Following a trail of on and offline breadcrumbs to keep a client safe through intelligence analysis

Handling a potential threat as early and as far away from the principal is the essence of good security. This not only keeps our clients safe; it also gives them the peace of mind they need to get on with their busy lives.

One of the ways that Allied Universal® Executive Protection & Intelligence Services mitigates risks at an early stage is our dedicated team of intelligence analysts. Intelligence forms an integral part of strong security programs. It bolsters EP details, supports secure travel services and reinforces residential protection.

In some cases, well-qualified analysts notify agents on the ground of credible threats before they occur, thus preventing emergency situations. In other cases, intel helps to discredit a perceived threat entirely, thus allowing resources to be used more effectively.

 

The challenge: A prospective client came to us after having received several threats from an unknown source.

Could Allied Universal® Executive Protection & Intelligence Services find the identity and location of the culprit and take the necessary steps to protect the client?

A prominent high net worth individual came to us after having received several pieces of mail at her home address that threatened family members and herself. She had no idea of who was responsible for the anonymous letters, and reached out to us to help identify the perpetrator.

With only the limited amount of information contained in the letters, Allied Universal® Executive Protection & Intelligence Services needed to work quickly before the threats escalated.

 

The solution: Use available information and proven intelligence techniques to identify the person of interest and assess risk.

The unhinged person that wrote the letters unwittingly left a few unique indicators that allowed us to ascertain that one individual sent all the letters. By following the clues left in the letters we could create a general profile of this person and determine his location, age and other valuable information. At that point, we used several open-source intelligence tools and techniques to narrow down the list of potential suspects.

We continued to refine our shortlist until we confirmed the perpetrator’s identity. We could then retrieve the suspect’s social media profiles to monitor his location. Using only publicly available sources, we were even able to find out that the suspect had been detained by local law enforcement on an unrelated matter in a different part of the country and would be placed under house arrest. By digitally tracing his footsteps and whereabouts, we determined that he would be unlikely to carry out his threats.

 

The results: Allied Universal® Executive Protection & Intelligence Services notified the client of our findings and ensured her that she was at no immediate risk.

Upon discovering that she and her family no longer had to worry about the individual, our client could relax and go back to her normal daily routines.

The client was so pleased with how we resolved the issue that she has reached out to us on several occasions since then to conduct similar intelligence gathering.