B.J.F. Rifesser - Protection in shifting domains

Protection in shifting domains

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B.J.F. Rifesser

2 decades of executive and diplomatic protection on five continents. MSc in Diplomacy and Security Studies focused on disinformation and cognitive warfare.

Two Wartime Videos, one Battlespace

Two Wartime Videos, one Battlespace

Two wartime videos. Two propaganda languages. One polished and state-centered, the other mythic and identity-driven. Different aesthetics, same strategic aim: to shape perception, steer emotion, and compete over meaning long before facts are weighed in depth.

Intelligence as a Function: Building the OSINT Capability Your Team Is Missing

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Intelligence as a Function: Building the OSINT Capability Your Team Is Missing

He was not a hacker. He had no classified access, no government tools, no intelligence community background. What he had was method. He was meticulous, analytically patient, and genuinely curious about how information connects.

The Invisible Army: Bots, Trolls, and the Architecture of Cognitive Warfare

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The Invisible Army: Bots, Trolls, and the Architecture of Cognitive Warfare

Armies of bots and human trolls now operate at industrial scale. The tactics are old. The cost has collapsed. This briefing maps the architecture, names the effects, and tells you what protection practice needs to look like in this environment.

The Principal as Attack Surface

The Principal as Attack Surface

A targeting package on a (Ultra)high-net-worth principal can be assembled from open sources in an afternoon. No intrusion required. No technical expertise. Just patience and a network connection.

When Violence Comes With a Media Plan

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When Violence Comes With a Media Plan

A Zapopan ambush is not just a tactical story. It is a proactive intel and coordination failure, made worse by delayed state response and a shooter’s video that owned the first draft of reality. The attack was staged for an audience; fear was the payload.

TikTok USDS and Cognitive Warfare: Shifting the Threat Model from External to Internal

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TikTok USDS and Cognitive Warfare: Shifting the Threat Model from External to Internal

A thesis-based reassessment of TikTok’s strategic risk profile: how the USDS (U.S. Digital Security) deal alters the foreign control threat model, and which influence and governance questions remain unresolved.

Before the Davos Noise

Before the Davos Noise

Before Davos turns risk into slogans, I read the WEF Global Risks Report 2026 through a hybrid lens: economic leverage, information manipulation, cyber disruption, and political pressure. These channels couple fast, shaping continuity, travel, and protection decisions.

From Triggers to Thresholds

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From Triggers to Thresholds

Most days don’t start with a threat, but with friction. I use scenario thinking as a decision tree: triggers, competing hypotheses, indicators, and thresholds. The goal isn’t prediction. It’s readiness without alarmism.

One Man is No man

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One Man is No man

One operator acting as a logistics node, intelligence section, assistant, service provider, and last line of judgment, while still doing physical protection. It is an all-you-can-eat service, and the price is paid in attention and awareness.

Inside the Noise: How Narrative Became the New Risk Domain.

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Cognitive domain

Inside the Noise: How Narrative Became the New Risk Domain.

Storytelling has evolved from a branding tool into a strategic shield in contested perception spaces. It started with a Wall Street Journal article about companies paying serious money for storytellers. Most mornings, when I don’t work out, I meditate, then have my coffee and read the news. This one

When Your Ally Starts Campaigning In Your House.

Influence Operations

When Your Ally Starts Campaigning In Your House.

I remember a discussion we had during our international relations class, back when we still called the system “unipolar”. Someone asked what the world would look like if it slid back toward multipolarity. What framework would we use? How would we know we were already there? Looking back, one of

Stories That Kill, Stories That Protect

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Stories That Kill, Stories That Protect

I grew up in movement. Team sports, solo sports, and a lot of time on the tatami. Martial arts were not a hobby; they were like a second home. I lived in that world of repetition, bruises, discipline and respect. In the 80ies and 90ies, you did not just practice

Beyond the Firehose

Beyond the Firehose

The real risk is not one big lie that everyone suddenly believes. It is a slow grind where people no longer trust that anything in their feed is solid. Truth does not vanish; it fragments. Trust does not suddenly disappear; it erodes and retreats into small islands:

Protection in the hybrid zone

Protection in the hybrid zone

For me, hybrid is where state and non-state actors intersect, often with deniability, so that “ordinary” crime, activism or online noise can serve strategic aims.