Posts by Guest Contributor
Implications of AI for Corporate Security
On February 29, I was honored to serve as the moderator for a panel on “The Rise of AI and its Impact on Corporate Security” at the 2024 Ontic Summit. The panel not only provided me with a reason to focus my own thoughts on the topic, but to also learn from the insights of the…
Read MoreDeveloping a “Corporate Foreign Policy”: The Urgent Need for Boardroom Geopolitics Strategies
An era of pervasive geopolitical tumult means that companies, and the executives who run them, must begin formulating and following coherent strategies for global engagement. In the first piece of a series on the intersectionality of geopolitics and global business, Colin Reed explores this growing need, and poses early recommendations for companies seeking to develop…
Read MoreA Unique Approach to Corporate Security in Biotech: A Q&A with Exact Sciences
We recently sat down with Scott Brinkman, the Associate Director of Global Security at Exact Sciences Corporation, to discuss the approach his team takes to protective intelligence, threat assessment, and how his corporate security program differs within a fast-moving biotech company. Exact Sciences Corporation is an international molecular diagnostics company specializing in the detection of…
Read MoreThe Need for Nuance in Protective Intelligence Part 4: Extinction Rebellion
This is the fourth installment in an occasional series examining threat actors from a protective intelligence perspective. Earlier articles in this series examined the Islamic State pole of jihadism, Antifa, and the Boogaloo movement. This article discusses the background of some of the activists behind the Extinction Rebellion campaign (XR), their ideology, their past activities, and the implications of this…
Read MoreMessing With Their Heads: Manipulating and Detecting Hostile Surveillance
One of the fundamentals of TorchStone’s approach to understanding and countering criminal behavior is that attacks “don’t just happen.” Crimes of all types are the result of processes and behaviors that can be understood and detected. One of these key bellwether behaviors is pre-operational surveillance. Almost every criminal act, from a purse-snatching to a terrorist bombing,…
Read MorePlacing Bomb Threats in Perspective
In the wake of the recent wave of bomb threats placed to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) I was asked about the threats and what they mean for the HBCU institutions and their students. When investigating, law enforcement agencies must ask themselves if a bomb threat is specific and if it is plausible. Comprehending the…
Read MoreOf Kidnappings, Lions, and Crocodiles
The October 16 kidnapping of 17 expatriate missionaries in Haiti has generated a great deal of press attention. Among the victims were 16 American citizens and one Canadian. The group is comprised of five men, seven women, and five children—including a toddler. The gang that conducted the abduction, 400 Mawozo, is no stranger to kidnapping.…
Read MoreDetect, Understand, Act: How Real Time Threat Monitoring Mitigates Risk
In just 40 minutes, you’ll learn the importance of leveraging real time threat monitoring software to facilitate intelligent decision-making, as well as:
Read MorePublic Figure Attackers in the United States, 1995-2015
In 2016 FBI Supervisory Special Agent Molly Amman and I completed a study of public figure attackers in the United States between 1995-2015. Our attempt was to update the work of the Exceptional Case Study Project (ECSP) conducted by Dr. Robert Fein and Bryan Vossekuil while with the U.S. Secret Service. We wanted to see…
Read MoreGuest Post: Protective Intelligence within Executive Protection
This article was originally published on LinkedIn by Roman Fisher, CPP. Roman is a dedicated executive protection practitioner with a wide range of experience in areas such as: leadership and team management, firearms instruction, security management, investigation, and protective intelligence. As threats in the world become more resourceful, diverse, and determined along their pathways…
Read MoreThe Terrorist Attack Cycle Remains Unbroken
While our team and many protective intelligence professionals across the industry like to speak to the benefits of new technologies and new methods for protecting assets, we acknowledge that everything we do has a foundation in the tried and true methods that our colleagues in public sector security have developed over the decades. Specifically, it…
Read MoreRecognizing the Critical Balance Between On-The-Ground and Remote Intelligence
My expertise is in protecting ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNIs) and dignitaries traveling internationally, with my company’s coordinated security and logistics services. Decades of experience has taught my team and I about the benefits of remote intelligence and the potential pitfalls when remote and ground intelligence efforts are not closely coordinated. In the following paragraphs,…
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