Security Solutions | TorchStone Global

Understanding and Responding to Risk

Corporate Security, Traveling AbroadMarch 22, 202190Views 0Likes 0Comments

Everything an organization does or does not do brings a risk. It is impossible, and one should not try, to avoid every potential risk. Instead, when senior leadership embraces the concept that risk is unavoidable and clearly delineates a risk policy, it provides every stakeholder with a single point of reference to gauge and manage…

Don’t Overlook the Threat Posed by Bugs

Corporate SecurityMarch 11, 2021114Views 0Likes 0Comments

While a lot of attention and budget is currently being devoted to cybersecurity—and justly so—cyberattacks are just one of the tools in the arsenal of sophisticated criminal or espionage actors. There is simply some information that hackers can’t access. Threat actors may have to employ other tools in place of, or in addition to, cyberattacks.…

Reporting Bombmaking Activity Can Save Lives

Corporate SecurityMarch 1, 202184Views 0Likes 0Comments

Amateur bomb makers who have not received any training typically progress along a learning curve, becoming more proficient at their deadly craft as they become more experienced and learn from past failures. Even when a person plotting an attack has some bombmaking ability, they are still vulnerable while attempting to acquire explosives or chemicals for…

Detecting Hostile Surveillance

Corporate SecurityFebruary 16, 2021410Views 0Likes 0Comments

Attacks and other crimes don’t just appear out of a vacuum. They are the result of the attack cycle and the pathway to violence, and those planning crimes are vulnerable to detection as they progress through these processes. The activity that most exposes hostile actors to detection is surveillance, and every criminal act involves some…

Avoiding the Deadly “Oh-Oh loop” with OODA

Corporate SecurityFebruary 8, 2021206Views 0Likes 0Comments

The process of consciously observing, orienting, deciding, and acting—the OODA Loop—creates links between an awareness of one’s surroundings in a dangerous situation and the actions necessary to escape it by staying one step ahead of an adversary. Because of this, I consider OODA to be the bridge that connects situational awareness with action.

The Enemies of Situational Awareness

Corporate SecurityFebruary 1, 2021197Views 0Likes 0Comments

As I wrote a few weeks ago, 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. As such, situational awareness is really more of a mindset than it is a highly refined skill. It is not some…

Unconventional Security for Unconventional Clients

Corporate SecurityJanuary 22, 202172Views 0Likes 0Comments

“Old money” families have had generations to learn about the dangers associated with vast wealth and the security measures required to protect against those threats. Kidnappers, swindlers, scammers, and burglars have targeted the members of these families for decades, helping to reinforce the reality of security as a necessity. Kidnappings, murders, and assaults have also…

How to Practice Sustainable Situational Awareness

Family securityJanuary 4, 2021491Views 0Likes 0Comments

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…

White Supremacist Terrorism Goes Beyond The Turner Diaries

TorchStone GlobalOctober 22, 2020146Views 0Likes 0Comments

The threat posed by domestic right-wing extremists, and specifically white supremacists, has been receiving a lot of publicity lately. FBI director Christopher Wray told the House Homeland Security Committee during his Sept. 17 testimony that racially motivated violent extremism comprises the largest portion of the FBI’s domestic terrorism investigations, and that of the racially motivated…

Lessons from a Thwarted Plot in Michigan

TorchStone GlobalOctober 10, 202080Views 0Likes 0Comments

Thirteen people have been arrested in connection with a large, multi-state investigation into domestic terrorist activities. Six of them were charged by federal officials with plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, while the remaining seven face state charges for allegedly attempting to identify the homes of law enforcement officers to launch attacks against them.…

The Value of Contingency Plans

Family securitySeptember 18, 202097Views 0Likes 0Comments

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,…

Lessons from a Murder in Hollywood

Family securityAugust 3, 202067Views 0Likes 0Comments

On July 9, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) announced that it had arrested five suspects in connection with the February 2020 murder of Bashar Jackson, a rapper known by the stage name, Pop Smoke. Jackson was shot and killed when a group of five armed men stormed the Hollywood house being rented by the…