120 AUGUST 2019
when german entrepreneur Daniel Giersch finalized his
contentious divorce from American actress Kelly Rutherford,
gaining custody of the couple’s two young children in 2009, he
built a fortress to protect them. His sprawling 11,000-square-foot
complex in the South of France includes high stone walls, rein-
forced steel gates, even a warren of secret escape tunnels. Though
the nine-bedroom modern compound is priced competitively at
around $14.25 million, its hostile exterior has left it sitting on the
market for years, without a buyer in sight. “Realistically, no one
wants to compromise their way of life” with bunker-like com-
pounds, says Igor Kryuchkov, founder of T3 Risk Management, a
boutique agency in Geneva, Switzerland, that specializes in pro-
tecting the assets (which include actual people) of some of the
world’s wealthiest inhabitants. “They just want to add layers of
security that won’t freak them out.”
Panic rooms are so last year. Successful people want to live
21st-century lives and reside on trendy Abbot Kinney in Los
Angeles, in a condo in New York’s Tribeca or in a South Kensing-
ton flat in London, not cloistered away. They want to drive their
Bugattis to school drop-off, and work, travel and even post photos
on Instagram without fear of break-ins, stalkers or worse. At the
same time, it’s a scary world out there: High-profile crimes, such
as the armed robbery of Kim Kardashian West in Paris, and near
constant cyber shenanigans have made even the low profile fear
for their physical and virtual safety. As a result, a stealth indus-
try of executive protection experts has cropped up to look after
the world’s more than 2,100 billionaires and their slightly less
wealthy peers. Modern private security firms are taking a high-
tech, holistic approach, assessing threats to their clients’ homes,
travel plans and cyber identities, as well as their actual physical
selves and families. The goal is to create a safety net that’s all but
impenetrable—yet almost entirely invisible.HOME SAFE
Any private security firm worth its fee will begin the initial engage-
ment with a client by doing a total risk assessment with the main
asset and his or her family. “There is an old adage: How can you
protect anyone if you don’t have your facts straight?” says Robert
L. Oatman, founder of R. L. Oatman & Associates, a Maryland-
based protection firm that’s been looking after wealthy families
and major corporations since 1989. “None of us, including the
client, knows where the risks and challenges lie [in advance]....
We take a 360-degree view of potential risks, estimate the level
of risk to the particular protectee and then match security mea-
sures to the risk level.” Oatman recommends background checks,
including credit and driving records, on every contractor, nanny,
driver, pilot and chef, sometimes annually. “The contractor may
have run into money trouble, legal trouble or serious drivingoffenses—not good signs,” he notes. He’ll explain where the client
needs to tighten security, then implement a layered approach that
might include emergency evacuation in case of natural disaster
or terrorist attack. The plan may call for an armed guard on the
property 24/7. But not everyone needs a knuckle-dragger around.
Increasingly, says Patrick Doherty, associate managing direc-
tor of private client services at 10-year-old K2 Intelligence, clients
with high-risk profiles don’t want huge walls or massive hedge
rows: “They want open yards and low-slung walls, like their
neighbors.” Doherty recommends landscape features that are
designed for privacy and funnel unauthorized visitors to a lim-
ited number of access points, where they can be detected. Some
architectural firms, such as Philadelphia’s KieranTimberlake,
incorporate elements that are aesthetically—and physically—
arresting. (See the firm’s blast-resistant glass sheath at the new
US Embassy in London.) The Missouri-based fabricator Zahner
crafts beautifully intricate metal and glass walls that double as
security features and can even help a house withstand a fire.
Landscape architects increasingly take into account property
elevation, natural barriers and chic-looking bollards, experts say.
Then comes the high-tech gear. Christian West, CEO of exec-
utive protection services firm AS Solution, likes to start by laying
down a fiber-optic cable, such as one by OptaSense, that detects
changes in acoustics. “You bury the cable around 12 to 18 inches
deep around your property, and if someone comes within 30
feet of it, it sends an alarm and that also directs the cameras,” he
says. He blends in heat-detection and night-vision cameras, all
of which are hidden and use artificial intelligence and analytics
to learn the difference between a falling leaf, an errant deer or
an actual bad actor. Recently, for an A-list celebrity, West used
a drone with a thermal payload to track down paparazzi hiding
in the big compound’s tall grass. “The OptaSense cable gave the
precise GPS coordinates to the drone,” he says, “so it knew where
to direct our security team.”Some residential surveillance systems have become so easy
to use that Aaron Cohen, founder of security firm Cherries,
which provides personal details to such famous faces as Kate
Moss and Kardashian West (post-Paris), has even started taking
along modestly priced Ring solar-powered cameras when travel-
ing. He mounts a half-dozen of them inside and outside the cli-
ent’s hotel room, which he can monitor via an app on his mobile
phone. Ring competitors are coming fast: Honeywell spun off a
new company called Resideo, which has released a whole line of
security products for smart homes; newly launched Cocoon uses
artificial intelligence to detect unusual sounds, then alerts your
smartphone; and Dedrone has a counter-drone system that can
detect and mitigate rogue drones that enter a property’s airspace.
Should someone get past the perimeter, security solutions are
now abundant. IntelliVision will capture and trace the license
plate of any incoming cars. Biometric locks by Princeton Iden-
tity use facial recognition to open doors, while SekureID requires
just the touch of a finger. Strangers can’t gain entry into a condo
building filled with moguls if developers employ FST21’s nearly
unhackable keyless entry, called Digital Doorman, which detects
residents’ identity through biometrics without them even slow-
ing down their pace. Just about any house or apartment security
system will allow owners to program a duress code, which dis-
arms the alarm but also surreptitiously calls the police. LightingA drone tracked down paparazzi
hiding in the tall grass on an A-list
celebrity’s big compound.
W
G2G_Aug_ModernSecurity.indd 120 7/2/19 3:49 PM120 AUGUST 2019
contentiousdivorcefrom Americanactress KellyRutherford,
gainingcustodyofthecouple’stwoyoungchildrenin2009,he
builtafortresstoprotectthem.Hissprawling11,000-square-foot
complexintheSouthofFranceincludeshighstonewalls,rein-
forcedsteelgates,evenawarrenofsecretescapetunnels.Though
thenine-bedroommoderncompoundispricedcompetitivelyat
around $14.25 million, its hostile exterior has left it sitting on the
market for years, without a buyer in sight. “Realistically, no one
wants to compromise their way of life” with bunker-like com-
pounds, says Igor Kryuchkov, founder of T3 Risk Management, a
boutique agency in Geneva, Switzerland, that specializes in pro-
tecting the assets (which include actual people) of some of the
world’s wealthiest inhabitants. “They just want to add layers of
security that won’t freak them out.”
Panic rooms are so last year. Successful people want to live
21st-century lives and reside on trendy Abbot Kinney in Los
Angeles, in a condo in New York’s Tribeca or in a South Kensing-
ton flat in London, not cloistered away. They want to drive their
Bugattis to school drop-off, and work, travel and even post photos
on Instagram without fear of break-ins, stalkers or worse. At the
same time, it’s a scary world out there: High-profile crimes, such
as the armed robbery of Kim Kardashian West in Paris, and near
constant cyber shenanigans have made even the low profile fear
for their physical and virtual safety. As a result, a stealth indus-
try of executive protection experts has cropped up to look after
the world’s more than 2,100 billionaires and their slightly less
wealthy peers. Modern private security firms are taking a high-
tech, holistic approach, assessing threats to their clients’ homes,
travel plans and cyber identities, as well as their actual physical
selves and families. The goal is to create a safety net that’s all but
impenetrable—yet almost entirely invisible.HOME SAFE
Any private security firm worth its fee will begin the initial engage-
ment with a client by doing a total risk assessment with the main
asset and his or her family. “There is an old adage: How can you
protect anyone if you don’t have your facts straight?” says Robert
L. Oatman, founder of R. L. Oatman & Associates, a Maryland-
based protection firm that’s been looking after wealthy families
and major corporations since 1989. “None of us, including the
client, knows where the risks and challenges lie [in advance]....
We take a 360-degree view of potential risks, estimate the level
of risk to the particular protectee and then match security mea-
sures to the risk level.” Oatman recommends background checks,
including credit and driving records, on every contractor, nanny,
driver, pilot and chef, sometimes annually. “The contractor may
have run into money trouble, legal trouble or serious drivingoffenses—not good signs,” he notes. He’ll explain where the client
needs to tighten security, then implement a layered approach that
might include emergency evacuation in case of natural disaster
or terrorist attack. The plan may call for an armed guard on the
property 24/7. But not everyone needs a knuckle-dragger around.
Increasingly, says Patrick Doherty, associate managing direc-
tor of private client services at 10-year-old K2 Intelligence, clients
with high-risk profiles don’t want huge walls or massive hedge
rows: “They want open yards and low-slung walls, like their
neighbors.” Doherty recommends landscape features that are
designed for privacy and funnel unauthorized visitors to a lim-
ited number of access points, where they can be detected. Some
architectural firms, such as Philadelphia’s KieranTimberlake,
incorporate elements that are aesthetically—and physically—
arresting. (See the firm’s blast-resistant glass sheath at the new
US Embassy in London.) The Missouri-based fabricator Zahner
crafts beautifully intricate metal and glass walls that double as
security features and can even help a house withstand a fire.
Landscape architects increasingly take into account property
elevation, natural barriers and chic-looking bollards, experts say.
Then comes the high-tech gear. Christian West, CEO of exec-
utive protection services firm AS Solution, likes to start by laying
down a fiber-optic cable, such as one by OptaSense, that detects
changes in acoustics. “You bury the cable around 12 to 18 inches
deep around your property, and if someone comes within 30
feet of it, it sends an alarm and that also directs the cameras,” he
says. He blends in heat-detection and night-vision cameras, all
of which are hidden and use artificial intelligence and analytics
to learn the difference between a falling leaf, an errant deer or
an actual bad actor. Recently, for an A-list celebrity, West used
a drone with a thermal payload to track down paparazzi hiding
in the big compound’s tall grass. “The OptaSense cable gave the
precise GPS coordinates to the drone,” he says, “so it knew where
todirectoursecurityteam.”Some residential surveillance systems have become so easy
to use that Aaron Cohen, founder of security firm Cherries,
which provides personal details to such famous faces as Kate
Moss and Kardashian West (post-Paris), has even started taking
along modestly priced Ring solar-powered cameras when travel-
ing. He mounts a half-dozen of them inside and outside the cli-
ent’s hotel room, which he can monitor via an app on his mobile
phone. Ring competitors are coming fast: Honeywell spun off a
new company called Resideo, which has released a whole line of
security products for smart homes; newly launched Cocoon uses
artificial intelligence to detect unusual sounds, then alerts your
smartphone; and Dedrone has a counter-drone system that can
detect and mitigate rogue drones that enter a property’s airspace.
Should someone get past the perimeter, security solutions are
now abundant. IntelliVision will capture and trace the license
plate of any incoming cars. Biometric locks by Princeton Iden-
tity use facial recognition to open doors, while SekureID requires
just the touch of a finger. Strangers can’t gain entry into a condo
building filled with moguls if developers employ FST21’s nearly
unhackable keyless entry, called Digital Doorman, which detects
residents’ identity through biometrics without them even slow-
ing down their pace. Just about any house or apartment security
system will allow owners to program a duress code, which dis-
arms the alarm but also surreptitiously calls the police. LightingA drone tracked down paparazzi
hiding in the tall grass on an A-list
celebrity’s big compound.