Surveillance Slip-Ups: Are You Making These Mistakes?

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TOP STORY

Top 3 Common Mistakes in Surveillance Detection

Surveillance detection is a critical skill in executive protection, yet even seasoned professionals can stumble over common pitfalls. In the latest issue of Circuit Magazine, we delve into the evolution of surveillance strategies. So, we thought we could use the newsletter to explore a single aspect of this often underappreciated topic in more detail.

This week, we're focusing on the mistakes that can undermine your efforts. What are the most common errors in surveillance detection, and how can you avoid them? Let's break it down and look at the 3 most common mistakes we see and how detrimental they can be.

1. Behavioral Indicators 🕵️‍♂️

Common mistake: Overlooking or misinterpreting behavioral indicators that signal someone is conducting surveillance. Can include:

• Unusual patterns in movement

• Nervous behavior

• Repeated appearances in different locations.

As Tom Pecora says in his current article, “understanding the nuances of surveillance activities is essential for effective detection.”

Implications: May lead to undetected surveillance, giving adversaries the upper hand. This compromises the overall security plan and can result in severe consequences for the protectee.

Error Frequency: 7/10
This mistake is fairly common, especially among teams that haven't received specialized training in behavioral analysis.

Impact Rating: 8/10
Could give adversaries the vital information they need to turn an opportunist attack into a well-executed one.

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2. Conduct Routine Checks 🔍

Common Mistake: With demanding workloads, high team churn, and reduced resources, EP teams can get complacent and overlook routine checks, assuming that regularly travelled routes and venues are safe.

Implications: If surveillance is being conducted on your team or principal and surveillants notice you're not conducting checks, you'll be perceived as an easy target. This exposes both the team and the protectee to potential threats. Additionally, you miss out on gathering critical information that could assist in identifying and mitigating threats.

Error Frequency: 9/10
This mistake is quite common, especially during routine or low-threat movements.

Impact Rating: 6/10
While the outcome of making any of these mistakes could be catastrophic, this is one that, given the regularity of the occurrence, more often than not goes unpunished. But there is no cover to hide behind when this is the mistake that leads to compromise.

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3. Protective Intelligence 🧠

Common Mistake: Many organizations fail to appreciate the effectiveness of protective intelligence as a preemptive measure for mitigating risks. Some security firms will bill for this as an ‘optional extra’ service rather than seeing it as a duty of care to their team and an indicator of their professionalism.

Implications: A lack of foresight can lead to exposure of both the team and the protectee, reducing the ability to proactively counter threats and increasing the risk of a successful attack.

Error Frequency: 6/10
This mistake occurs moderately often, especially in teams that lack resources or training in intelligence analysis.

Impact Rating: 8/10
Missed opportunities for threat mitigation leave the protectee and team exposed to potential harm. It also casts doubt on the effectiveness of your response plan, negating all your SoP training.

READER POLL

CIRCUIT MAGAZINE - NEW ISSUE

The attack cycle is evolving, and we must evolve too. The "Iron Box" is outdated, and we need advanced surveillance and countersurveillance strategies to stay ahead.

Learn how to identify and exploit surveillance vulnerabilities to protect your high-profile clients effectively.

Get Issue 68 and equip yourself with the latest knowledge to anticipate and counter sophisticated threats and elevate your protection game!

GLOBAL SITREP

The New U.K. Government Faces Its First Test Amid Rash of Far-Right Riots

• British authorities have linked the groups behind the riots to the officially defunct far-right, anti-Muslim organization English Defense League.

• Recent figures from the advocacy group Hope Not Hate show that the number of far-right demonstrations in the United Kingdom increased more than 13-fold in 2023 from the previous year.

• Projections for the size of the United Kingdom's population from the Office for National Statistics published in February 2024 show the country's population rising by nearly 10% (to about 73.7 million by 2036), with net migration expected to account for more than 90% of that increase.

• Russia has recently been intensifying its destabilization campaign in Europe to opportunistically exploit divisive issues such as migration in a bid to disrupt Western military and political support for Ukraine.

• U.K. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper warned on Aug. 5 that ''hostile states'' are ''almost certainly'' amplifying disinformation surrounding the recent rioting in the United Kingdom.

Want SOC 2 compliance without the Security Theater?

• Get the all-in-one platform for SOC 2

• Build real-world security 💪

• Penetration testing, compliance software, 3rd party audit, & vCISO

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What Maduro Clinging To Power Means for Venezuela

• Opposition leaders claim they had access to only some 40% of the voting records, which indicated Gonzalez received approximately 70% of the vote while Maduro got around 30%.

• The governments of China, Cuba, Iran and Russia congratulated Maduro while representatives from the United States, the European Union and some South American countries called for a detailed and audited count.

• More than 7.7 million people have left Venezuela over the past decade amid the country's deteriorating economic and political conditions. According to the United Nations, these Venezuelans have mostly relocated to Colombia, Peru, the United States, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Spain.

• The international community has previously backed efforts to oust Maduro; in 2019, several countries, including the United States, recognized then-opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's president.

FOR THE DIARY

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SNAPSHOTS by RANE

🇺🇸 US:  The Biden administration lifted a ban on the sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia amid heightened regional tensions in the Middle East.

🇺🇦 Ukraine: Incursion Into Russia Draws Forces Recently Deployed Inside Ukraine, constituting progress toward many of Ukraine's goals.

🇮🇱 Israel: Israel will dispatch negotiators to resume cease-fire/hostage talks with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in either Cairo, Egypt, or Doha, Qatar, on Aug. 15

🇦🇺 Australia: The US and Australia will begin co-manufacturing guided weapons, including munitions for bomber aircraft, in Australia in 2025. The US will also bolster the presence of its rotational forces in Australia.

RECOMMENDED LISTENING

Situational Awareness in hostile and remote environments

In this episode, we discuss: 

▪ How the ‘bad guy’ thinks, operates, and the tactics they use.

▪ How to hone situational awareness skills and pick up on the patterns of life when entering a new country.

▪ How to incorporate situational awareness skill sets into your everyday life.

▪ And, how to come out on top even without the backing and resources of an intelligence agency or a modern military. 

As always, drop us a comment or leave us a review to let us know your thoughts.

READERS POLL - RESULTS

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Stay safe, and keep looking out for one another.

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