Nowadays, anyone of us could be a victim of crime. You can’t stop a criminal from being a criminal instead, you will have to stop him from choosing you as a victim. Personal safety can be viewed as a pyramid. Each level not only increases your safety, but builds upon the level under it to create a cohesive and consistent whole. This way you have a solid structure, rather than a patchwork of “do this for this situation and that for another” answers for personal safety. Such a fragmented approach requires excessive work, inconvenience and, often, drastically altering your lifestyle. What’s worse is it still leaves opportunities and openings for you to be attacked. This pyramid is designed to work with your lifestyle, not change it.

Start from the bottom and work your way up. Each level takes you higher and keeps you safer. It does this by creating a consistent network that works simultaneously on several fronts. What will stop a burglar will also foil a stalker or a break-in rapist. What works to stop a mugger will also foil a serial rapist or carjacker. This consistency closes the gaps left by a fragmented approach gaps that crime and violence come through to enter your life.

The foundation that the pyramid stands upon is knowledge and understanding. This means knowing how the criminal and violent people think and what they need to succeed . Without this fundamental understanding, there can be no cohesiveness in what you do to protect yourself as well as your property.

Walk-aways are things that you do once and just walk away from. These are security measures that, once in place, serve as both deterrents and safeguards. Generally, these are things you can do around your home or business to discourage and foil break-ins. It does not only keep your home safe from burglary when you are not there, but serve as an early warning system against break-in when you are home. This becomes a critical element if you are in a stalker situation as home security walk-aways are your first line of defense.

Habits are those repetitive actions taken daily to ensure your safety. They are simple acts you train yourself to do that significantly decrease the chances of a criminal choosing you, or your property, as his target. They can range from remembering to enable your “walk-away” security measures (i.e. locking doors, windows and closing your drapes when you leave), never leaving your car running and unattended, to not leaving valuables in plain sight, to looking around when you enter a fringe area or before you reach your car Such habits are not difficult to ingrain and within a week or two become automatic.

Awareness is born of a blend of habits and knowledge. One part would be knowing where a mugger would lurk in a parking garage in order not to be seen by security personnel or potential victims. Having the habit of looking around and seeing if anyone is loitering in that spot when you enter the parking structure is the other. If you see known danger signs, turn around and go back, don’t walk into the lion’s jaws.

Maneuvering and positioning are knowing where you don’t want to be. There are positions from where an assailant can (and probably will) successfully attack you. If he (and his cohorts) can achieve these positions, your chances of effectively defending yourself are slim to none. And Slim left town. The violence will be swift, intense and aimed at your weak spots. Unless you are willing to commit extreme physical violence in self-defense do not allow this situation to develop. Positioning is a strategy game. It is the criminal trying to put you where he wants you and you moving so he can’t.

Knowledge of self-worth and boundaries is essential to not becoming the victim of crime and violence. Even if you have decided that you are not willing to use physical violence to defend yourself, until this point the pyramid still works. It is now however, important to realize that no matter what your decision about using physical self-defense to protect yourself that you have come to a crossroads. Aside from the obvious implications, when we use the terms knowledge of self-worth and boundaries, we also are including knowing how you think and how you are coming across.

Verbal boundary enforcement is communication. It is letting a would-be assailant know that you are aware of what is occurring and that you are committed to doing whatever it takes to protect yourself.

Physical self-defense is the last ditch effort. If it gets to this point through all the other levels, it has been forced here. You are justified to do what it takes to stop him. While some people choose not to participate in violence in order to defend themselves, others have no such qualms. Either choice carries responsibilities.

Source: Pyramid of Personal Safety

Art theft is the theft of high-profile art. The thief’s aim is usually that of a resale or a ransom to earn from the crime. There are also times when thieves are commissioned by private collectors to steal a certain art. Stolen art can also be used among the criminals in the underground banking system as collateral or a barter item for drug or weapons deals.

Paintings are the most widely stolen form of art. Famous paintings like the Mona Lisa, LAst Judgment, Ghent Altarpiece, and Jacob de Gheyn III.

Data theft is a thorn for every company that uses modern technology like computers and hand-held devices for storing digital information and important company matters. There is always the risk that company data can be misused.

Companies and organizations now have firewalls and intrusion-detection systems, there is still the possibility of an employee copying, deleting, or abusing propriety data for personal gain or use by another company.

Motor vehicle theft, or grand auto theft, is the stealing of automobiles, buses, motorcycles, snowmobiles, trucks, trailers, or any other motorized vehicle legally allowed on public roads and highways. Not included in the category is the stealing of aircraft, boats, motorized wheelchairs, bulldozers, and spacecraft.

Theft of services is a legal term for a crime wherein a person obtains valuable services y deception, force, threat, or other unlawful means. This offense may also cover some types of fraud in which payment is made on credit under an assumed identity and ultimately disavowed, or simply identity theft.

Theft of services should not be confused with reasonable rejection. For example, a customer is not satisfied with the services provided, and so refuses to pay. This is not considered a theft of services.

Street sign theft is when street signs are stolen (which are often to be used as decorations). Although not so common, unusual and amusing signs tend to be stolen more and more frequently. It may seem harmless to the general public, but the theft of street signs is often costly and inconveniencing for the municipality pr agency who owns the sign.

Laptop theft has become a serious threat to users of mobile computers, especially when they have important data stored in their laptop. Thieves can have access to sensitive data and personal information, especially without proper security precautions programmed in the laptop.

To help prevent laptop theft (and data theft), there is the Remote Laptop Security option (RLS). With RLS, the owner of the laptop can deny access rights to the stolen laptop from any computer with Internet access. Encrypting the laptop’s internal hard drive also prevents thieves from accessing data if they do steal the laptop.

Classifying hackers by the technology they deal with can be complicated. Because networking and computer technology is so vast, hackers often specialize in one or a few specific areas. There are basically three types of hackers: Coders, Admins, and script kiddies. This characterization is based upon overall competence and ability to compromise computer technology, networks, protocols, and systems.

1. Coders - They are programmers who have the ability to find unique vulnerabilities in existing software and to create working exploit codes. These hackers, as a whole, are not seeking publicity and are rarely part of front-page news stories. As a result, they are known only to the security community for the programs they write and the exploits they have uncovered.

2. Admins - They are far more common than Coders and may have experience with several operating systems, understand TCP/IP, and know how to exploit several vulnerabilities. They generally have less depth of knowledge but possibly greater breadth than Coders. This level of hacker would be part of a security team in a large organization. Some level of programming or scripting ability is required. For example, they should be able to port a tool form on flavor of Unix to another.

3. Script Kiddies - They are the lowest and most populated part of the hacker pyramid. Their name comes from the fact that members of this group generally rely on previously coded scripts and prepackaged hacking tools downloaded from the Internet to do their hacking. Script kiddies are usually individuals who are intrigued by the notion of gaining unauthorized access and are open to using untested pieces of code, especially while others (target networks and users) are at risk.