Ask Slashdot: Inexpensive SOHO Crime Deterrence and Monitoring?

First time accepted submitter trellz writes "My sister and brother-in-law are self employed, and run a small business with a storefront. It was broken into about a year ago, and since then they have reinforced physical security; bars on the doors and windows, better locks, etc. Unfortunately, their store was broken into and vandalized again last week, in spite of the added security measures. Being technically savvy, I'm trying to come up with inexpensive ways to add deterrence, monitoring, and alerting to their business. They run an extremely lean lifestyle and profit margin, so the solution needs to be almost free. They do have an internet connection at the store, so motion detection, web cameras, Arduino devices, and the like are certainly an option. Ideally I would like a rock-solid alerting method. Something like an email or text to a laptop at home, or a dedicated prepaid phone, but without the pitfalls of such a solution (i.e. random wrong numbers, solicitors, email spam, etc). I'd also prefer not to poke holes in their firewall at the shop if at all possible. I was considering an email with some sort of long code or hash in the body, and then could white list that on the receiving end to key off of. The goal is to never have a false alarm based on the transmission/reception method." What advice, beyond ZoneMinder?

"Lifestyle"

[Anonymous Coward]

We know you said,

They run an extremely lean lifestyle and profit margin, so the solution needs to be almost free.

but it's pretty clear that you meant,

They sell wearable handicrafts made from soft-drink tins and yarn, and spend all the money on weed, so don't bother offering any solution that isn't basically free.

We're all grown-ups here, no need to soft-pedal for Grandma or whatever.

Re:Chloroform

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Remember: Anesthesiology pays relatively well because knocking people out is easy; but knocking them out such that you can wake them back up is hard.

Also, murder charges are a real hassle, and even jurisdictions that allow you to shot people for little more than trespassing tend to frown on lethal traps...

Re:Dog

[demonlapin]

There is a property in my home town whose walls are painted (outside the concertina-lined fence) with the message "DANGER: GUARD DOG WILL KILL". And several skull-and-crossbones for the illiterate. Game over, man, game over.

Re:Live there

[TheLink]

Elegant? What do you want? Lightsabers?

Re:Whatever seems reasonable... plus this

[PhunkySchtuff]

It's all fun and games until your cat dies of exhaustion.