The Dec. 4 shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street has many corporate leaders concerned about security. However, the fact that Thompson didn’t appear to have a security detail when he was killed points to the dilemma facing many security teams: while some executives (Mark Zuckerberg, for example) are very well guarded, others don’t want — or feel they don’t need — executive protection.

At the moment many companies are re-evaluating their security, but if your company isn’t using executive protection already, it can be hard to know when to start using it. After all, not every leader needs executive protection.

Deciding who needs protection, can be a touchy, emotionally-charged subject, especially now that health insurers are worried about the safety of their leaders. However, you can’t let emotions guide the conversation about who gets protection and who doesn’t.

What you need is data.

What is executive protection?

Executive protection (EP), also known as “close protection,” refers to any security and risk mitigation measures taken to ensure the safety of high-profile individuals, such as executives, celebrities, members of wealthy families, heads of state and other VIPs.

An EP strategy usually involves a dedicated team of security personnel who handle threat assessments, close protection details, surveillance, planning for secure transportation and travel, and who work with an executive to mitigate risk.

Risk analysis: a key tool in determining the need for executive protection

A proper risk analysis is key to learning so much about your security needs, and that includes executive protection. Data doesn’t lie, and cuts through the emotion involved in any discussion about executive protection.

A good risk analysis will tell you if your leadership is under threat; if they’re a likely target for a kidnapping plot or an attack, if they’ve been mentioned online by people who are likely to take action against them. It will also tell you if your leader is unlikely to be targeted.

It’s important to remember that your leader may not be controversial, but your industry might be likely to draw an attacker. This was the case with Thompson — he was targeted because he led a health insurance company, and that industry is a target.

Big events also draw the fire of competitors and activists: a big announcement, a merger or an acquisition that competitors might try to disrupt through criminal activity. International travel plans may also present risk, requiring more security than usual.

A risk analysis will also tell you what the effect of a kidnapping, assassination, or hostage situation would be on your organization. Could your organization withstand the emotional, financial, or reputational cost of such an event?

Often the cost of protection is much less expensive than the cost of an actual incident.

When you don’t need a risk analysis to determine a need for EP

A proper risk analysis will tell you if your leadership requires EP, however there are a few instances when your leadership needs EP, regardless of risk:

1. When an insurance policy requires it: Some insurance policies require executives to have protection

2. When company policy requires it: Some company policies automatically require anyone appointed to a specific level to be protected

3. When an individual is critical to an organization: If a person carries a large amount of intellectual property that no one else shares, they should be protected.

Lastly, we sometimes see clients who just want protection. Sometimes when we perform a risk analysis, we see no active threats, but we know EP represents peace of mind for the client. When that happens, we don’t recommend against it.

The best security program is one that doesn’t change when an incident happens. If you feel like there’s a reason you need executive protection, you probably do need it. Having one EP or two on staff might be the difference between having an incident and having none.

Learn more about our risk analysis tool. Contact us now to talk to an expert.

About the Author

Daniel Young

Founder & Chief Innovation Officer

Daniel has been a security and risk advisor for more than 10 years, and is passionate about helping companies to better understand their risks to undesirable events on a daily basis. Dan previously served as the Regional Bioterrorism Coordinator for District 1 in Michigan, where he was instrumental in preparing communities for catastrophic incidents. He has also acted as the Private Security Liaison for the City of Lansing’s Critical Infrastructure Team, which identified and documented deficiencies in the city’s critical infrastructure.

He is a Co-Founder of the CSO Risk Council, a think tank of seasoned security professionals and thought leaders with extensive experience in managing the physical security and risks of large enterprises consisting of multiple sites and whose mission is to create a better process to develop and share innovative solutions and pertinent information with organizations to improve safety and security risk by providing a forum to discuss best practices and recommendations for specific risk scenarios and to network with other enterprise security professionals.