SPARTAN9 | Newsletter 01/2021

Dear <<First Name>>

My name is Grant Rayner, and I'm the founder of Spartan9. We provide consulting and training services designed to enable you and your organisation to operate safely, securely, and successfully in complex and higher-risk environments.

This is our monthly newsletter for January 2021, which we use to keep our clients, partners, and friends updated on what we're up to. If this isn't your thing and you'd like to unsubscribe, you can click on the link at the bottom of the email.

PROJECT UPDATES

What we've been doing, where we've been travelling to, and what's next.

After what feels like 10 years of 2020, it's great that 2021 is finally here.

Aside from the occasional attempted coup, we're off to a reasonably good start with a significantly quieter US political scene and vaccines beginning to roll out around the world. (Of course, on the day of releasing this newsletter I woke up to the news of an actual coup in Myanmar... never boring).

What's planned for 2021?

Well, for a start, I plan to publish three more books. I've just published The Crisis Simulation Handbook. Next in line is The Crisis Response Handbook, a prequel of sorts to The Crisis Simulation Handbook. From there, I'll (finally) finish and publish The Security Evacuation Handbook Volume II: Decision Making & Execution. I'm still targeting one book release per month, which is epically stressful but keeps the pandemic procrastination down to a minimum.

Once these books are out in the world, I'll be pivoting to video, as the kids say. The plan is to explore video training content as a means of complementing traditional in-person training. I'll be honest and say that the idea of producing video training is mildly terrifying, but it's the future.
 

New publications

Last month we released version 3 of The Guide to Travelling in Higher-Risk Environments (now available in PDF and on Apple Books) and The Security Evacuation Handbook Volume I: Foundations & Planning.

This month we've published The Crisis Simulation Handbook. This handbook is a technical reference for professional crisis managers and consultants, breaking down the processes of exercise planning, design and delivery. This reference sums up the experience I've developed over conducting well over a hundred crisis simulation exercises across more than a dozen countries. Available now on PDF and on Apple Books in the coming days.
 

New practice

Along with release of The Crisis Simulation Handbook, we're launching PIVoTAL Crisis Response. PIVoTAL is a separate practice focused specifically on crisis response, particularly training and exercises. The new website is up. It's still a work in progress, but the details are mostly there.

TRAINING UPDATES

Training workshops, retreats and customised training solutions.

Video training workshops
We've released four remote training workshops:
1. Negotiating corruption
2. Intelligence operations
3. Accommodation security
4. Evacuation planning

Of these, the intelligence operations workshop is the one I've enjoyed delivering the most. This workshop teaches executives and other at-risk individuals how to protect themselves against hostile intelligence operations, including surveillance and attempts at cultivation or recruitment. The subject matter is a perfect complement to existing insider threat programs.

MAP Expedition to Afghanistan
The Studio D MAP expedition is planned for 6-27 August 2021. Given all that's going on, the number of expedition teams has been reduced to one. As a result, I won't be a team leader, but I'll still be aiming to get on the ground and meet with the expedition team somewhere along the route. I'll also be actively involved supporting Studio D with risk management and evacuation planning. If you're interested in an epic adventure, you can learn more and sign up here.

Operating in Challenging Environments Retreat 2021
In partnership with Studio D, we're finalising plans for the Operating in Challenging Environments (OCE) Retreat, planned for November 2021. We'll be making a formal announcement in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. Jan Chipchase and I co-hosted the first OCE Retreat in Tripoli in Lebanon in 2019. OCE retreats are the perfect venue to discuss the complexities of operating in complex and higher-risk environments.

If you have specific training needs, please get in touch.

GEAR AND TECH

Links to useful gear and technology.

Secure chat apps have been a theme this past month. You've probably heard of Signal, but that's not the only secure messaging application you should be considering. Here's three apps we use:

Signal. A popular open source secure messaging application. Learn more here.

Wire. A good alternative to Signal. You don't need a mobile number to sign up. Learn more here.

Threema. A lesser known application from Switzerland. Learn more here.

Here's a useful comparison of popular chat applications.

I've also included a few topical articles on secure chat apps in the reading list below.

READING LIST

Links to topical and interesting articles and information sources.

Foreign aid workers who father children abroad tracked down by researchers using genealogy tech. British foreign aid workers who father children abroad are being tracked down using genealogy technology by researchers at King’s College London. The team have already located one aid worker who fathered two children in the Philippines. Read here (behind paywall).

The Limits of Ideologically-Unlikely Partnerships: Syria’s Support for Jihadi Terrorist Groups. This paper argues that such ideologically-unlikely partnerships reveal the workings of the instrumental logic behind state-sponsored terrorism. Collaborating with terrorist groups is a rational strategy. Read here

How to reduce the spread of fake news — by doing nothing. This research suggests that the best way to react to fake news — and reduce its impact — may be to do nothing at all. Read here

If you're interested in disinformation, also read 'How disinformation evolved in 2020' here

Bellingcat also provides a great short history of QAnon, in their article 'The Making of QAnon: A Crowdsourced Conspiracy'. Read here

Also read 'How to find the source of a video (or, how to do a reverse video search)', which details how the AFP uses InVID-WeVerify. Read here

If you're not interested in disinformation, and would rather learn what happens when the CIA shuts down a front organization, read here

Held Hostage for 444 Days: A Story of Survival. The story of Barry Rosen's time in captivity in Iran in 1979. Read here

Designed to Deceive: Do These People Look Real to You? Using AI to create images of fake people. Read here

How Huawei controls its employees in Europe. A report on Huawei's labour activities in Europe, based on months of investigation by netzpolitik.org with media partners of The Signals Network including The Daily Telegraph (United Kingdom), El Mundo (Spain) and Republik (Switzerland). Read here

Dealing with demand for China’s global surveillance exports. This report explores the implications and advantages that China could derive from these developments, and the impact these technologies will have on data privacy/security, human rights, and democracy. Read here

And, one more on China: China is home to a growing market for dubious “emotion recognition” technology. A new report says the tools rely on junk science and have the potential to erode human rights around the world. Emotional recognition tracking should be on your radar. It's the next evolution of facial recognition. Read here

A Hong Kong dissident’s daring escape. How two Danish boys coordinated the escape of Ted Hui. Read here

Three myths about armed groups and the smuggling economy. This article challenges the assumption of a ‘conflict-crime nexus’, especially with regard to the role of non-state armed groups. Read here

Earth to reach temperature tipping point in next 20 to 30 years, new study finds. Earth's ability to absorb nearly a third of human-caused carbon emissions through plants could be halved within the next two decades at the current rate of warming. Read here

Terrorism in Pakistan has declined, but the underlying roots of extremism remain. An analysis of recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan and how extremism is likely to evolve in the short term. Read here

In Afghanistan, follow the white high-tops and you’ll find the Taliban. The sneakers have been worn by Afghan fighters over multiple generations, but they’ve become a gruesome marker of the Taliban’s violent insurgency. Read here

“This Is War”: Inside the Secret Chat Where Far-Right Extremists Devised Their Post-Capitol Plans. Chats from a private Telegram group obtained by ProPublica show how a suspect tied to the Jan. 6 insurrection tried to organize a self-styled militia. Read here

The battle inside Signal. The fast-growing encrypted messaging app is making itself increasingly vulnerable to abuse. Current and former employees are sounding the alarm. Read here

Staying on the theme of private messaging apps, there's this article by Wired: 'Fleeing WhatsApp for Better Privacy? Don't Turn to Telegram'. Read here

Maronite Christians and the Third Way. A fascinating history of the Maronite Christian community in Lebanon. Read here

A Guide to Emerging SARS-CoV-2 Variants. Scientists across the world are closely tracking the spread of mutations in the coronavirus and investigating whether they could render current vaccines less effective. Read here


That's it for this month folks.

Thanks for reading.

Grant Rayner
Spartan9

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