Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Where does TranSecur get its information?

A. TranSecur is a private intelligence organization and, like any intelligence organization, we place the highest premium on primary sources, i.e. individuals and agencies knowledgeable as a result of their direct association with the information our analysts need to turn information, through analysis, into intelligence. Thus, our people reach out to such sources, on the ground in the countries of interest, as police, military personnel, diplomats, academics, journalists, medical personnel, and people engaged in a variety of service industries. In addition, we maintain contact with US and other friendly foreign embassy personnel, dealing as circumstances warrant with the Regional Security Officer, Defense Attaché, commercial offices, and others.

Intelligence organizations rely on the media to provide clues to developing events, and TranSecur does as well. TranSecur differs from others in the private sector in that we are able to access local media outlets in the local language, due to the extensive language capabilities of our analytical staff. This enhances the timeliness of the intelligence we are able to provide our clients.

Q. TranSecur analyzes global risk. How is this information formatted and conveyed?

A. TranSecur Country Reports include a risk assessment by country; city-level risks are identified as appropriate; and, the rationale for the assessment is provided (i.e. economic, political and related inputs are discussed). Daily Analytical Briefs identify emerging risk situations, and the News at a Glance section reviews conditions that have not matured to risk status, but may. Thus, Country Reports take a vertical cut at risk reporting, with a longer term perspective; Daily Analytical Briefs take a horizontal cut, looking at potential near-term risk.

Special Reports are provided at the discretion of the regional analysts or at the request of the client. Special Reports tend to focus on topical issues, such as workplace violence, trafficking of various kinds, as well as aggregating reporting on major pending events, e.g. Olympic Games.

Q. Does TranSecur provide advance warning of events that may affect the safety and security of my people?

A. TranSecur’s core competence is predictive analysis. For scheduled events that may require security preparation, such as the Olympic Games, World Bank/IMF meetings, Ryder Cup, Paris Air Show, etc., we provide assessments of potential risks or other outcomes and recommended responses. For short-term or rapidly breaking events and circumstances, e.g. elections, coups, labor actions, natural or man-made disasters, disease outbreaks, etc. we assess the potential associated risks as far in advance as possible and provide updates as needed.

Q. Does TranSecur provide Special Intelligence Briefings?

A. On request, TranSecur provides analysts or senior managers up to and including the CEO to address gatherings of corporate security personnel. While TranSecur does not usually charge a speaker’s fee for this service, the client is expected to absorb travel and billeting expenses. TranSecur also conducts periodic regional briefings, with corporate clients invited to attend for discussion of issues of current concern. These briefings are offered at no cost to invitees.

In addition, as part of its quality control procedures, TranSecur personnel make regular visits to address any and all matters of interest to the client, and these visits include informal and far-ranging discussions of risk-related and other issues specific to the corporation and its position around the world. These visits are provided at no cost to the client.

Periodically, TranSecur has hosted meetings in Washington, DC, providing clients with privileged access to government officials and other personnel with information and unique insights on current security concerns.

Q. What training services does TranSecur provide, if any?

A. TranSecur offers a number of training services:

Day@TranSecur – Corporate clients send key personnel (no more than three people at a time, please) to spend a day at our headquarters. The client pays travel costs, and TranSecur picks up the rest. We meet the corporate team at the airport and transport them to a local hotel. We pick them up in the morning and bring them to our headquarters for a continental breakfast, a thorough orientation in the use of the TranSecur system, a global threat briefing, and a question and answer period with our analysts. We provide lunch, and we return our guests to their departure point for the journey home.
For those who can’t take advantage of a Day@TranSecur, we provide "walk-through, talk-through" WebEx training at our mutual convenience.
We provide on-site training on request for Enterprise-level clients in the use of our various services, including Global Security Information System, the Travel Monitoring system, and Personnel Watch.
In addition, we provide Executive Security Awareness Training, Incident Management and Crisis Prevention Training, and Pre-Departure Briefings.

Q. Is training necessary to enable subscribers to use the TranSecur system?

A. No. Subscribers start using the TranSecur system within minutes after accessing it for the first time. The System has been designed for ease of use, and first-time users are uniformly impressed with the intuitive navigation of the system afforded by its design. Nevertheless, as with many computer-based systems, users may not be fully familiar with the extensive capabilities of the TranSecur system and may limit their use to a few of the more obvious features, e.g. the Daily Analytical Briefs, News-at-a-Glance, and the Country Reports. The capabilities of the system have been developed in conjunction with our corporate subscriber base and represent a combined hundreds of years of experience and expertise. We want to do everything possible to assure our subscribers are getting the full benefit of these capabilities.

Q. How are TranSecur analysts selected?

A. To be considered for a position as a TranSecur analyst, the candidate has to have at least a Bachelor’s degree, and to have lived and studied, taught, or worked for an extended period in the region for which he or she is being considered. The candidate must be fluent in at least one of the local languages of the region he or she will be managing. The objective is an analyst with strong contacts on the ground in the region he or she is covering, and the ability to seek information from those contacts, as well as the ability to get information in a timely manner from local-language media.

Q. Can subscribers speak with TranSecur analysts?

A. Absolutely. The Daily Analytical Briefs usually have the analyst’s by-line (unless the piece has been developed by a number of staff members) and that links directly to the individual responsible. Subscribers can reach the analyst by email, or can call through the TranSecur switchboard. We do not "screen" access to our analysts with "customer service representatives" or other barriers. Our subscribers are our first priority.

Q. Are all TranSecur analysts located in Maryland?

A. No. We have deployed senior regional analysts to Tokyo, Kampala, and Cairo, with plans for imminent deployment to other regions. All deployed analysts are US nationals and full-time TranSecur employees. In addition to collecting, analyzing and reporting information, their responsibilities include support to TranSecur clients on the ground. As with our analysts in Maryland, the deployed analysts can be reached by email or phone.