Case Study 1.

A subscriber contacted us from a payphone in New York. He was on a business trip from the UK and his cellular phone did not work in the US. He had decided to go for an after-dinner walk. After about half an hour he become confused as to his surroundings and was unsure as to how to return to his hotel. He noticed that his surroundings were becoming less and less salubrious. He noticed more graffiti, more abandoned vehicles and more broken windows. There were very few people on the streets and he did not feel confident in asking any of them for help. Afraid for his safety he telephoned 365assist. From the information the subscriber gave us from nearby street signs, one of our on-call advisor was able to locate the nearest safe haven-a police station, about 400 yards away. The advisor directed the subscriber to the police station. When he got there, the executive was able to call a cab and returned safely to his hotel.

Case Study 2.

A branch manager of a client company received a phone call from his wife, who had become concerned about the presence of two men near their home. She also told him that the telephone service into the residence was not working. He immediately telephoned 365assist and outlined the nature of his concerns to one of our on-call advisors. We made direct contact with the manager's wife on her cellular telephone and advised her to go immediately to a neighbour's house. We contacted the police and reported what the manager's wife had seen together with a description of the men and the license plate of their car. The police found that the telephone line had been disconnected, and that the license plates were not registered to the vehicle type that the two men had been driving. It was suspected that they had been carrying out surveillance on the manager's home, perhaps with a view towards perpetrating a tiger kidnap. In the days following this incident we configured several changes in the family's routine and security infrastructure, so as to demonstrate to the criminals that their surveillance had been detected, security had been enhanced and that they should now reconsider their perceptions of the family as an easy target. No further concerns arose following the initial incident.

Case Study 3.

An executive on a business trip to a former Soviet Union country noticed the presence in several locations of the same person, and became generally concerned that this might constitute surveillance on the part of criminals. She was aware that her employer had a considerable international profile and that adverse incidents had occurred in the past involving personnel from the organization. She immediately telephoned 365assist, described what she had seen, and outlined her concerns. The on-call advisor to whom she spoke suggested an immediate action designed to frustrate any possible surveillance, and using existing contacts, communicated with the police station nearest to her location, and arranged for a police officer to make contact with the executive. The advisor also contacted the head of security at the executive's hotel, and requested assistance in moving her to another hotel within the same group.The police response facilitated the arrest of a minor member of an organised crime gang that had been targeting foreigners for kidnapping over recent months.

 Case Study 4.

The senior management team of a European-based, NASDAQ-quoted corporation travelled to New York to announce the corporation's quarterly results. The results were considerably more positive than had been predicted, and subsequently the group, and in particular the CEO, and CFO were likely to receive increased media attention. It was regarded as prudent to devise a specific response to any negative action that could result. The corporation obviously wanted to maximise on the positive publicity that resulted, and the requests from various elements of the media for interviews resulted in the itineraries of the senior management team being changed on an almost hourly basis. To ensure that any risks associated with such changes could be identified and mitigated and to ensure that response plans were kept updated, the organisation decided to use our 365ground-assist service. An "on-the ground" security advisor was deployed to accompany the client's party. The results were that the senior management team was able to conduct the interviews it regarded as being most beneficial, while at the same time avoid being subjected to the increased risks and variety of risk types that might typically be associated with a schedule in a perpetual state of flux.