Homework Responses Wk 7 & 3

Hello class,

It is so important for protective services to gain as much knowledge about their adversaries as possible. Knowing who and what poses a threat to the principal can provide a huge tactical advantage to the security team. On page 79 of the Protective Operations textbook, there are 3 important pieces that need to come together for a more accurate risk assessment; asset identification, vulnerability assessment, and a threat assessment. Identifying assets encompasses anything that has value owned by a company, including personnel. Vulnerability assessment is just that; security professionals identifying the greatest weaknesses in defense and formulating a plan to reduce the risk. Lastly, a threat assessment should describe the ability of the enemy to attack and how the attack would most likely be carried out. A risk assessment is a lot like playing a game of chess where you try to predict where your opponent will move their pieces next so you can be on step ahead of them.

In the age of the internet and social media, people have become their own worst enemy in terms of security. People willingly give up their own personal information on social media, such as where they work, who is in their family, what hobbies they have, and even more personal information such as relationship status. All of this information can be used against someone in order to breach security measures and cause harm. In our lesson reading this week under the section Potential Online Sources for Intelligence, public records that are stored in databases online are also a way for criminals to find out more information about the principal to form a plan of attack. On the reverse perspective, the internet can also be used by security professionals to collect intelligence about their adversaries and develop a more solid protective strategy to keep the principal safe. 

-Trevor