Is Your Executive Protection Strategy Keeping Up with Emerging Threats?

The nature of executive protection (EP) is evolving, driven by a surge in emerging threats that extend beyond traditional concerns. Today, corporate leaders and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) face risks that are more numerous, more sophisticated, and more globally interconnected. From the rise of targeted activism and digital exposure to the increasing risks posed by global conflicts and impacts from natural disasters, the modern security landscape demands a fundamentally different approach to executive protection.

In short: You cannot assume that the threats your CEO or executives faced five years ago are the same as today.

In our recent webinar, The State of Executive Protection, Global Guardian co-founder and CEO Dale Buckner, Global Guardian VP of Strategic Partnerships Erick Turasz, BNY CSO Ken Damstrom, and Prescient CEO Jack McKenna dissected these evolving threats and explored whether existing EP strategies are keeping pace. The discussion highlighted weaknesses in traditional approaches and outlined proven strategies that organizations must adopt to protect their executives in the modern environment.

What are the top emerging threats that executives and their security teams are facing, and what strategies can they employ to meet this precarious moment? Learn what subject matter experts think on how to address executive protection today, below.

Emerging Threats to Executive Protection: What’s Changing?

1. Executives and HNWIs Are Facing More Targeted Threats

Executives and HNWIs are now more exposed than ever. The assumption that corporate leaders can remain “low profile” is no longer valid, as social media, open-source intelligence (OSINT), and data brokers make personal and professional information widely accessible.

As a result of this exposure, business leaders are becoming lightning rods for public discontent, which makes them targets for threats and attacks.

Threat actors can track an executive’s movements, personal habits, and vulnerabilities using real estate records, leaked credentials, flight tracking data, and social media updates. Meanwhile, surveillance technologies—including drones, high-resolution cameras, and AI-powered monitoring tools—allow bad actors to observe executives in real time, without the need for hacking or the dark web.

“A lot of real threats are coming from the open web—social media platforms, messaging apps, and other communication channels where threat actors are organizing,” says McKenna.

2. The Rise of Activism as a Security Threat

Corporate leaders in industries such as finance, healthcare, and energy are facing an escalating wave of organized activism. No longer limited to protests, some activist groups now have more resources available to help escalate their actions. While most activism is peaceful, extreme actors in any context can be a security challenge.

"Activism globally has gotten quite extreme,” says Damstrom. “These activist groups are well-funded, they have research arms now, they have legal teams, and within those verticals, they also have a very angry group of individuals who will go to the next level, who will commit acts of civil disobedience, who will break the law, and maybe even go as far as violence."

More extreme elements within these groups have turned to doxxing (publishing private or identifying information about a particular person or people), direct threats, and physical confrontations. Many organizations have not fully accounted for these risks in their EP strategies.

3. Digital Exposure and the Risk of Breach

Executives may assume they are not personally at risk for digital exposure or a data breach, believing only government officials and celebrities are targeted. The reality is that everyone is a potential target—especially those that have accumulated wealth or represent a larger entity.

"Breach exposure affects every single one of us,” says McKenna. “I guarantee you, you'd be horrified if I showed you what was out there.”

Many threat actors don’t need to hack a person’s device—they can simply purchase leaked credentials, track travel itineraries, or exploit publicly available information. This is why digital security and executive protection must be fully integrated.

4. Natural Disasters and Second-Order Impacts

Weather events are becoming more frequent and severe, introducing security challenges beyond physical protection. Hurricanes, wildfires, and earthquakes can displace executives, disrupt security protocols, and create second-order effects, such as:

• Civil unrest in disaster-stricken areas
• Infrastructure failures impacting mobility and communications
• Supply chain disruptions increasing instability in affected regions

Executives caught in these situations may face increased risks from opportunistic actors without proper contingency planning. For example, during and following the Los Angeles wildfires of January 2025, there were reports of looting and burglary in the neighborhoods most affected. This threat of theft and potential violence underscores how disasters can have ripple effect repercussions that must be accounted for during EP planning.

5. Global Conflicts and Isolationism

The world is experiencing an unprecedented level of geopolitical instability, with 56 active conflicts—the most since World War II. The compounding effects of so many conflicts, disasters, and unstable situations are having an effect.

In addition, shifts in U.S. foreign policy and aid programs have the potential to fuel hostility toward American executives and corporate travelers in certain regions. As U.S. economic influence declines, business leaders from the U.S. and Western Europe may face increased operational challenges abroad.

“If we go too far, [for] your corporate leadership and your corporate employees that are traveling the world… there will be a wildly increased anti-U.S. sentiment,” says Buckner. “Things that we could get done prior to this will not be as easy.”

Executives operating internationally—especially in emerging markets, politically unstable regions, or areas with strong anti-Western sentiment—must factor in security risks that go well beyond personal protection. Organizations must have emergency evacuation plans, crisis response protocols, and on-the-ground intelligence gathering in high-risk regions.

Are Executive Protection Strategies Keeping Up?

As the threat landscape rapidly evolves, many executive protection (EP) programs remain stuck in outdated models that fail to address today’s more complex, interconnected risks.

How can you ensure your strategy is adapting to the modern world? Consider the following:

The Myth of "Low Profile" Security

For years, one of the core principles of executive protection was maintaining a low profile and staying out of the public eye. That approach no longer works, and efforts must be taken to dispel the myth that it does.

“If you have a C-suite that don’t believe they can be targeted—you make it personal,” Buckner said, in advising security officers how to approach this conversation. “You show a CEO everything you can find out about his daughter, his son, his spouse, everything about his lifestyle. Then you say, ‘You know how long it took me to find this? About five minutes.’ That will open people’s eyes.”

Instead of relying on invisibility, modern EP programs must:

• Manage digital exposure by conducting regular security audits
• Removing personally identifiable information (PII) from public sources
• Proactively monitor online threats

The Need for Professional Threat Assessments

Many executive protection programs rely on outdated threat models that fail to incorporate digital risks, social unrest, and targeted activism. A comprehensive, intelligence-driven assessment is now required to ensure security teams are addressing all potential risks—not just physical security concerns.

This means EP teams need real-time intelligence gathering across multiple domains:

• Cyber and digital threat monitoring (dark web chatter, doxxing risks, leaked credentials)
• Geopolitical and social risk analysis (activism, instability in key markets)
• Physical security vulnerabilities (patterns in travel, surveillance risks, gaps in protection)

Many organizations are only reacting to threats instead of anticipating them. A proactive, intelligence-driven approach is critical to staying ahead of evolving risks.

The Role of Local Expertise

One of the most significant failures in modern executive protection is the over-reliance on Western security professionals.

"The number one largest mistake I see with executive protection teams is...  a trip to the Middle East, Asia, or Latin America without having local assets,” says Buckner. “If you're sending a Westerner who does not speak the language, does not understand the culture, and does not have connections beyond the embassy, they are eyewash if there is a real emergency in that environment."

Executives traveling internationally require a hybrid model that blends Western security professionals withlocal experts who can provide:

• Cultural and linguistic understanding
• Local intelligence and law enforcement connections
• Real-time knowledge of local threats and security dynamics

The best protection strategy integrates both trusted security personnel from the executive’s core team and experienced local professionals.

Better Coordination Between Security and Executive Teams

Security is often viewed as a separate function within an organization, but the most effective EP programs operate seamlessly within an executive’s core team.

"CEOs and C-suite executives operate within their environments with a small team around them, and they want to see the same faces. Security needs to be part of that trusted circle—just like their head of communications or investor relations team. The security professional needs to be someone they know and trust,” says Damstrom.

Executives are more likely to follow security protocols when security professionals are integrated into their daily operations, forming a trusting relationship with them over time. This means EP teams need to:

• Understand the executive’s work habits, communication preferences, and priorities
• Be part of the travel planning process to assess security risks in advance
• Align with business continuity planning to ensure security measures don’t disrupt operations

Security that feels disruptive, unfamiliar, or detached from the executive’s workflow is often ignored—leaving executives vulnerable. The best protection model is one that is both seamless and proactive.

Prevention Strategies Must Evolve

Many executive protection failures come down to a reliance on reactive security measures instead of a preventative approach. Key strategies that organizations need to adopt include:

• Breaking predictable patterns
• Securing digital footprints
• Enhancing residential, office, and travel security
• Active intelligence monitoring

Executives today are not just vulnerable to physical attacks—but also to digital threats, misinformation campaigns, and economic or geopolitical instability. A holistic, intelligence-driven approach is now essential.

Focus on Intelligence-Driven Security

The next phase of executive protection will be shaped by global intelligence. Organizations that focus solely on physical security without accounting for geopolitical risks will fall behind.

"It’s not just the killing of a CEO. When you look back at the last 11 months—the terrorist attack in Russia, the CEO assassination, attacks in Turkey and Germany, wildfires in California, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East—it’s the totality of these crises that has changed the executive protection landscape,” says Buckner.

An intelligence-led EP strategy should include:

• Geopolitical risk monitoring to anticipate global instability
• Regional intelligence networks to track emerging threats
• Proactive security briefings that integrate global and cyber risk assessments
• Review the personal and professional network exposure of the principal
  

Learn more about the state of EP

The executive protection landscape is evolving rapidly, and organizations must adapt to keep their leaders safe.

For a deeper dive into these challenges and expert insights on how to modernize your executive protection strategy, download our webinar The State of Executive Protection.

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