INVESTIGATIVE OVERSIGHT & INTELLIGENCE SOLUTIONS DIVISION
It is also an integral element of any security-related process. Protective Intelligence gathers, analyzes, and evaluates data to detect unusual activities that can be indicators of a physical or cyber-attack. Without the proper protective intelligence, organizations are more susceptible to outside, and in some cases, inside forces.
It is common that a business will do everything possible to ensure its security, but there are many aspects to protect. Cybersecurity, physical security, and personnel safety are all elements of protective intelligence for a business, and it can be difficult to know where to start.
At ESG, we leverage protective intelligence to inform every phase of protection, consistently adapting and improving our level of client service and satisfaction. As we continue to work with organizations of all sizes, across varying industries, we gain viable data on how to continually enhance the quality of our solutions, ensuring customized services for each of our clients.
Anytime someone feels threatened by an individual – whether a stalker situation, a workplace violence risk, or another concern – a threat assessment is extremely useful on several levels. By understanding the potential actor, we can determine the likelihood of the threat, work with systems around the individual to mitigate the threat they pose and inform the potential victim of steps they can take to reduce their personal risk and increase their safety. We can also help the potential victim work with local law enforcement or security services to improve their environment.
Risk assessments are particularly helpful in a couple of situations. If this is the first time a client is really thinking about the potential risks to themselves, their family, and/or their company, a risk assessment provides them with valuable information to make informed decisions about how they will invest in their security.
Risk assessments also inform ESG’s security team when making recommendations regarding what steps the client should take. If the client has had security but a recent incident has caused them to review their security protocols, our risk assessments can help dig into the reality of the current threat and the success of the current security protocols. These same factors apply to facility and event security.
Even where clients work with local law enforcement or security firms, ESG can provide an invaluable perspective that can enhance the knowledge of professionals who are under-resourced, while creating a stronger security framework for the client.
Travel assessment is a form of risk assessment that determines the risks and hazards to travelers and provides details on how to mitigate those risks. It is a structured and comprehensive assessment of the risks inherent in a journey to a certain destination. The risk assessment is complementary to the threat assessment process. The destination can be any place where there is a chance of being victim to harm or death, such as areas involved in war, natural disasters, land mines, or terrorist attacks.
A travel assessment typically includes the following components:
- Travel itinerary (where you’re going and when)
- Type of travel (business, leisure, or other)
- Location of destination (city or country)
- Types of hazards present in the destination country or city
- How long will the trip last?
We’ll look at a country’s political stability, crime trends, identify areas of a city to avoid, inform the client of cultural considerations, health concerns, quality of medical services, trends of domestic and international terrorists in the region, and identify likely tactics. For example, if a location is known for knife attacks or suicide bombers, are firearms a likely threat, avoiding ATMs at night or using a particular type of transportation. We’ll let them know about environmental risks, too – and how to best protect themselves in the event of that incident.
Our protective intelligence program also includes real-time monitoring of the situation on the ground 24-7 during travel and other support programs recommended based on the risks identified during travel.
This will depend upon the nature of the situation.
Examples may include:
- Suspicious activity inside or outside the client’s office or employees’ homes
- Crimes involving company personnel (may need an independent investigation and liaison with the local police)
- Threats to a company, its suppliers, personnel by unknown or known parties (stalkers, disgruntled employees, online threats by anonymous users, bomb threats, etc.)
- Crimes in the area which may impact a company and its personnel (robberies of stores nearby, protests/riots)
Threat investigations are complex processes. A team of skilled investigators is necessary because there are many aspects to cover, such as the size and complexity of the organization, the type, and seriousness of the incident, and the type of threat posed.
There are three critical phases:
- Empowering an investigation team: The first phase is to empower an investigation team with the knowledge and skills necessary to carry out a credible investigation.
- Conducting interviews: The next phase is conducting interviews with all the people who were involved in or observed the incident. This needs to be done as soon as possible so that memories do not fade or get contaminated by other information
- Analyzing findings: The final phase is analyzing findings from interviews and other information collected during both phases before presenting them back
The purpose of a threat investigation is to provide a level of assurance that an organization’s assets are not at risk and that any vulnerabilities have been identified and mitigated.