Threat analysis is a simple list of what could happen. Every security person in the world does one all the time. When I worked over seas I did one at least once a week. Sometimes formal, and sometimes on the fly just looking at our security set up. It’s nothing complicated or difficult. Simply write down all the things that could happen to you, put them in order of most likely, and then start making plans. Start at the top of your list and work down.
Here is what my list looks like and why:
- Car Accident (I drive a truck for a living right now)
- Truck Burglary (I carry tons of stuff for work in my truck)
- Car broke down (stuck in the middle of nowhere)
- Car Jacking (I work in the oil fields of Texas along the Mexican border)
- Laptop Stolen (I’m writing this at a Starbucks right now)
- Lost Cell Phone (my life is on it and I leave it sitting around my house and in my truck)
- Middle of a Robbery at a Stop-n-Rob (I’m on the road a lot so I go into a lot of gas stations, I was in 3 yesterday alone)
- Lose my job
- Regional Disaster
- Mugged (I’m 6’1” and almost 300 pounds not many people mess with me)
- Murdered (Same as above and I don’t do stupid things in stupid places with stupid people)
- Mass Shooting
- Terrorist Attack
- Raped (probably not going to happen)
That’s just to give you an idea of what to think about. My list is already in order of what is the most likely to happen to the least likely. If you are a female college student that never leaves campus, your list might be complete reversed from mine.
I also want you to notice that there are a lot of mundane things in there to be prepared for, like a loss of job. And that’s what this list is really for.
Now that you have a list, start at the top (most likely to happen), create a plan to mitigate that risk, and have a plan incase it happens.
Right on top of my list is a car accident (and is probably close to the top of everyone’s list). I drive about 5,000 miles a month for my job. All in an F250 Ford truck provided by my company. The first thing I do, wear my seat belt always. I also pay more attention knowing that a car accident is the most likely thing that could happen to me. I drive the speed limit, and try to schedule my drives around rush hour traffic. The company has good insurance and I know the capabilities of my vehicle (big trucks roll over at highway speeds and take longer to stop then cars).
When I leave my truck places it’s always locked and I don’t leave things that look expensive on the seats or in view. I have more stuff shoved under the seat of my truck then you can shake a stick at. It really sucks when I have to hit the breaks hard and it slides out.
I keep the truck in good working order, do normal maintenance, keep tools in the truck, and know a little about how vehicles work so I can fix small things (like change my own tire), if the truck breaks down.
You get the point. Go down the list and have a plan to mitigate the event from happening, and have a plan for if it does happen.
Stay Safe,
Ben