Posts by Fred Burton
A Call for Change in Physical Security
Fred Burton’s article was originally featured in Dark Reading. We’re at an inflection point. The threats we face are dynamic, emerging, and global. Are you ready? Despite dedicating the majority of my life to protective intelligence in the private and public sectors, I still find it hard to believe when I see companies that have…
Read MoreAn Effective Protective Intelligence Investigation: Unraveling the Michigan Plot
Protection personnel rarely see a roadmap into a plot to kidnap or kill. The aspirational plot to kidnap the governors of Michigan and Virginia shed light on pre-operational activities that are instructive for protection personnel. While many plots are disrupted by law enforcement authorities, protection professionals must use the lessons learned in these cases to…
Read MoreWrong Place Wrong Time: Protective Intelligence While Working Overseas
Understanding global protective intelligence risks is essential to understanding your overall global threat assessment. Knowing who may be “dragging” a threat to your meeting is critical. Nation-State intelligence services exist to steal secrets — even yours. It’s no secret that the world is a dangerous place. Organizations with international operations and executives traveling abroad face…
Read MoreTerminations & Layoffs: Understanding & Preparing for Ex-Employee Backlash
Threat fatigue has become the norm. Planning and coordination are key to job actions. What is your duty of care? Some employees can come back with a vengeance. What key considerations should stakeholders make during the process? Violence in society and the workplace has become so common that it becomes a blur for many, creating…
Read MoreExecutive Protection: The Fear of Kidnappings
From a historical perspective, the perception of the kidnapping threat has driven the creation of many, if not most private executive protection teams. Threat of kidnappings is very low for high-net worth families and CEO’s in the United States. Notorious kidnapping cases helped shape the public perception of the need for protection for the rich…
Read MoreThe Delivery Man Ruse: An Effective Method to Kill
Key Points If you want to prevent the next attack, understanding the “how” can be much more important than the “why” With numerous individuals to protect, technology can help prioritize resources Technology and threat assessments can help fill intelligence gaps After a lifetime of examining attacks and failed plots, my eye has always been drawn…
Read MoreSurveillance Detection: You Can’t Find Surveillance Unless You’re Looking For It
I learned surveillance tradecraft the hard way in the 1980’s, as chronicled in my memoir Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent (Random House, 2008). The course of history has been altered with significant protective intelligence failures and tragedies, from assassinations to school shootings, many caused by failing to notice or act on hostile surveillance. The…
Read MoreProtective Intelligence: Mobile Applications are the New Norm
Due to protective intelligence failures, our efforts to identify surveillance were born out of necessity. Technology innovation continues to drive better protection tools. A mobile application enables the officer to rapidly identify persons or vehicles that pose a proximity risk. I’m a big believer in understanding how we got here. Due to protective intelligence failures,…
Read MoreThe Definitive Protective Intelligence Reading List
I get asked all the time for reading lists on a range of topics, so here are a few thought provoking books (one of mine included!) on the topic of protective intelligence that I would recommend for your library. I’ve also added a few thoughts as to why I think the books are relevant. What…
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