It can be exciting to be a single woman. Perhaps you’ve got your first apartment or home after college. Perhaps a relationship fell apart and you’re alone again. Perhaps you’ve had a separation or divorce and you’re now a single mother.

Now you can choose what shows you like to watch on TV. Now you can decorate your home the way you like. And now you can follow your passion for reading, journaling, painting, poetry, or anything else that you were too preoccupied to do before. Still, there is something else you have to consider, too. You need to take safety and security measures. We’re talking about home security, personal security, and online security.

Let’s take a look at these 3 security precautions you should take:

1. Home Safety

Here are some tips to improve home safety:

1. Get monitored home security.

This is the first, most fundamental thing, you should consider. Usually, monthly costs are low, and you can get a lot of safety features depending on the package you buy from a home security provider. One ADT security service suggests that a comprehensive security system should include features like 24/7 alarm monitoring, digital keypad, interior motion detector, high decibel alarm siren, keychain remote, battery backup, and yard signs and window decals.

It’s important to get monitored home security even if you live in a low-crime neighborhood. There are two reasons for it. First, it’s huge deterrent to burglars because they prefer to break into non-secured homes rather than have to deal with the high likelihood of getting caught and going to jail. Second, you have the peace-of-mind knowing that you have a security system in place.

2. Notice any possible security risks.

Walk around your home and make sure that you have don’t have any overlooked security risks.

Here is a quick list of things to review:

• ·  Check if deadbolts work.
• ·  Check if lights on porch and garage work.
• ·  Check if doors close properly.
• ·  Check if windows close tightly.

If you own your home, get security risks fixed. If you’re renting, insist the landlord make it a priority.

3. Own a dog.

Dogs can provide excellent emotional comfort, make great companions when going for a walk, and have an intuition for when someone is lurking around your property. A sharp bark is often more than enough to warn off burglars.

4. Get to know your neighbors.

While you don’t have to make friends with your neighbors, a friendly relationship can make all the difference. This can be mutually beneficial. You can tip each other off if there are any suspicious activities going on in the neighborhood.

Personal Safety

Personal safety is important when walking, jogging, biking, traveling, being harassed by an aggressive man on a lonely street, or even walking from your home to your car parked outside.

Here are 2 ways to increase your personal safety.

1. Carry a non-lethal weapon. One choice is to use pepper spray. The strongest sprays contain Oleo Resin Capsicum. Often pepper sprays made in the USA are the best in the market. Another choice is to carry a stun gun. These are often used by police, the military, and security guards when they need to carry non-lethal weapons. While, you can, of course, get a firearms license and carry a small gun, there are many risks involved if you don’t know how to use it properly, if someone else gets their hands on it, or if you’re reluctant to shoot someone even when in extreme personal danger. Often pepper spray or a stun gun is more than enough for normal personal safety precautions.

2. Download a personal safety app. There are numerous personal safety apps in the marketplace and many are free to download. They offer an alarm and GPS tracking. GPS tracking is especially useful when you are traveling and want to alert your emergency contacts if you don’t get to your destination because of an accident or some other mishap en route.

3. Online Safety

The biggest threat online is usually phishing. This may be a mass phishing attack, where spammers send phishing emails to a wide number of inboxes, or spear phishing, which is targeting a particular person.

Usually, these attacks can come in the form of a phone call or by email.

The basic theme behind most phishing attacks is to send a message that creates fear and forces someone to take impulsive action. You might be asked to pay something to avoid a penalty or to click a link to avoid a danger or get something free (like a huge sum of money or a free iPad.). Clicking the link will load malware onto your hard drive. One nasty malware prompts you to download an antivirus program because your computer has been detected to have been infected with a deadly virus.

Here are 3 steps to take:

• 1. Respect your intuition when it comes to clicking on a link or downloading a file. Delete the email rather than respond to the message. You might also be able to inform the sender about the spoof email.
• 2. Change your password every 3 months, don’t use the same password for all your various accounts, and use passwords with numbers, letters, and characters.
• 3. Use antivirus software.These three safety precautions are easy to take and can make all the difference to your peace-of-mind.

Stay Safe

These three safety precautions are easy to take and just knowing that you have taken safety precautions can make all the difference to your peace-of-mind. Like insurance, it’s something you hope you don’t have to use, but if you do, you’re glad you made the right decision earlier.