The security of your home is always of paramount importance if you plan on bugging in during a major disaster scenario. This holds true regardless of whether you live on a rural homestead, a suburban home, or an urban apartment or condo.
Beyond the physical protection having a secured home provides, the peace of mind derived from knowing your home is secure also contributes significantly to your overall sense of well-being in your daily life.
Visible security measures, such as alarms and surveillance cameras, are more powerful deterrents to potential intruders than you may think due to the psychological impact alone.
But there are also many potential intruders and burglars who won’t be intimidated by cameras and alarm systems and will know how to circumnavigate them.
That’s why I believe true home security goes beyond simply setting up alarms and surveillance cameras. I would approach your home using the OPSEC method, where you have a complete operational plan for defending your home rather than just a few standard security measures here and here.
Trust me, you’ll thank me later.
What Is an OPSEC Plan?
OPSEC, which stands for Operational Security, is a process that identifies critical information to determine if friendly actions can be observed by adversaries.
An OPSEC plan, or Operational Security plan, is a set of measures designed to protect sensitive information and activities from potential threats or adversaries. It involves identifying and safeguarding critical details that, if exploited, could compromise the success and security of a mission, operation, or any sensitive endeavor.
OPSEC plans are commonly used in military, government, and business contexts to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of information. They can likewise be used on a more personal level to help secure your home as well.
Related: 5 Home Defense Tips for Seniors
The goal of any OPSEC plan is to prevent the disclosure of sensitive details or valuables that could be exploited by individuals and to ensure that any structures housing those details and valuables are secured. These plans typically include a combination of physical, procedural, and informational security measures to mitigate risks and protect operational activities.
A traditional OPSEC plan would be broken down as follows:
Identification of Critical Information
Identify the specific information that, if compromised, could pose a risk to your objectives. This includes sensitive data, plans, activities, or any details that adversaries might exploit.
Analysis of Threats
Assess potential threats to your security, considering who might be interested in the identified critical information. Understand the capabilities and intentions of potential adversaries, whether individuals, groups, or entities.
Analysis of Vulnerabilities
Evaluate the vulnerabilities or weaknesses in your current operations or practices that could be exploited by adversaries. This involves examining procedures, communication channels, and any other aspects where information might be at risk.
Assessment of Risks
Combine the information from the threat and vulnerability analyses to assess the overall risks. Prioritize these risks based on their potential impact and the likelihood of exploitation.
Application of Countermeasures
Develop and implement countermeasures to mitigate the identified risks and protect critical information. Countermeasures may include changes in communication practices, enhanced security protocols, or other measures to reduce vulnerabilities.
The above is how a typical military, government, or business would apply OPSEC. But now let’s take things down to a smaller scale.
OPSEC for You
Now let’s apply OPSEC to home defense and how you can secure your home:
1. Identify critical information related to the security of your home, including details about the layout, routines, and any valuable possessions you have inside. Is there any information that, if exploited, could pose a risk to the safety of the home and its occupants
2. Assess potential threats to the security of your home, considering factors like local crime rates, neighborhood dynamics, and any specific risks relevant to the area.
You should also try to understand the intentions and capabilities of potential threats, such as burglars or intruders.
Learn here the unmistakable signs that your neighbor will become a looter as soon as a crisis hits. The people you suspect the least might actually pose the biggest threat
3. Now evaluate vulnerabilities in your home’s infrastructure, like weak entry points, inadequate lighting, or insufficient surveillance. Beyond your house itself, consider potential weaknesses in communication, such as sharing too much information about travel plans on social media.
4. Now combine the threat and vulnerability analyses to assess the overall security risks your home has. Prioritize these risks based on their potential impact, focusing on those that could result in unauthorized access or compromise the safety of residents.
5. Now it’s time for the real fun to start: to develop and implement countermeasures to mitigate identified risks, such as:
- Installing robust locks, security systems, and surveillance cameras
- Replacing your doors leading outside with metal doors installed with heavy duty locks and hinges that can’t be easily broken down
- Replacing your windows with acrylic glass that can’t be easily broken down either
- Improving lighting around the property to deter intruders
- Taking action to hide or secure any valuables in your home
⇒ How to Make Automatic Backyard Traps and Alarms Against Looters and Intruders
In short, OPSEC is all about understanding the motivations for why someone may want to break into your home, identifying your home’s vulnerabilities and any valuables that are kept inside, and then taking action to defend against those vulnerabilities.
If you’re like most people, you’ll probably realize that your doors and windows are the easiest entry points into your home, and you’ll want to fortify those first.
By recognizing the potential risks, understanding vulnerabilities, and implementing effective countermeasures, you can significantly enhance the security of their residences.
I would take a proactive approach, grounded in the principles of OPSEC, that your household is well-prepared to mitigate threats and adaptable to evolving security challenges.
Now the only thing left for you to do is to get to work.
You may also like:
5 Food Storage Myths That Are Ruining Your Stockpile
How to Become Invisible in the Wild (Video)
Where to Hide in Case of a Nuclear Attack
Meal in a Jar Recipes You Need to Prep While You Can Still Afford It
You have OPSEC or privacy as you have simply safe or other camera products made in China by the CCP. You have smartphones with software technology spying on us.
Every street road intersection has traffic cameras spying on our movements, our digital electronics keeps track unless we are using analog technologies. All our streaming services keep track of our digital activity.
Now where are all these digital footprint going on whose or all backup systems?
The Deep State of Washington DC, NSA server farms, China, Russia, Iran, NK and other data centers. Digital crypto server farms mining electronic coin money on wind and solar power to keep track too.
This article needs to be expanded to how to keep off the digital web spying on us for all things digital.
Off topic:
Why everything is expensive?
We are paying for freeloaders illegals, terrorists from countries that hate America, period.
Including overpaid politicians in state and federal positions including non-elected bureaucrats who siphon their theft through increasing taxes we retirees, seniors and homeless veterans cannot afford anymore.
In California their budget cuts to real teachers, janitors an others are because of paying over inflated wages to union workers. Plus funding illegals education, food at school and their unchecked health conditions. Like the recent tuberculosis and measles outbreaks thanks to Bidenomics open borders.
The big green weenie will happen in the next Pearl Harbor, 911, October 7th SHTF terrorist attacks come with another political socialist president in office. Then a nonpolitical science graduate, but a business minded president that potentially balance the federal budget.
We don’t need continuing resolutions to keep a poorly made tax and spend tradition anymore.
Most politicians have never balanced a checkbook bank account, thinking taxes are money for free use.
Many politicians have never run a small business to know what their stupid laws hurt people trying to get ahead. Many are lawyers in Sheeple skins preying on the American taxpayer and never been in the military to know we need to secure the borders and rebuild our military for defense and offense capabilities.
As China builds their military by Americans buying cheap made over priced junk merchandise and Bidenomics giving aid and comfort to our enemies then being America first mindset.
“On March 8, 2024, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman decided against a federal ban on gun ownership for illegal immigrant Heriberto Carbajal-Flores.
The case at hand centered on Carbajal-Flores, who was “charged with possession of a firearm while illegally or unlawfully in the United States.” He had a handgun in his possession “in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois,” on June 1, 2020. He was charged for being a non-citizen in possession for a firearm.
Carbajal-Flores sought twice, unsuccessfully, to have his indictment removed. But in his third attempt, a decision in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States’ Bruen (2022) decision, resulted in a different outcome.” – Michael Savage
You can vote your way into socialism but have to shoot your way out.
It is all BS, when the liberals use their favorite gun the AR to shoot their way in or out. It is because of faulty political policy of GUN FREE ZONES liberals think keeps everyone safe from the bad people, it doesn’t.
Most of the recent new voting age generations have been steeped in Marxism unionized public education for a number of decades. We are in trouble as these people get their news from the likes of the CCP’s Trick Toke social media platform. Also including Gaagle and Faceback, or Meta. All social manipulators besides the broadcast and cable networks leaning left wing to the news.
Why did we really need to switch from analog technologies to digital technologies or from incandescent light bulbs to blue light LED lights?
Did we get a choice on what we really needed in our lives among the lies they told us?
People think they are tech smart but not really, we have been manipulated into all things digital on planet earth.
The Chinese for over hundreds of years have been planning to take over America as we use to know it. We have been as magicians do in Sleight of hand tricks. Are we really educated in real education or manipulated in CRT Marxism from our recent grade school days?
These trolls on this site are these just AI interference or Deep State agents harassing us?
You decide or discern for yourselves what the truth is.
God Bless America.
How about refunding the local police to catch criminals and put them in jail. Remove George Soros and son’s corrupt DA’s letting criminals back out on the streets to harm or kill us.
Build the southern border wall and start deporting the illegals who are total freeloaders sponging off of us American taxpayers.
Kick out the feminized males in female sports and in the military. The feminization of America is to weaken our national security for a healthy America. Those males are weak, can’t compete against their male counterparts, so they compete against the females instead. Go figure?
as a military vet i know exacqly what this means
loose lips
allowing anybody to see and know your life
keeping the private really private
staying off sites like x,fakebooke,meta social disorder sites
google tracking sites
internet in general
and not doing surveys or opinion polls
remember those who work for you can be your worst failure
vet all who you share your life with
know thier bakground and belief system
what they allow , how they think whats acceptable
sooo much deception
and so many gullable people
less they know the better off you are
In some government positions the higher the security clearance level the more scrutiny of their life. The more paranoid they get as they know more than the average SHEEPLE citizen would care to know. Think about that.
good information Cristopher,, here in Montana ,, (it was called the last best place) talk about loose lips sink ships,, !!!! i know of 3 widowers in my small area alone who had serious health issues which required extended hospital stays,, word got around the small local churches, bars , and schools , and all three of these wonderful old pioneers had their places robbed , guns, money , fuel, 4 wheelers ,, anything of value , was stolen. like a lot of places/ ranches/farms, etc. in eastern montana neighbors are to far away to notice anything going on., anymore with all the newbies moving into montana you, can’t say or tell anyone anything. word gets out and the a- holes are ready to move ..
Yes we lived in Bozeman back in the 1970’s when you could leave the front door and car unlocked.
Now we got Bidenomics terrorist flooding our America by a bunch of city slicker politicians who never fired a gun in their lives. But maybe had the front end of a gun pointed at them, letting in wild a*s illegals that are getting a free ride off us American Taxpayers today.
I once thought about designing some kind of a human mouse trap that when triggered…..the person could not get out until the police came or home owner. But if our city run …county run….state run….national run…..governments fail to protect the law abiding citizens there’s not much we can do.But vote the dems. out of office.
Vote the bums out!
A Queens neighborhood in New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s congressional district was likened by locals to a “third world” country with people selling goods on the sidewalks and prostitutes openly soliciting sex.
Human mouse trap – love it!
Human mouse trap, I like your thinking, but I was advised once that your legal bills will be more than the value of what you saved. Doesn’t stop me from thinking about it though.
re comment on window and glass entryways; there is a product you can apply that will make it unbreakable to entry; it’s about 10mm of some kind of tough product; I’m sorry I don’t remember what it is.
Subject from article: Replacing your windows with acrylic glass that can’t be easily broken down either.
This is an expensive route but have done a similar thing by making the windows a little bit more secure by adding Window Film Security and Safety Clear 8 Mil – MINIMIZE PROPERTY DAMAGE by absorbing impacts from break-in attempts and holds shattered glass together. PASSES ANSI Z97.1 CLASS B, CPSC CATEGORY 1 testing requirements. INCREASE SECURITY or add safety to tempered or non-tempered glass. CRYSTAL CLEAR, high quality film with 99% UV REJECTION, this film is applied to the interior side of the window. STRONG ADHESIVES and film to slow down intruders.
I had purchased a roll just to test that was done at a local window company. They were impressed by the results. They had a few windows that were going into the trash from a house that had been remodeled. These windows were the exact same size and type of windows in my 2002 house. Double pain and gas filled. They tried these various items to test various windows: 2X4, crowbar (both ends), ball peen hammer, claw hammer, 2″ dia. piece of conduit pipe and a few other items. Nothing actually pennitrated the window completely. Yes, the window shattered but the film held almost everythin together. It took some strong effort to actually get the window open in order to make it through the other side. Then took 2 windows to a shooting range, that was an interesting experience.
If you shot the window it may theoretically have felt pain, mostly in the pane.