushing in on the garage door, reaching a coat hanger through the space, and pulling on the garage door opener disengagement cord. The burglar then has full access to a garage and home if the interior garage door to the home is unlocked. There are simple methods of blocking that cord to prevent this from happening by either wrapping or removing the cord altogether.

Doors and lock bumping

No thief will bother breaking in through a window if the front or back door is unlocked; however, simply locking the doors is often not enough, even if the homeowner uses a deadbolt. Some burglars use a method called “lock bumping,” which involves using a specially cut bump key, allowing a thief to open almost any lock in seconds.

Most of the market’s locks are keyed similarly, as each brand uses a similar key profile on all the locks it produces. As a result, mass-produced locks are effortless to break into as it is likely that a bump key can open any lock it fits in.

Bump keys work by taking a key that fits a specific brand’s lock profile and then filing down all the valleys on the key. The key bypasses the tumblers so it can fit in any lock. Once the key is inserted, tapping on it with a hammer ‘bumps’ all the tumblers up out of the way for a split second, allowing the thief enough time to turn the key and unlock the door.

Unfortunately, the Internet has made the practice increasingly common, as thousands of videos and step-by-step instructions can teach anyone the practice in less than an hour. Even worse, would-be thieves can buy a set of bump keys for less than $30 or fashion them at home with a file, allowing them to break into almost any building quickly.

Even if a homeowner has expensive, so-called high-security locks, there’s a good chance they are still vulnerable to bumping. The problem is so widespread that experts estimate that 90 to 95 percent of locks sold in hardware stores are susceptible to bumping.

The easiest way to prevent this increasingly common problem is to hire a locksmith to outfit all of the exterior doors with bump-resistant locks. Most major lock brands produce bump-proof locks, which generally consist of high-security cylinders that make them much harder to manipulate or pick. These locks also use a wide range of key profiles to make them less susceptible to bump keys and a range of other additional methods to make them virtually impossible to bump.

Hire a professional locksmith to evaluate a home’s safety

Homeowners concerned about break-ins can hire a locksmith to evaluate their home’s safety system and identify weaknesses. They can educate the homeowner about the vulnerable points in their home and offer simple solutions to remove that vulnerability.

National Lock & Key is a licensed, insured, full-service commercial and residential locksmith serving Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. Contact us at (571) 449-6495.