For most of us, our homes are more than just places where we sleep and eat. They are safe havens where we make memories and watch over our families. Likewise, if you’re lucky enough to own your own business, that’s something you value. It’s a space you worked hard for, filled with people who work hard for you. Ensuring the wellbeing of your home or business, and—more importantly—the people in it, is a top priority.

To help keep those environments and individuals safe, it’s important to be aware of any potential threats—and take action to prevent occurrences like break-ins, robberies, or assaults from happening around your property. Jason Hanson, a former CIA operative who wrote a New York Times bestselling book, trains everyday people on how to use “spy techniques” to keep themselves and their families safe. Here are a few of the strategies he says anyone can use:

1. Make your home or business uninviting to potential thieves
Hanson notes that just the threat of an inhospitable environment is enough to keep potential thieves from breaking into your home or business. Taking steps like putting an alarm system sticker on your window (even if you don’t have a system), placing surveillance cameras around your property (even if they are fake), or positioning a dog bowl or dog toys where they can be easily seen (even if you don’t have a dog) can be enough to deter would-be burglars.

2. Do this to determine if someone is following you or a loved one
You know how sometimes you get the feeling a person is watching you or tracking your movement on a street or in a store, but you’re just not sure? Hanson shares a strategy for finding out. He suggests running a surveillance detection route (or an “SDR”). This essentially means intentionally moving from one place to another to another (for example, different areas of a store or different stores) to see if the individual follows you. If they do, you know you are being tailed and you should promptly tell a store manager or security guard, or call the police.

3. Look for “truth tells” when a visitor to your door raises suspicion
Sometimes a person may come to your home or business saying they are selling something when what they really want is to get a good look around. Hanson suggests throwing any suspicious visitors off by asking an unexpected question like “How many <products> have you sold today?” or “Tell me when the last time you stole something was” and gauging their reaction. If the question causes them to become nervous or search for an answer, that should throw up a red flag that they are being less than truthful with you.

Download the resource below—which includes more information about the security strategies mentioned here—and share it with your loved ones, employees, or co-workers to help keep everyone you know safe.