WHEN LEADERS BECOME PREY
In today’s corporate environment, leaders are not simply at risk: they are targets. The 2024 murder of United Healthcare President Brian Thompson proved that today’s CEO faces dramatically greater risks. Digital exposure has made it easier for executives, elected officials, and public figures to be studied, stalked, and stopped dead.
Political polarization has erased the boundary between online hostility and real‑world consequence. What appears sudden or unpredictable is often the final step in a deliberate process that begins months or even years earlier. This is a show that reveals how modern adversaries, state actors, extremist groups, criminal networks, and lone‑wolf aggressors, identify, study, and exploit high‑value individuals long before an attack becomes visible.
Each episode features real cases involving coercion, espionage, and attempts at violence to demonstrate the subtle indicators that emerge long before a crisis breaks through the surface.
These warning signs are often overlooked not because they are invisible, but because leaders are not trained to recognize them. In an era where influence, intimidation, and digital manipulation can escalate rapidly, awareness is not just protection. It is prevention.
CONSULTING PRODUCERS
TJ Klomp, Vice President and Distinguished Security Advisor at Amazon, has spent over two decades building and scaling the company’s global security, emergency response, and protective intelligence programs. He created the executive protection program for Jeff Bezos and previously served as Chief Physical Security Officer after a career in law enforcement and SWAT.
Charles “Chuck” Randolph, Chief Strategy Officer at 360 Privacy, brings 30+ years in close protection, intelligence, and risk leadership. A retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel recognized for valor, he has led global security programs, pioneered Information Operations, and helped shape modern protective intelligence across industry and academia.
Scott McHugh is a Professor of the Practice at Rice University’s Master of Global Affairs program and a fellow at the James Baker Institute for Public Policy. A former senior security and crisis‑management executive, he previously led global risk, crisis response, and homeland security initiatives across government and industry, bringing deep expertise in strategic intelligence and critical‑infrastructure protection.
Robert Liscouski, Founder and Chairman of Quantum Computing Inc., brings 30+ years in enterprise security and risk leadership, including service as DHS Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection and Director of Information Assurance at Coca‑Cola. He also chairs the National Child Protection Task Force and is widely recognized for his work in assessing and managing physical and cyber risk.
EPISODES
Episode 1: The Killing of Brian Thompson
How Early Warning Systems Detect Threats Before They Form
This episode explores how high‑visibility leaders become targets long before an attack occurs, and how subtle behavioral and environmental cues reveal moments of greatest vulnerability. Through the 2024 killing of United Healthcare President Brian Thompson outside a New York City hotel, experts reconstruct the pre‑incident landscape: the patterns of exposure, the predictability of routine, and the overlooked signals that created opportunity for a motivated adversary. The episode demonstrates how protective intelligence, integrated into daily decision‑making rather than reserved for crisis moments, can disrupt the targeting process and alter the trajectory of events before harm takes shape.
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Episode 2: The Digital Reconnaissance Trap
The 2025 Attempted Kidnapping of the Paymium CEO’s Daughter
This episode examines how digital reconnaissance now serves as the opening move in real‑world targeting. Through the 2025 kidnapping attempt involving the daughter of Paymium CEO Pierre Noizat, experts trace how publicly available data, online behaviors, and financial intelligence were quietly assembled to map patterns of vulnerability. The case illustrates how cyber and physical espionage have fused into a single, continuous attack cycle—one in which adversaries study a target’s digital footprint long before making contact. By reconstructing the early indicators that preceded the incident, the episode shows how situational awareness and disciplined information hygiene can expose targeting activity before it escalates into action.
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Episode 3: The Driveway Ambush
The 1992 Abduction of Exxon Executive Sidney Reso
This episode examines how individuals can become targets not because of personal actions, but because of the institutions, influence, or symbolism they embody. Through the 1971 abduction of Exxon executive Sidney Reso, experts analyze how political grievance, perceived leverage, and ideological signaling shape the selection of a proxy target. The case demonstrates how adversaries look for opportunity rather than identity—exploiting routine, accessibility, and predictable movement to reach someone who represents a larger objective. By reconstructing the early indicators that preceded the incident, the episode shows how situational awareness and recognition of subtle shifts in one’s environment can reveal elevated risk even when a person believes they are not the intended target.
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Episode 4: Hunters and Howlers
Two Pathways to Targeted Violence
This episode explores two distinct pathways that lead individuals toward stalking and targeted aggression. Some adversaries operate silently, gathering information and observing patterns over time. Others reveal themselves early, broadcasting grievance, fixation, or intent in increasingly visible ways. Through real‑world cases, experts analyze how both “hunters” and “howlers” communicate risk through different behavioral signatures—and how recognizing these signals before they converge can disrupt the targeting process long before an attack takes shape.
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Episode 5: The AI‑Accelerated Lone Actor
The 2021 Windsor Castle Breach
This episode examines how fixation and grievance can evolve into action when reinforced by emerging technologies. Through the 2021 breach at Windsor Castle involving a 21‑year‑old intruder, experts analyze how identity formation, emotional isolation, and self‑justifying narratives were intensified through interactions with an AI companion app. The case illustrates how technology can accelerate a lone‑actor threat from private belief to operational intent, amplifying behavioral warning signals along the way. By reconstructing the early indicators that preceded the incident, the episode underscores why recognizing escalation patterns—and understanding how AI can shape them—remains essential in preventing targeted violence before it materializes.
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Episode 6: The Pattern of Capture
The 1981 Abduction of NATO Brigadier General James Dozier
This episode explores how predictability becomes a point of leverage for adversaries. Through the 1981 abduction of NATO Brigadier General James Dozier in Italy, experts reconstruct how routine movement, repeated locations, and time‑based patterns created a clear operational window for attackers to act. The case illustrates how adversaries study consistency as a form of access—turning everyday habits into actionable intelligence. By examining the subtle indicators that emerged before the incident, the episode shows how small disruptions in routine, combined with heightened situational awareness, can break the targeting cycle and reduce exposure long before a threat fully materializes.
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Episode 7: Crypto Under Siege
The 2024 Kidnapping of Ledger Co‑Founder David Balland
This episode explores why cryptocurrency executives have emerged as high‑value targets for coercion and abduction. Through the 2024 kidnapping of Ledger co‑founder David Balland in France, experts examine how perceived digital wealth, public visibility, and assumptions about access can motivate adversaries to move from online reconnaissance to physical action. The case illustrates how attackers build opportunity from fragments of personal and professional exposure—and how disrupting that targeting logic through disciplined information management and situational awareness can alter the trajectory of events before a threat becomes physical.