Home & Family Safety

Home safety today isn’t just locks and smoke detectors — it’s also the Wi-Fi router your kids’ tablets connect to and the smart camera watching your front door. This page covers the practical basics for keeping your home and family safe, online and off.

Keeping Kids Safe Online

The goal isn’t to spy on every message your child sends — it’s to build habits and guardrails that scale with their age. For younger kids, use the parental controls already built into their device or streaming service to limit content and screen time. For older kids, an honest conversation works better than a hidden monitoring app: talk about not sharing personal details or photos with strangers, and make sure they know they can come to you if something online feels wrong, without fear of losing their device as punishment. Keep gaming and social accounts using an age-appropriate account type — most platforms offer one — since it comes with safety defaults already turned on.

Smart Home Device Security

Smart cameras, doorbells, and voice assistants are convenient, but they’re also small computers that can be broken into if left on default settings. Immediately change the default admin password on any smart home device, keep its app and firmware updated, and turn on two-factor authentication if the manufacturer offers it. If a device has a companion app you no longer use, remove it and revoke its access rather than leaving an old account active.

Securing Your Home Wi-Fi

Your router is the front door to every device in your house. Change the router’s default admin password (not just the Wi-Fi password), make sure it’s using WPA2 or WPA3 encryption, and keep its firmware updated — most modern routers can do this automatically if you enable it. If you have a lot of smart home gadgets, consider putting them on a separate “guest” network from the one your computers and phones use, so a compromised smart plug can’t reach your laptop.

Helping Older Family Members Stay Safe

Seniors are frequently targeted by phone and online scams specifically because scammers assume less familiarity with tech. The most protective step isn’t a piece of software — it’s a standing agreement: before sending money or gift cards to anyone by phone, text, or email, call a trusted family member first to double-check, no matter how urgent it sounds. It’s also worth reviewing privacy settings together on any social media they use, since oversharing (like posting they’re on vacation) can be used against them.

Home Security Guides

Each guide answers one question, so you can go straight to the one you need.

Start here

• Home Security Checklist — a 25-point walk-through of your own home
• How to Protect Your Home from Break-Ins — the overview: how the layers of protection fit together
• 10 Things Burglars Look For — see your home the way a burglar does

Doors and entry points

• Secure Your Front Door — reinforce the door, frame, hinges and strike plate
• Best Door Locks — choosing the lock itself
• Garage Security — the entry point most people forget

Cameras

• Best Home Security Cameras — which features matter before you buy
• Where to Install Security Cameras — placement, spot by spot

Systems and smart home

• Security System vs. Cameras — which one you actually need first
• Is Smart Home Security Worth It? — costs, subscriptions and privacy trade-offs
• Home Security Devices Worth Buying — the short list of devices that earn their place
• Secure Your Home Wi-Fi — protect the network your devices run on

Your situation

• Apartment Security — renter-friendly upgrades
• Protecting Your Home While Traveling — before and during a trip
• Home Safety for Families — a safer home for kids and relatives
• Holiday Safety Guide 2026 — deliveries, travel and seasonal scams
• How to Stop Package Theft This Holiday Season (Mostly for Free) — mostly free steps for delivery season

Emergency Preparedness

• How to Build a Go Bag for Emergencies: Complete Checklist
• Power Outage Preparedness: What Every Home Needs
• How to Build a 72-Hour Emergency Kit: Complete Guide
• Emergency Preparedness Checklist: Everything Your Family Needs