February 26, 2016
This possible surveillance of an employee away from their work place (detailed in the NYT article below) is a classic technique used by hostile intelligence services and terror groups alike. Human nature is such that we often let down our guard when we are away from the office, making us more easily observable (and approachable). It is unclear if this employee was being targeted for intelligence to support an attack against the nuclear facility, or if the terror group thought he might have access to material for a “dirty bomb.” In any event, all employees holding sensitive positions within CIKR facilities need to maintain good situational awareness of their surroundings – both on the job and in their personal lives. This is a key point repeatedly emphasized in our Threat and Surveillance Detection Training Courses for both government and private sector employees.
Video Found in Belgium of Nuclear Official May Point to Bigger Plot
by Milan Schreuer and Alissa J. Rubin
The New York TimesPARIS — A suspect linked to the Nov. 13 Paris attackers was found with surveillance footage of a high-ranking Belgian nuclear official, the Belgian authorities acknowledged on Thursday, raising fears that the Islamic State is trying to obtain radioactive material for a terrorist attack.
The existence of the footage, which the police in Belgium seized on Nov. 30, was confirmed by Thierry Werts, a spokesman for Belgium’s federal prosecutor, after being reported in the Belgian daily newspaper La Dernière Heure.
The news set off an immediate outcry among Belgian lawmakers, who charged that they and the country had been misled about the extent of the potential threats to the country’s nuclear facilities, as well as about the ambitions of the terrorist network linked to the Islamic State that used Belgium to plot the Paris attacks, which killed 130 people.
