Pre-Incident Indicators: What People Do Before Violence or Breach

Most violent acts and serious security breaches don’t come out of nowhere. They are often preceded by behaviors, signals, and patterns that go unnoticed—or are dismissed as “probably nothing.”

In this episode of Vigilant By Design, host Benjamin Johnson, CPP, PSP, PMP, explores pre-incident indicators: the observable behaviors and changes that frequently appear before acts of violence, insider threats, or major security failures.

This episode is not about profiling, labels, or fear. It’s about understanding behavior, recognizing escalation, and building systems that allow people to speak up without punishment.

Topics include:

• What pre-incident indicators are—and what they are not

• Leakage: how intent often escapes before an incident

• Common behavioral and digital warning signs

• Why people miss signals due to normalcy bias and social discomfort

• Observation without profiling—focusing on behavior, not identity

• Digital breadcrumbs and online escalation

• What to do when something feels “off”

• Creating reporting paths that encourage evaluation, not overreaction

Rather than asking “Who would do this?”, this episode reframes the question to:
“What happens when risk is increasing—and no one knows how to act?”Preparedness is not about predicting who will act.
It’s about recognizing patterns early and responding with clarity, calm, and responsibility.#VigilantSecurity #VSC #SaferSpaces #SecurityConsulting #HardenYourSite #CrimeIsComing #VigilantByDesign

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How AI Is Being Used to Defeat SecurityArtificial intelligence is changing security faster than most organizations realize, and not always in their favor.

In this episode of Vigilant By Design, host Benjamin Johnson, CPP, PSP, PMP, examines how AI is actively being used to defeat traditional security controls by exploiting trust, authority, and human behavior rather than breaking systems directly.

We explore real-world threats including:

• AI-generated fake ID cards and credentials

• Voice cloning used to impersonate executives, employees, or trusted contacts

• AI-written emails and messages that look authentic, timely, and convincing

• Deepfake audio and video used to support social engineering attacks

• Why visual and verbal verification alone can no longer be trusted

This episode explains why these attacks work: they don’t defeat technology, they defeat people operating within systems built on outdated assumptions.

More importantly, we focus on what still works, including:

• Multi-factor and out-of-band verification

• Process-driven decision making over personality or authority

• Training the human layer to recognize manipulation without fear

• Designing systems that assume deception and limit blast radius when mistakes happen

• Building a culture where slowing down to verify is encouraged, not punished

AI didn’t invent deception, it scaled it. Organizations that rely on trust without verification are increasingly vulnerable, while those that design for human behavior remain resilient.

This episode is essential listening for security leaders, executives, facility managers, and anyone responsible for protecting people, property, or information in an age where authenticity can be convincingly faked.

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