Burglar-Proof Your Home For The Holidays

December 22, 2014 Updated Dec 22, 2014 at 6:02 PM EST

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (21Alive) -- This holiday season brings plenty of opportunity for burglars to ransack your house.

Home security experts say if you're going out of town, even if you have a security system, make sure you lock your doors and windows.

Nate Routsong of Simplx Security says you should also check your timer lights to make sure they're programmed for winter hours.

"A lot of people do have timer lights. We encourage you to set those, make sure that they are set correctly. With Daylight Savings, it gets dark differently than it does in the summer and so you want to make sure that it's appropriate for the time of year that it is. This may be the first time that you're traveling since the summer and some things may need to be adjusted," Routsong says.

Never, ever post anything to social media -- that goes for your kids, too.

Just because you trust your friends list, your information doesn't necessarily remain private.

"When one of your family or friends likes that then all of a sudden, it may post to their friends or other people that they liked what you said. And then all of a sudden somebody that you may not even know will find out that you're gone, and it just makes you very vulnerable," Routsong says.

You could also leave a car in the driveway so would-be burglars think someone is home.

And make sure if you have an alarm company, that it knows your new phone numbers and you know your password.

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Burglar-Proof Your Home For The Holidays