The Vulnerability of Public Figures: Lessons from UnitedHealthcare
Highlights from my article published in Domestic Preparedness Journal
Highlights from my article in Domestic Preparedness Journal, published on Feb 5, 2025.
"High-profile private and public-sector leaders have been at an elevated risk of targeted violence in the past several years…”
“Behavioral threat assessment is the systematic process of investigating and assessing concerning behaviors. The murder of Brian Thompson created an opportunity for many organizations to professionalize and institutionalize behavioral threat assessments within their security teams...”
“Often, a security intelligence team conducts or assists with behavioral threat assessments or some version of it—if the organization has an intelligence team…”
Screenshot of my article in Domestic Preparedness Journal “News coverage of the UnitedHealthcare CEO’s murder and the practices of the health insurance industry, in addition to social media, have increased the public’s scrutiny of healthcare insurance companies, especially those with high denial rates. While UnitedHealthcare reportedly has the highest claim denial rate among healthcare insurers, Medica, Anthem, Inc., Aetna, a CVS Health Company, and CareSource have the next highest denial rates…”
“Males armed with a gun who are between the ages of 18 and 37 and who have a criminal history are the most likely threat to public figures. Privately made firearms, or “ghost guns,” could pose an increasing threat to all public figures. And mornings (6:00 a.m. to noon) are the most likely time for such attacks. The accused murderer of Thompson is a 26-year-old male who allegedly shot the CEO with a ghost gun at 6:46 a.m….This threat information is based on more than six decades of empirical data...."
“UnitedHealth Group and its subsidiaries UnitedHealthcare and Optum have removed leadership pages from their websites...However, due to regulatory requirements and the nature of the internet, information on corporate executives will likely remain available to the public...."
