security at home

[muz]

just interested , What do you all do for securing your valuables in the home

I have 2 locked cupboards on my bookcase in the bedroom one of them has got a basic locking cash tin screwed onto the shelf in that I have an external hard drive and credit/debit cards that I dont carry with me all the time as well as a little bit of cash sometimes , and in the second locked cupboard I have a small home safe(again bolted to bookshelf and wall behind it) rated up to £1000 cash and £10k valuables . In this I keep a small sentry safe fireproof box with my passport and other important identity documents and some cd's of family photographs . Just inside the safe there is also spare keys for my dads car ,some jewelry ,some watches , up to £300 cash at any one time . my camera . If I am going away for a few days or more I will also put any expensive portable electrical items I dont take with me such as I pods and my tablet etc .

Im also looking at getting a laptop safe to fit to one of my shelves above my desk to keep mine and my parents laptops in when we go on holiday etc because at the moment mine just gets left in the locked in a cupboard with the safe .


what valuables do you have and what lengths do you go to secure them ?

 

[Celegorm]

My passport is in a safe-deposit box that I share with my parents. I don't have much in the way of jewlery or small things to keep safe, but the few random credit cards that I don't carry with me I keep in a gun-safe that I have bolted on the floor next to my bed. In that safe, I also keep 2 handguns whatever cash I might have on hand + my wallet when I'm sleeping and any keys I don't have with me.

 

[iPwn]

Insurance for any valuables.

As far as important documents, DVD backup in multiple locations and encrypted USB drive on my keychain.

 

[root]

gun cabinet.

bolted to the wall, 2 safe locks with different keys on it.

Yes, some people in the UK do own guns

 

[muz]

my grandparents have a gun safe , they dont keep guns anymore but they used to . It is pretty damn secure though .

 

[berry120]

Geez, you guys make me look like I leave all my stuff in an open field...!

I don't really have anything that out of the ordinary (guns, super secret documents) that need locking away in ingenious places, but do use Kensington locks or similar to secure a lot of my high value gear down (PC included.) Semi related point, a lot of people who are absolutely anal about backups never consider the fact that by far the easiest way they could lose their data is if their kit got stolen - keep it secure!

 

[muz]

A lot of my stuff isn't in the safe , tv's the pc etc its just the small valuable items and the jewelry some of which are family heirlooms which couldn't be replaced,these are things we used to keep in a safety deposit box but banks in the UK are phasing these out now , that's why I ended up buying a safe and putting the locking cupboard on the bookcase in the first place , besides I know its not completely infallible , if someone was really determined they could pry the safe off the shelf and be off with it im sure

I agree about the data backup , thats why on the external hard drive in the cash tin are copies of any important data on the computer most of it is documents or photographs , a lot of that data is also on the cd's and dvd's in the other safe and a lot of it is also stored on a dropbox online . I am a bit anal about redundancy with some of the data I have but when it comes to stuff like family photographs one can never be too safe .

The only reason I keep stuff like my passport in the safe is because I am a bit concerned about being a victim of id theft/fraud as well

 

[Celegorm]

The only reason I keep stuff like my passport in the safe is because I am a bit concerned about being a victim of id theft/fraud as well

Same. That's why I also keep my wallet in the safe. The guns are locked up so some criminal can't walk off with them and hurt someone.

The rest of the stuff: That's what renter's insurance is for

 

[root]

A lot of my stuff isn't in the safe , tv's the pc etc its

What you mean you don't lock your TV away at night and before you go to work?

I agree about the data backup , thats why on the external hard drive in the cash tin are copies of any important data on the computer most of it is documents or photographs , a lot of that data is also on the cd's and dvd's in the other safe and a lot of it is also stored on a dropbox online .

When I was at uni, (pretty much the only time my data had any significant "value" I stored data at uni, on disk with me, and ftp'd to my computer at home and to a computer at my parents house.

that data had value because it couldn't be gotten back over night, the loss of a document could mean that coursework was in late, it could mean failing and repeating a year. basically, each and every word document could carry a premium of £3000 in course fees and a year of my life.

strangely I'm not all that anal about photographs.

anyway, what I really meant to say is, good idea with the on-line backup. obviously data backup is more than what if my laptop is lost/stolen, it's also an indemnity against fire etc, where your backups may also burn.

The only reason I keep stuff like my passport in the safe is because I am a bit concerned about being a victim of id theft/fraud as well

I just keep it there because then I know where it is more than anything. I'll never have a mad panic/trying to find it moment.

 

[muz]

Nah I don't bother with the TV

When I was at uni I was equally as anal about data backup when it came to my work , I had it on the laptop and university provided network drive, then every day before I went to bed I updated a copy onto my memory stick on my keys and every few days I updated a copy on another memory stick which was kept in a locked drawer in my student flat as well as updating a copy stored in my gmail account . When I had finished with the coursework I also burnt a CD with all of my work and all the resources I had used which was stored at my parents house .I didn't want to spend an extra year at uni plus fees plus living costs for the year

I know about contents insurance but to be honest if the TV got stolen you still end up out of pocket after you have paid your excess and the fact that your premium will most likely rise following your claim . In addition when it comes to stuff like laptops and computers the hardware itself is insured but any data is not covered and can never be replaced such as photographs

Forgot to mention we also have an 8 year old German shepherd which would hopefully act as a big enough deterrent to any would be thieves