Fred Burton is one of the world’s foremost experts on protective intelligence, global security, and terrorism. He is a former State Department counterterrorism deputy chief and DSS special agent, who investigated the kidnapping of the hostages held captive by Hezbollah and many other acts of terror. He is the author of Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent and Chasing Shadows: A Special Agent’s Lifelong Hunt to Bring a Cold War Assassin to Justice, and coauthor with Samuel M. Katz of the New York Times bestseller Under Fire: The Untold Story of the Attack in Benghazi. Scott Stewart is the Vice President of Protective Intelligence at TorchStone Global. He is a veteran protective intelligence practitioner with four decades of analytical, investigative, and security experience in the government, corporate, and NGO sectors. Prior to joining TorchStone, Scott led Stratfor’s global analysis of terrorism and security topics from 2004 to 2020. He also served as the protective intelligence coordinator at Dell and spent ten years as a special agent with the U.S. State Department where he conducted hundreds of terrorism, criminal, and protective intelligence investigations.
“After nearly 40 years of both government and private sector security, I witnessed almost daily how intelligence was critical in protecting people and places! Scott Stewart and Fred Burton, using their many years of collective experience, through their excellent book, have shown how to gather, analyze and apply intelligence to create high quality security profiles!” - Chuck Vance, former Special Agent US Secret Service, Founder of Vance International “Fred Burton and Scott Stewart leverage their extensive expertise and collective experience to create a valuable resource for professionals and readers who may be new to protective intelligence. They explore various examples where assailants with different motivations and utilizing diverse attack methods harm their victims. In each case, Burton and Stewart highlight important lessons we can learn. Whether protection has been your business for more than 40 years, as it has for me, or you are looking to enhance the safety of your home and family, this book will be an engaging and informative read.” - Ken Senser, Chief Strategy Officer and Partner, Corporate Security Advisors “Today's security environment is certainly dictating the need for better protection for our executives and businesses. The authors set a high standard while working in Diplomatic Security which is translated most effectively into the needs we have today. Executives are recognizing that there is a great need for better awareness and countermeasures. Fred and Scott are masters in the field and offer appropriate recommendations to improve situational awareness and requirements to ensure safety and Security. It's my pleasure to recommend this work highly.” - Greg Bujac, Former VP of Corporate Security at Philip Morris and Former Director of the Diplomatic Security Service ""Students, observers and practitioners of protective services would be well-served to understand this case study and the associated lessons learned. The authors are among the pioneers of the art and science of protective intelligence, and their substantial experience in both public and private settings readily informs their analysis of this landmark case and the targeting phenomenon."" - Jim Hutton, former Chief Security Officer at Fortune 30 corporations