Short-term embedded analyst monitors environmental protests

Background

We successfully stood up a short-term embedded analyst project when an environmental activist group commenced a series of protests named the ‘Impossible Rebellion.’ This two-week sequence of demonstrations across London was held to raise awareness of the involvement of financial institutions in climate change.

Challenge

Protecting a financial institution's London assets from protest threats

As protesters had made clear their intention to directly target financial institutions with theatrical acts of civil disobedience, Healix was engaged by a financial services organisation with a cluster of static assets in London. Our team worked with the organisation to plot the locations of their sites and built a framework of real-time updates and daily reports which would allow the organisation to monitor any potential threats.

Approach

Real-time monitoring, OSINT tools, and escalation protocols ensured swift threat response

During the event monitoring phase, Healix analysts were dedicated to monitoring the location of protests and evaluating the potential risks posed to the client. Our team built sophisticated algorithms harnessing our OSINT and social media mining software, plotting site locations, key words and the social media pages of known actors to ensure any negative or hostile chatter was immediately identified.

Real-time updates were sent as protests moved toward asset sites or negative/hostile chatter was detected on social media. Healix intelligence analysts assessed the situation and offered actionable advice; if an immediate threat was identified, our analysts would follow a pre-determined escalation procedure to ensure appropriate security measures could be issued immediately to mitigate security, economic or reputational risks.

Outcome

Assets remained secure; post-protest report revealed key sentiment analysis and potential future risks

Due to the real-time information provided by Healix analysts, our client was able to ensure an additional level of security for their assets, personnel and sites. In the aftermath of the protest activity, the organisation was provided with a post-incident report detailing an assessment of any threats going forward. This report included a sentiment analysis of social media chatter and engagements involving the organisation, as well as any underlying drivers that could act as a further catalyst for negative sentiment.