Martice Berry of EEP addresses technology in today's executive protection industry

"The ability to use technology to your advantage and harness the energy to be in front of the curve so that you are proactive and not reactive." said Martice Berry, President of EEP.

The ability to utilize Google Earth that can give an adversary the ability to download the principals address and see the office the home or the golf course they operate in. The ability to place a device on the principals car or his family to track their exact location undetected. The sophistication of listening devices that can be planted undetected in an office or conference room including the home. These are all new concerns in our field.

As always, it's a challenge to find the right balance between security, that is keeping the executive safe, and productivity, which is letting the executive be an executive. If a PDA falls into the wrong hands, the information loss could create some risks. On the other hand, if a device is secured so completely that the executive can't use it, or loses a lot of time getting it to work, then security is hobbling the protectee too much.

At the very least, the EP program should be close enough to the principal that it will find out right away if he loses his PDA and then change travel plans or protective measures as appropriate. The key is to view the principal as being under a protective umbrella at all times, where the degree of protection varies according to the risk.