Protective Intelligence
Know who poses a threat before they get close.
We assess threats against executives, public figures and their families, identify the people behind anonymous threats, and reduce the personal information that makes principals easy to find, follow and target.
- Urgent tasking
- Initial threat triage within 4 hours, 24/7
- Exposure review
- 10 business days per principal
- Team
- Protective intelligence lead, threat assessment analyst and investigators
- Deliverable
- Threat assessment, exposure report and tracked remediation
- Pricing
- Fixed fee per principal, or an annual retained program
When to call us
When a person, not a system, is the target.
Protective teams need to know who is a concern, how serious they are and what they can find out about the people being protected. We answer all three.
Anonymous threats
Threatening messages, posts or letters from unknown senders, assessed for credibility and traced to their author.
Fixated individuals
Persistent unwanted contact or escalating interest in a principal, assessed for trajectory and the risk of approach.
Travel and appearances
Advance intelligence on destinations, venues and routes, and on anyone publicly signaling interest in the visit.
Doxxing and exposure
Home details, family information and routines circulating online, found, documented and reduced.
Campaigns against leaders
Organized hostility toward an executive after a layoff, a controversy or a contentious decision.
Families and households
Discreet exposure reviews and digital hygiene support for spouses, children and household staff.
What you receive
An assessment you can plan protection around.
Protective decisions are made under pressure. Our reports give your team a clear threat level, the reasoning behind it and the specific steps that reduce risk.
- Identification of the author of anonymous threats where the evidence allows
- A structured assessment of intent, capability and trajectory
- An inventory of personal information exposed online about the principal and family
- Removal requests filed with data brokers and sites, tracked to completion
- Advance reports for travel and public appearances
- Referral packages for police and support for protective order applications
How it runs
Fast when it is urgent. Thorough when it is not.
Live threats are triaged within hours. Exposure reviews and protective programs follow a steadier rhythm, with remediation tracked until the work is done.
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01 / Triage
Hours 0 to 4
We capture the threat, check for related activity and give your team an initial view of credibility and urgency.
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02 / Identify
Days 1 to 3
Investigators work to attribute the threat, using the same methods as our attribution casework, and document every step.
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03 / Assess
Days 2 to 5
A structured assessment of the subject's intent, capability and behavior, with recommendations for protection and referral.
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04 / Reduce
Weeks 2 to 6
Exposure is removed where possible and monitoring continues on the principal, the subject and upcoming movements.
Tradecraft
Methods that hold up when it matters.
Protective intelligence combines attribution, behavioral threat assessment and a hard look at what a principal's own digital footprint gives away.
- Behavioral threat assessmentWarning behaviors such as fixation, leakage of intent, identification with past attackers and research into the principal, weighed in a structured framework.
- Author attributionWriting style, avatar and username reuse, posting times and platform habits that connect throwaway accounts to a real person.
- Image location analysisWhat photos of a principal, or posted by a subject, reveal through landmarks, reflections, interiors and timing.
- Data broker exposurePeople-search sites, property records, old registrations and family accounts that reveal homes, routines and relationships.
- Advance intelligenceLocal risks, planned protests and hostile chatter around destinations, venues and routes before a principal arrives.
- Subject monitoringLawful monitoring of a known subject's public activity for changes that signal escalation or movement toward approach.
- Family digital hygienePractical guidance for households on privacy settings, posting habits and the details that should never be shared.
- Referral-ready documentationEvidence captured and hashed at collection, organized for police referrals and protective order applications.
Results
When the threat was real.
Most concerning messages never become dangerous. Our job is to tell the difference quickly, and to act decisively when one does.
Consumer brands
From anonymous threats to a name in 36 hours
Escalating threats against a chief executive came from throwaway accounts. A reused image and a careless upload led to the person behind them.
When the threats against our chief executive escalated on a Friday night, Aldervane had a name by Sunday morning and a referral package ready for police on Monday.
Questions
Protective intelligence FAQ
How quickly can you respond to a live threat?
Initial triage is delivered within four hours, at any time of day. Retained clients have a direct escalation route to the on-call protective intelligence lead.
Do you provide physical protection?
No. We are an intelligence firm. We work alongside your security team or protection provider and give them the intelligence they need to plan and adjust protection.
Will the subject know they are being researched?
No. We never contact subjects, and our research runs through non-attributable infrastructure so it cannot alert them. Contact with a subject is a decision for your team and, where appropriate, for police.
Can you remove information about our principal from the internet?
We can remove a great deal of it. Data broker listings and many site entries can be removed on request, and we track each request to completion. Some public records cannot be removed, so we document them and plan around them.
Can our principal's family be included?
Yes, with their consent. Family exposure is often the easiest path to a principal, so most programs include household members and household staff.
Start an engagement
Bring us the question nobody else could answer.
Tell us what you need to know and why. A senior investigator will scope it with you, tell you candidly what open sources can and cannot establish, and propose a plan with a fixed fee and a firm timeline.