Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!samsung!usc!ucsd!ucbvax!MITRE.ORG!blk
From: blk@MITRE.ORG (Brian L. Kahn)
Newsgroups: misc.security
Subject: Burglar resistance
Message-ID: <9010192358.AA24764@ucbarpa.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 9 Oct 90 16:33:46 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
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Approved: security@rutgers.edu

I am interested in making my house resistant to breaking and entering,
as opposed to detecting the same with an alarm system.  

* I am considering burglar bars on the basement casement windows.  The
main drawback seems to be fire exit.  These bars swing open, and are
secured with a lock (on the inside).  I'm not too concerned about fire
exit in this case because the windows would be very difficult to use
due to small size and height from the floor, so an extra 30 seconds to
unlock seems minor.  I'm not sure how strong the wood casement that
holds the bars is, however, so this might be more show than effect.

* Traditional wood frame doors seem pretty wimpy.  Our main doors are
kind of drafty in the winter, too.  I think I'll put in steel
doors/frames with deadbolts.  Might pay for themselves after a few
winters. 

* What about the windows?  I just saw a reference to mylar security
film - anyone know what this is?  I don't want bars on the real
windows, and plastic plates (lucite?) with explosive bolts for fire
exit sounds like too much trouble.  The first floor windows on this
house are about six feet up from the ground - how vulnerable is this
in reality?

--
B<   Brian Kahn   blk@security.mitre.org   "may the farce be with you"