Things That Kill Us: Living a Safety and Security Conscious Life

By Gabriel T. Samuto Ph.D.

The next time you go on a family vacation overseas or somewhere in America and staying at one of those lovely bargained rental vacation homes, condo, or even hotel, please put a small portable plug-in carbon monoxide detector with battery backup device in your bag. Also carry an international universal grounded travel adapter plug set with you. This is what a safety-, security-, and vulnerability-conscious person does. This can literally save your life and that of your family or loved ones. This book is all about some of those safety and security issues that if ignored, it might be just one of those things that kill us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9781546247388

Gabriel T. Samuto Ph.D.

Dr. Gabriel T. Samuto is Senior System Engineer at the DoD where he has been Supporting Oracle technologies including Fusion Middleware, Core, E-business systems, and a host of third party and client applications for the past 20 years. His primary emphasis is configuring and interfacing web-based Intelligent Business Applications across multiple platforms including Unix, Linux, and Windows, as well as overall Quality and Security Assurance across Distributed networks systems. Dr. Samuto, as he is popularly known among peers was born in Cameroon and came to the United in 1981 at the suggestion of some American expatriate colleagues. He holds two advanced degrees in Soil and computer Sciences respectively and graduated Summa Cum Laude with Doctoral Degree in information system management. He is also a Certified Network Engineer (CNE) and holds 7 Oracle Professional certifications and is also a Certified Security plus Professional. Dr. Samuto has also Taught Computer Science in 4 Major American Universities. One of his significant jobs was at a major American hospital for 5 years as an information system specialist, developing and maintaining applications that help support life. He regularly participates in Safety and Security training seminars as well as Quality Assurance workshops. Dr. Samuto is married to a wife who is also a certified engineer and has worked as a consultant for several agencies including NASA, DoD, and Lockheed Martin. They have two boys and a girl who was a ranked junior USTA tennis player. His popular hobby is coaching and playing tennis with his professional colleagues.

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© 2018 Gabriel T. Samuto, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/29/2018

ISBN: 978-1-5462-4739-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-4738-8 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Special Dedication

Things That Kill Us

Preface

Abstract

Words Of Wisdom From The Author

Internet Safety Tips

1   Safety And Security With God

2   The Meaning Of Safety And Security

3   The Impending Dangers

4   Acts Of Danger

5   Home Security

6   The Deadly 911 Call

7   The Silent Killers

8   Diabetes And Hypertension

9   Race And Diabetes

10 Who Is At Risk Of Diabetes?

11 Symptoms Of Diabetes By Gender

12 High Blood Pressure

13 Symptoms Of High Blood Pressure

14 Diabetes By The Numbers

15 High Blood Pressure By The Numbers

16 How To Lower Or Prevent High Blood Pressure

17 Prostrate And Colon Cancers

18 Symptoms Of Colorectal Cancer

19 Gender And Crimes

20 Women And Parking Lot Crimes

21 What Women Need To Know

22 How Criminals Target Their Prey

23 Some General Safety Considerations

24 Home Security And Safety

25 Home Vulnerability Assessments

26 The Physical Security Considerations

27 Internal Home Security Considerations

28 Home Vulnerability And Associated Risks.

29 Home Crime Prevention

30 The Silent Home Killers?

31 Lectrical Hazards

32 The Dangers Of House Pests

33 Dangerous Home Pesticides

34 The Deadly Medicine Cabinets

35 Fire Arms At Home

36 Dangers Of Parking Lots And Parking Garages

37 Crimes In The Parking Lots And Garages

38 Parking Lot Safety Precautions

39 Vehicular Technology Crimes

40 How Car Theft Relay Devices Work

41 Relay Car Theft Prevention

42 Home Garage Crime And Relay Devices

43 The Deadly Smart Phones And Electronics

44 Dangers Of Smart Phones Use

45 Cell Phones Usage Risks

46 Cell Phone Usage Fatalities.

47 Teen Driver Cell Phone Dangers

48 Texting And Pedestrian Study

49 The Dangers Of Information Technology

50 Dangers Of Your Information Footprint

51 Your Personally Information Identifier (Pii)

52 The Deadly Internet Web

53 Dangerous Online Activities

54 Identity Theft Protection

55 The Causes Of Identity Theft

56 Internet Fraud Protection

57 Internet Do’s And Don’ts

58 Tools Used By Internet Scammers

59 Credit Card Skimmers

60 Notable Skimming Situations

61 Bluetooth Gas Pump Skimmers

62 Sale Of Skimmed Data

63 Affordable Online Protection

64 Protection Against Online Scams

65 Scamming Tricks On Computing Devices

66 Available Smart Devices Protections

67 Money Transaction Scam Avoidance Tips

68 What To Do With Phishing Emails

69 Highway Killers

70 Factors Contributing To Highway Fatalities

71 Deadly Drivers Distractions

72 Safety Tips For Highway Travelers

73 Airport Safety And Security Concerns

74 How Airport Criminals Target Victims

75 Airport Criminal Tactics

76 Airport Locations Of Choice By Criminals

77 Airport Passenger Safety Tips

78 Hotel Safety And Security Concerns

79 Hotel Crimes By The Numbers

80 Common Hotel Crimes

81 Hotel Safety Tips

82 Hotel Electronic Crimes

83 Finding Hidden Spy Gadgets In Your Hotel Room

84 Lessons Learned And The Woman’s Problem

Conclusion And The Final Words

References

The author makes only suggestions on security and safety and assumes no responsibility for actions someone can take as a result of reading this work as it is not intended to be a panacea for safety and security problems likely to be encountered as one progresses through life. Everyone is advised to seek professional help at all times as needed and avoid the overdependence on the interference from outside sources as opposed to help from close, reliable or immediate family professionals.

The names or appellations of objects, characters, places, or things represented allegorically or anecdotally in this work are purely fictitious except where they represent cited materials. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, places, things, real or otherwise is coincidental and fully regretted.

It is difficult to ascertain the genre of this work for those interested in such classification in literature as soon as they pick up a book. I refrained from adhering to the demands of a particular literature genre as I don’t want to abide by some tedious literary demands and focus primarily on informing the reader on safety, security and vulnerabilities and the related things that kill us. I opted somewhat for allegory, anecdotes and even prose in the presentation of this material in order to get the reader to focus particularly on given issues of safety, security, and any vulnerabilities in the changes and chances of his or her everyday life. Helping the reader in terms of security awareness is the most important goal in the delivery and I feel this will help the reader even more instead of adherence to some tedious literary requirements common in most published works.

For those who can’t afford the time to read the whole book or the host of safety security material presented, I encourage you to read bulleted sections of interest as well as chapter 3 and chapter 23 on LESSONS LEARNED AND THE WOMAN’S PROBLEMS. These chapters give examples of a real life safety and Security challenges and their outcomes and suggestive solutions. This is intended to help the reader to be better prepared to deal with those security and safety challenges one might encounter down the line in life as failure to do so could ultimately lead to undesirable and even fatal outcomes some of which could ultimately lead to the THINGS THAT KILL US.

I posit that life is a function of intelligence and intelligence is a function of life (Samuto, 2010)

SPECIAL DEDICATION

To my mother, Bernadette Massey, Makouny, the supreme initiator, and my father Tene Joseph, the ultimate enforcer.

To my Nuclear family, whatever we’ve done or will ever do, hopefully should always be according to the dictates of our conscience.

THINGS THAT KILL US

To get to the top of the mountain, you must, endure, overcome, be savvy, have faith, and above all be guaranteed of safety and security.

The Vicar listened intensely at this little girl in the audience, trying to comprehend the depictions of her mysterious adventures. Then he asked,

"What would you say in terms of your personal safety and security being so close to God’s home as you said you were, given the circumstance in which you found yourself?"

She replied matter-of-factly, "Oh no, I was not afraid at all,

I felt that in God’s home,

Safety is assured,

Security is guaranteed,

Vulnerabilities quelled,

I also found God’s home to be quiescent, serene and mysterious."

The next time you go on a family vacation overseas or somewhere in America and staying at one of those lovely bargained rental vacation homes, condo, or even hotel, please put a small portable Plug-in Carbon Monoxide detector with battery backup device in your bag. Also carry an international universal grounded Travel adapter Plug Set with you. This is what a safety, security, and vulnerability conscious person does. This can literally save your life, that of your family or loved ones. This book is all about some of those safety and security issues that if ignored might be just one of those THINGS THAT KILL US.

PREFACE

There are killers everywhere and trust me, action that can potentially seem commonplace or mundane might ultimately put you in peril if you don’t take the necessary precautions or are equipped with the right information. The aim of this book is to bring forth the things that compromise one’s safety in every facet of life. It discusses the dangers around us and how to guard against situations that are likely to compromise individual safety. This book also aims at looking at how we can improve our online safety and security profile and makes the basic assumptions that the world out there is dangerous and it’s everyone’s responsibly to take effective measures to guard against the vices of daily life to ensure one’s safety and security are not compromised out of ignorance or the lack of available knowledge.

Emphasis in the book is to identify imminent dangers in all facet of life and whether at work, school, supermarket, parking lot, driving on the highway, just walking down the neighborhood, home watching TV, jogging in the park, using the internet, going to the bank, it’s very possible to encounter a life changing or life threatening circumstances that could be avoidable if only one is armed with the right information. Thus the object of this book is to educate the readers of societal vulnerabilities and dangers and also suggest and provide preventive measures at such. It is not a panacea that cures all ills of society but provides significant reminders to make your personal safety and security your top priority. The rule of thumb really we should not let our safety and security dependent on someone else. Your safety and security map your destiny and don’t let anyone be in charge or be the major factor in the path you destiny takes. That’s your responsibility.

ABSTRACT

This book is essentially a safety and security digest. It provides the reader with the basic knowledge and tools to guard against the dangers he or she faces, some of the information in the book comes from the author’s training over the years working for the Department of Defense (DoD) on security and safety. The author is also a certified security administrator as well as a holder of several certifications related to database, information, and DoD employee mandatory security certifications. Some of the security ideas described in this book purposely take the form anecdotes and allegories, while others are actual real life security and safety compromisers that the reader needs to be concerned with. The first part of the book teaches the reader and describes some of the survival knowledge the author gained from orienteering and security training, from other parts of the world.

Much of information presented is available in the public domain and wherever possible the author has used citations, references and web blinks to direct the reader to additional resources and sources for safety and security information if the reader is not equipped with the right means to access