January 2026 — Social Unrest and Drones at the Olympics

There’s a lot going on in the world of physical risk and vulnerability; it’s nearly impossible to keep up with the latest news and developments. We’ll keep you informed with the best content to keep your organization safe and secure. Check out the top news and headlines from the past month.

Federal immigration agents kill another US citizen in Minneapolis, sparking protests

From Reuters: U.S. immigration agents shot and killed a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis on Saturday, officials said, sparking fierce protests and condemnations from local leaders in the second such incident this month. The Department of Homeland Security characterized the incident as an attack, saying a Border Patrol agent fired in self-defense after a man approached with a handgun and violently resisted attempts to disarm him.

Our take: This incident is a reminder that protests can scale quickly from a peaceful forum to violence. From a risk perspective, the immediate danger is not only the incident itself but the cascading effects: protests, elevated tensions, copycat confrontations, and the strain placed on first responders, businesses, and communities caught in the middle. Organizations operating in urban environments need to recognize that moments like this instantly change the threat landscape. Assumptions about normal operations, safe access, and predictable public behavior no longer hold. Responsible risk management increases organizational situational awareness and contingency planning. For corporations keep in mind that continued division in the workplace may also escalate and workplace violence may increase.

US security team flags drone threat at Milano Cortina Games

From Reuters: U.S. officials helping to safeguard Americans at next month's Winter Olympics are stepping up planning for potential drone disruptions from illicit filming over venues to worst-case scenarios involving explosive payloads.

Our take: The concern around drones at the Winter Olympics reflects a broader shift in how we need to think about physical security in public spaces. What was once a niche risk has become a mainstream threat vector, capable of everything from nuisance disruption to catastrophic harm. From a risk management standpoint, the challenge is not just detection but decision-making under uncertainty: large events compress time, space, and emotion, leaving little margin for error. That means planners must assume drones are part of the environment, not an anomaly, and design layered defenses that account for technology, human behavior, and escalation pathways.

Crews race to restore power and open roads as the South braces for another dangerous cold snap

From PBS: Hundreds of National Guard troops in ice-stricken Mississippi and Tennessee mobilized on January 29 to clear debris and assist people stranded in cars or stuck at homes still without electricity as the Southern states raced to recover from a crippling winter storm before another blast of dangerous cold hit the following day. In Nashville, more than 80,000 homes and businesses still had no power five days after a massive storm dumped snow and ice across the eastern U.S.

Our take: The power outages plaguing the South highlight just how quickly environmental stress can turn into a full-spectrum risk problem. Extreme cold is not just a weather issue; it is an infrastructure, workforce, and life-safety issue that affects employee safety at work and home, as well as your business continuity. No matter where your business is located, it’s essential to plan for weather events of all kinds. A strong disaster plan helps you keep your people safe and your business functioning no matter what the environment throws at you.

January’s Top Security Grants

OVC FY25 Housing Assistance for Victims of Human Trafficking: This NOFO will provide funding for housing and support services to victims of human trafficking. The primary focus of this program is to provide rapid rehousing (i.e., transitional housing and supportive services that assist human trafficking victims in moving as quickly as possible into permanent housing and achieving stability). Projects under this program must be used for one or more of the following purposes: (1) transitional housing, including funding for the operating expenses of a newly developed or existing transitional housing program; and (2) short-term housing assistance, including rental or utilities payment assistance and assistance with related expenses, such as payment of security deposits and other costs incidental to relocation to transitional housing. Grant closes: February 24, 2026

Systems-Based Approaches to Improve Patient Safety by Improving Healthcare Worker Safety and Well-Being: The purpose of this grant is to advance system-level approaches to improve patient safety by improving healthcare worker safety and well-being. Patient safety cannot be fully achieved without healthcare worker safety and well-being. This NOFO will contribute to AHRQs goal of reinvigorating the patient safety movement by adding fresh perspectives and insights of healthcare professionals to efforts to improve patient safety. Grant closes: 2029

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.