Family security | TorchStone Global

Holiday Travel Security

Family securityDecember 17, 2024

As we approach the 2024/2025 Holiday season, many people will be traveling. Indeed, some estimates indicate up to 50 percent of all Americans will travel during the 2024 holiday season. No matter where your holiday travel plans are taking you, there are steps you can take to help ensure your trip is safe and uneventful…

Threat Comes Home

Family securityJune 25, 2024

During the many years we’ve spent studying attacks against high-profile individuals, we’ve seen that quite a few notable incidents have occurred at or near their residences. Of the 504 incidents targeting high-profile individuals we have tracked from April 2023 through May 2024, 29% of them have occurred at or very near the home, making it…

Kidnapping Part 4: Virtual Kidnapping

Family securityNovember 23, 2022

The fourth in a series that focuses on kidnapping, abductions do not actually occur in a virtual kidnapping. Instead, the victim is the one who receives the ransom demand, as the most successful virtual kidnapping gangs have mastered the theatrics required to instill a deep sense of fear and shock. Virtual kidnappers take advantage…

Kidnapping Part 3: Express Kidnapping

Family securityNovember 18, 2022

The third in a series that focuses on kidnapping, express kidnappings do not follow the typical attack cycle. Carried out by small-time criminals, these kidnappings are based on opportunity and circumstances. However, they are no less dangerous. Situational awareness and avoiding ambush locations can save a person from becoming a victim of a crime where…

Pelosi Home Invasion - TorchStone Global

Pelosi Home Invasion: Security Take-Aways

Family securityNovember 11, 2022

Effective residential security planning utilizes a layered approach that begins on the outside and works in. When assessing a property, five rings of security should be designed in a manner that will discourage a criminal or intruder. But if the criminal is not deterred, the objective is to detect and then delay them until first…

High Value Kidnapping for Ransom - TorchStone Global

Kidnapping Part 2: High-Value Kidnapping for Ransom

Corporate Security, Family securityNovember 8, 2022

The second in a series that focuses on kidnapping, high-value kidnappings for ransom are complex crimes that are both high risk and high reward. Often led by professional criminals and specialized personnel, these kidnappings are rarely reported to authorities. However, success is dependent on key factors. Therefore, taking some preliminary precautions can make kidnapping avoidable.

Why is Protective Intelligence Effective?

Corporate Security, Family securityJuly 22, 2022

Action is always faster than reaction. Therefore, the advantage will be with the security team who can prevent an incident rather than having to respond to one. And the key to proactively preventing incidents is protective intelligence. Protective intelligence is a collection of processes that are designed to forecast, identify and assess threats. Appropriate security…

Protecting Yourself From Mass Public Shootings

Corporate Security, Family securityJuly 8, 2022

Most of the material I have produced on personal security, such as articles discussing how to practice situational awareness, counter a stalker, or detect hostile surveillance is focused on helping people protect themselves when they are being specifically targeted for an act of violence. But unfortunately, people are increasingly being killed in attacks in which…

How to Practice Sustainable Situational Awareness

Family securityJanuary 4, 2021

Situational awareness is simply paying attention to what is happening in the environment around you in an effort to identify and avoid potential threats and dangerous situations. By practicing three of the levels of situational awareness, you can learn to spot developing threats and proactively act to either avoid them or mitigate their impact. Threats…

The Benefits of Living Gray – Part Three: On the Internet

Cybersecurity, Family security, Identity ProtectionDecember 15, 2020

Living gray on the Internet means being conscious and careful of what you post, and what other information those posts may contain. Social media can be a valuable tool for criminals to target less wary persons who share location check-ins, vacation plans, or even work details. An individual post may not display much, but together,…

The Benefits of Living Gray – Part Two: At Home

Family securityDecember 7, 2020

While many people understand the benefits of being gray—especially when traveling to high threat locations—they tend to overlook the fact that being gray can also be beneficial at home. The same principles of traveling gray can be applied to living gray. Statistics show that Americans may be more vulnerable at home. Living gray helps present…

The Value of Contingency Plans

Family securitySeptember 18, 2020

The chaos resulting from a crisis event can be overwhelming, but a contingency plan can help you and your family surmount the chaos. Here’s how you can create a personal or family contingency plan. When a crisis occurs as the result of events such as civil unrest, a natural disaster or a major terrorist attack,…