OPSEC: 10 Tips for Not Becoming a Home Invasion Target During the Holiday Travel Season (Part 1)

Like it or not, the holiday season is nearly upon us, and for many of us that means we will be traveling to visit family. With the advent of social media like Facebook and Twitter, millions of people like to tag themselves in different places, and post pictures of their travels. Without even knowing it, you may be letting criminals know that nobody is home so they can have their way with your home and belongings.

Here are 5 tips for staying safe throughout the holiday travel season relating to social media, and the internet.

1. Assess who your “friends” are

Are all of your Facebook friends really your friend? How many people on your friends list are friends of friends that you don’t know very well? What about your shady cousin who has an extensive criminal history? Ex-coworkers? Do all of these people need to know that you are heading out of town at the end of the week for Thanksgiving? Probably not, so use some restraint when posting pictures or tagging yourself in places that are far from home. I have a long standing rule that if I would walk past someone in a public place, and not say hello to them, that they are not worthy to be on my friends list. Remember, you can always upload and tag the pictures when you get back home.

2. Facebook Privacy Settings

What do your Facebook privacy settings look like? Do you have your account setup so that only friends can see your updates, or can “friends of friends” see what you are doing? I don’t know about you, but I have some friends, who are friends with other people who don’t need to know that my home will be vacant for several days. Go into your Facebook privacy settings, and make certain that all of your different options under “How you connect” are set to only show to friends.

3. Stay off Twitter

Ok, you can still use Twitter while on your vacation, but be careful. Twitter allows others to follow you, and get all of your tweets without you having to confirm them as your friend like Facebook does. Tweets are public, which makes Twitter an extremely powerful tool for getting news quickly, but it also makes it a dangerous tool for those looking to do bad. Just think, you tweet something about being back in your hometown, or about how your flight is delayed, or whatever. Everyone who is following you on Twitter now knows that you are gone. Some will argue that they are anonymous on Twitter, however, I would argue that nobody is anonymous on the internet. If you post much online in any fashion, I can probably find out who you are, and where you live.

4. Geo-location Apps

With the advent of smart phones and GPS technology, it was only a matter of time before applications like Foursquare and Gowalla popped up. These apps allow you to check-in to different locations, and earn points in a game based on where you are, and how many times you go there. Personally, I don’t use these kinds of apps, as I feel that I am giving out too much information about where I am, how often I go there, etc. With these sorts of apps, I think you need to be careful all year round, not just when you are heading out of town.

5. Know What the Rest of Your Family is Doing Too

If you have kids, make sure that they are following the above procedures as well. It doesn’t do you any good to follow the above steps, but have everything undermined by your kids or wife who may be checking in to every restaurant, posting pictures, or making comments about your travels.

As you can see, there are a lot of things on the internet that we need to be vigilant about, especially during the holiday travel season. You can find Part 2 of this series here.