In Conversation with Kent Moyer: Protecting VIPs Like You’ve Never Seen Before
In a strict sense, executive protection is the act of covering an individual against any possible harm. It is the planning and execution of plans, the use, and analysis of intelligence information to provide a safe environment.
Everyone indeed faces risks in their daily lives, but some people are the target more than others. Top corporate executives, wealthy or famous families, are increasingly turning to executive protection specialists, which is now necessary for many.
The concept of executive protection was born to offer special security measures to personalities, both in the public and private sectors, in threats. However, the first steps in this matter were taken to protect the lives of public officials.
The growth and evolution of criminal activities, mainly attacks, and kidnappings made protection measures begin to be adapted and applied to representatives of companies with large capital, public figures, and people from wealthy families.
In America, the concept of executive protection has been somewhat distorted, as there are many people who, without a real threat or risk, adopt these schemes to demonstrate their economic capacity, thereby achieving the opposite effect, as they become more visible and vulnerable.
To have an effective executive protection scheme, a risk intelligence and a diagnosis must be carried out to determine the vulnerabilities faced every day and, knowing them, determine the preventive measures that must be adopted to face the threats.
Without a doubt, the most important element of the executive protection program is that of human beings, regardless of whether it is the protégé or the protector. The protected must follow the safety recommendations to the letter. Second, the protector must be selected following a rigorous process and under constant evaluation and training.
All this makes an executive protection program very expensive, although it is very expensive to not have it. Any security measure should not be viewed as an expense, but rather as an investment. In executive protection schemes, life should not be exposed to save a few pesos.
There are true professionals in the market, and there are companies with a lot of experience worldwide, but there are also many sellers of illusions who take advantage of that need. Therefore, you should always look for the best and not be fooled. The difference between a salesperson and a professional advisor is obvious to the naked eye.
Executive protection is a whole program that goes far beyond just having armored cars and bodyguards. In Mexico, well-known companies operate worldwide. When hiring them, you get the guarantee of having a support of recognition and professionalism. That is what you should look for: experience and recognition.
It’s not just about physical security
Today, executive protection is about much more than just physically protecting them. Cybersecurity risks are higher than ever, and organizations need to ensure that the access to data that many high-level executives have does not become an entry point for attackers.
That’s why it’s important to make executive protection a priority for your organization. Here are five fundamental cybersecurity principles that executives should consider.
1. Analyze the risks
The first step is to carry out a thorough risk analysis. This includes identifying individuals in the organization who are critical to the business and assessing the impact should they fall victim to an attack.
Once you have determined which individuals need protection, map out the plan to reduce the risk factor. This step requires the executive’s full cooperation, as you will need to know everything about the person’s work and family life. You need to investigate how easy it is for someone to get information about the executive and her family.
It is important to note that risks are always changing, so it is necessary to establish a basic security level that can be reinforced as necessary.
The risk analysis should begin with family life, where they live, and the area’s security climate. An important factor in determining the “importance” and whether or not they are considered a high-value target.
2. Insist on the importance of protection of Privacy and Confidentiality
Sure, some executives will be unhappy about having their work and personal lives under scrutiny, but that’s part of the price that has to be paid. To make things simpler, you need to show your executives why security is so important. One way to do this is for executives to pay attention to what they see when they do simple Google searches for their names.
Regular searches show them that they are a target. Once they have done that, they can see how a hacker could easily find all kinds of information about the executive and launch an attack.
Another way to demonstrate a risk to executives is to have them look at their email spam filters to see how many phishing emails they have received. These messages did not make it to the inbox and triggered an attack, but the sheer volume of these attempts should make them understood.
3. Make executive work devices safe using encrypted communications
Today, many business operations and interactions are carried out through mobile devices, and many executives are likely to use the same devices for personal and work reasons. Ideally, they use different devices, such as smartphones, for work and home, but many times the executives do not accept it. It is possible to consider a company policy where it is dictated how many and what devices they can have for work and how they should be used.
In any case, it is essential that any device used by executives for business is highly secure and has the latest protections. All sensitive data must be encrypted, and devices must be protected through an enterprise mobility management platform.
Part of ensuring the security of mobile devices includes evaluating the devices used by executives and those of their immediate family members. This means determining if each of the devices has password protection, updated operating systems, updated antivirus software, and so on. It is important to consider which devices are “shared.”
4. Educate about attacks like phishing
Large companies’ executives are among the main targets of phishing and whaling attacks, largely due to their high level of access to important data. Executives must know what to look for to identify such attacks.
Another way to address these threats is to have executives investigate email messages for indicators of phishing. In general, executives need to be vigilant about how they handle their emails.
5. Create and enforce travel rules
Most executives are often on the road, whether for industry events, conferences, or client visits. This puts them at risk, especially if travel plans are known well in advance.
It is important to have in place and enforce policies on what is and is not allowed while traveling. This could include not allowing key executives to travel together at the same time and by the same mode of transportation.
The travel policy should cover the use of mobile devices during the trip. For example, executives should not be allowed to take their main work laptop on a business trip, but rather a loaner device with no confidential data.
World Protection Group: How are threats dealt in the protocol of executive protection?
We are in conversation with Kent Moyer, the CEO of The World Protection Group, Inc. on the protocol of executive protection. He adds, “in our business, executive protection is defined as the preventive and operational measures taken to protect a principal from a threat, potential or real, that endangers their physical, emotional, or moral well-being.
“A bodyguard, or executive protection specialist, proactively avoids risks through a systematic and comprehensive preparation process, planning, and organization, designed to keep the principal away from the threat.
“To fully carry out this process, executive protection must be carried out using a professional team of security agents. This team employs the following strategies and tactics to manage threats”
Next, Moyer draws a comprehensive analysis of how threats are addressed in the routine protocol of a high-end executive protection corporation:
1. Avoiding threats
Threats are avoided using various tactics. The first of these is the planning of the escorts. All escorts must be carefully planned to identify possible threats as well as possible contingencies. Part of this planning includes using outposts. It is said that 50% of an escort’s success resides in the execution of a good advance.
During the escort, the bodyguard team is always alert to any possibility of a threat to reacting in time. Other tactics used include keeping the principal low-key or trying to make him unpredictable.
On the other hand, The World Protection Group also employs technological devices in its suite of security protocols. The company’s customers can get access to Anonymous Phones which they can use for security purposes. Most high profile individuals who are customers of WPG use Anonymous Phones provided by the company for privacy, security and preventing encrypted communications.
2. Escape from threats
If threats cannot be avoided, then the option is to escape them through early identification of any actual or potential threats before, during, and after the execution of the principal bodyguards.
The acquisition of information, its analysis, and intelligence development on threats play an important role in escape tactics. Operational procedures are planned and established, and courses of action by the bodyguard to face all kinds of contingencies that put the principal in danger.
If 50% of an escort’s success resides in the execution of a good advance, the remaining 50% resides in the way the security agent is trained, and the remaining 25% works as a team. The development of operational procedures and planned courses of action help escape threats.
3. Confront threats
If physical threats cannot be escaped, then the only option remains to confront them. This is a last resort.
A threat is confronted using the staggering force and the force necessary to get the principal out of danger. If we examine the history of all attacks on dignitaries, we realize that 95% of all attacks have ended when the principal has been removed from the ambush zone.
The longer the principal remains in the ambush zone, the less chance he will survive the attack. Staying to repel the attack is not a viable option to protect the principal if he can get out of the ambush. It is important to emphasize that the use of deadly force can only be used as a last resort to protect lives.
In short, the importance of executive protection executed by a professional team as part of a corporate security program is worth its weight in gold.
