Security & Risk Assessment

IHS Security & Risk Consulting experts provide military and security intelligence to public and corporate clients around the world to solve the following types of problems:

• What are the pros and cons of developing a specific military weapon, system or program? 
• Where can I find ongoing profiling and monitoring of extremist websites? 
• How do I create an Open Source Intelligence center on specific issues or regions? 
• Where will our probable future missions occur, and what is the probability of their success? 
• What does the security landscape look like today where my company or agency is or will be operating? 
• What are the key threats to my organization's interests, assets and personnel, and how can we prepare for them?

Private Sector Organizations are able to:

• Prepare for, anticipate and respond to security risks affecting their overseas assets, operations and personnel located in unstable regions or border areas 
• Assess risk by threat level - existing, emerging or future - and determine profit margin needed to compensate for risk 
• Use scenario analysis experience to devise sophisticated risk strategies 
• Create an Open Source Intelligence system for conducting competitor market research

Public Sector Organizations are able to:

• Evaluate military capabilities, defense industry and procurement dynamics, and security and geopolitical risk - both globally and in specific states and regions
• Stay apprised of terrorist and insurgency techniques, communications, and organizations 
• Evaluate the impact of environmental decay on security environments as well as the environmental footprint of security operations 
• Use scenario analysis experience to devise sophisticated risk strategies 
• Receive in-depth training on open source intelligence and analysis techniques and methods

Learn more about our experts, our sample projects or contact us for an exploratory meeting.

Client Challenge: Assess the potential impact of national threats on a private company's security, customer demand and resource availability

IHS Consultants can help you:

• Identify, assess and monitor political, geopolitical, security and societal risk in states and regions at three levels: 
  • Existing risks - What are the key threats, challenges and opportunities across the country to our interests, assets, interests and personnel? How might they be mitigated or addressed? - See Case Study #1 under the Case Studies tab
  • Emerging risks - What type of alert system (frequency and focus) will enable us to confidently monitor security and geopolitical risks as they surface - See Case Study #2 under the Case Studies tab
  • Future risks - How can we prepare for the unexpected? What types of tools can we use to develop contingency plans? How would we capitalize on a discontinuity of our operations? 
• Determine vendor viability and supply chain risks 
• Weigh market growth potential against business risks for different global regions and determine the profit margin needed to compensate for risk 
• Allocate strategic resources to the right markets

Client Challenge: Determine critical platforms and systems to include in the procurement budget

IHS Consultants provides government clients:

• Unbiased assessments of platform and system capabilities and vendors - See Case Study #3 under the Case Studies tab
• Analysis of specific military procurement competitions

Client Challenge: Evaluate a country's military capabilities and doctrine

IHS Consultants provides government clients:

• In-depth analysis of military capability, doctrine, orders of battle (ORBATs), training and maintenance - See Case Study #4 under the Case Studies tab
• Detailed descriptions of capabilities and initiatives within specific military or security branches

Client Challenge: Stay apprised of terrorist activity and communications

IHS Consultants provides government clients:

• Highly tactical assessments of tactics, techniques, procedures and logistical burdens associated with specific types of attacks - See Case Study #5 under the Case Studies tab
• Regular monitoring of over 400 English, Arabic and Pushto language Islamist extremist websites, forums and blogs 
• Strategic assessments of the nature of the existing and emerging terrorist threat emanating from or focused on specific states and regions

Client Challenge: Create an Open Source Intelligence Center on specific issues or regions

Leveraging IHS Jane's over 110 years of experience in the provision of Open Source Information and Intelligence, IHS Consultants are uniquely suited to help you:

• Train your employees how to perform and deliver open source intelligence research and analysis 
• Instruct your intelligence analysts through our customized courses geared toward key states, regions, or thematic areas - See Case Study #6 under the Case Studies tab

Client Challenge: Understand how future security and operating environments might or are likely to evolve

IHS Consultants can help you:

• Use scenario building and alternative futures analysis to comprehend, anticipate and develop hedging strategies for a  range of future security environments 
• Use future battlefield analysis to understand the future operational environment in specific domains - See Case Study #7 under the Case Studies tab

Client Challenge: Assess the impact of environmental change on security

IHS Consultants can help you:

• Understand how and where environmental strains (rising sea levels, deforestation, water scarcity, natural disasters, acidification of oceans, drought, famine, etc) will be most profoundly felt - See Case Study #8 under the Case Studies tab
• Assess the competition for resources environmental shifts are likely to trigger 
• Anticipate and prepare for the effects of environmental strain on your operations

Contact us for an exploratory meeting.

Case Study #1: Iraqi Oil Security Report

Challenge: A client operating in Iraq commissioned a monthly report designed to assess risk to oil security in Iraq and to the firm's operations, assets and personnel in the country.
Solution: IHS Consulting authored an eight-page monthly report that drew upon extensive Open Source research and analysis as well as inputs from a network based across the country. Report contents included regional assessments of risk, thermometer risk ratings, analysis of insurgent intent and capabilities and assessment of how upcoming political and cultural events might shape the risk environment.
Results: The IHS team delivered the report and provided follow-up briefings on a monthly basis.

Case Study #2: Southeast Asian Monthly Terrorism and Security Report

Challenge: IHS Consulting was asked to provide a monthly report analyzing terrorist and insurgent activity and the overall security environment in five Southeast Asian states.
Solution: We utilized secondary sources and our subject matter experts in Southeast Asia to track terrorist and insurgent attacks, assess their attack modes and effectiveness, examine security environment changes in individual states over time and provide an overall regional security risk assessment.
Results: IHS Consulting has successfully provided a monthly report on terrorist and insurgent activity in Southeast Asia since September 2007, including analysis of changes in the frequency, effectiveness, targeting strategy and tactics of key interest groups and state security organizations.

Case Study #3: Ruggedized Laptop Market Assessment

Challenge: IHS Consulting was asked to produce an assessment of the global ruggedized laptop market, including information on previous procurements, key vendors and systems currently in the market.
Solution: We accessed a wide-range of secondary sources, internal expertise on C4ISR systems, industry contacts and a global network to develop profiles of key platforms, systems and vendors, as well as insights about the market.
Results: Our team developed an in-depth brief, which was delivered at the end of the period-of-performance. Our team also delivered an interim brief and maintained an open line of communication with the defense procurement community client.

Case Study #4: Lessons from Georgia

Challenge: At the conclusion of the Russia - Georgia war, IHS Consulting assessed Russia's future military capabilities, doctrine and training.
Solution: We analyzed the present Russian order of battle and its performance to assess the future trajectory of Russian military doctrine, training and procurement.
Results: The study entailed:

• Order of battle assessment for both Georgia and Russia 
• Assessment of the Russian military's performance and effectiveness
• Assessment of procurements and programs 
• Insights into the future doctrine and training and procurement priorities.

Case Study #5: Al-Qaeda and Affiliates

Challenge: A defense community client engaged IHS Consulting's internal experts on terrorism and radicalization issues to produce a report on Al-Qaeda and its affiliates.
Solution: Our team commissioned a range of both internal and external experts on topics of interest to the report and edited and synthesized these analytical inputs into a polished final product.
Results: We produced a very well-received analysis of key strategic and operational issues drawing on internal and external resources that was completed within three months.

Case Study #6: Alternative Analysis Training

Challenge: IHS Consulting was engaged by a national security community client to deliver a one-week training on open source intelligence methods and techniques and alternative analysis.
Solution: Our team developed a course to meet our client's specific needs that focused on techniques for better execution of the intelligence cycle, including modules on an array of alternative analysis techniques and a full day on alternative futures analysis.
Results: We provided a successful framework for training analysts on key themes critical to the successful execution of Open Source collection and analysis and provided insight into specific techniques for challenging inherited assumptions and building uncertainty into effective intelligence analysis of future threats and challenges. 

Case Study #7: Future of Land Maneuver Warfare

Challenge: IHS Consulting was asked to assess the future of land maneuver warfare for a defense community.
Solution: Our team developed a comprehensive report of the drivers of the future of land warfare; the nature of threats and challenges militaries could plausibly face; and implications for the future of land maneuver warfare, including how changes in land maneuver warfare would drive changes in other parts of the defense enterprise.
Results: We provided a written report, which included a high-level executive summary as well as in-depth analysis, and briefed key stakeholders at the client site at the end of the period of performance.

Case Study #8: GEMI Newsletter

Challenge: In May 2009, our sister company IHS Jane's formalized an alliance with Marstel-Day, LLC, an organization focused on understanding the environmental implications of defense activities.
Solution: Together, IHS Jane's and Marstel-Day produced a prototype of the Global Environmental Monitoring Intelligence Newsletter (GEMI), which provides Open Source information on environmental strain and degradation issues throughout the world, as well as analysis of how these trends and developments are shaping local and regional security environments.
Results: GEMI focuses on broad categories of environmental strain, such as water scarcity, rising sea levels and deforestation. Our team has also produced analysis of a range of specific environmental security issues, such as deforestation in Afghanistan and Australia's looming sea-level rise challenge.

The week-long Open Source research and analysis training course is designed to assist intelligence analysts and researchers perform the following core tasks:

• Deconstruct analytical problems
• Devise collection plans to answer these problems
• Identify and access key sources
• Assess and analyze various streams of information
• Understand and assess source bias
• Synthesize information and insight from varied sources
• Produce open source intelligence products

For more detailed information or to register, please click on the links below:

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