Traditional security companies with technicians who come out to set the whole thing up for you and then bind you to a multi-year contract are getting smart, too. Hook up enough cameras, sensors and sirens and you can monitor your home with an app on your phone or pay a professional service to do it for you, without signing an onerous contract. Now that we can shout at Alexa to dim the lights or turn on the heat, many of us are busy installing do-it-yourself security systems like Abode, SimpliSafe and LiveWatch. It seems that our security habits are changing though. Yet, only 17 percent of houses in this country have a security system, according to the National Council for Home Safety and Security, an industry trade association and my house was not one of them. You would think that I would have had one already - buy a house and one of the first things your broker (or your mother) tells you to do is to secure the place. After my sister’s house was broken into and burglarized last summer, I decided to get a home alarm.
