Inflation and Civil Unrest: The Case for Threat Intelligence

With inflation on the rise globally, organizations should prepare for possible civil unrest with a proactive approach to risk mitigation and management.

In March, we took a look at the growing concern over civil unrest and how a mass notification solution can be used to mitigate the associated risks. As we discussed, global civil unrest has been on the rise since 2020 with no clear end in sight.

Financial and trend forecasters are predicting a slower rate of global economic growth and elevated inflation throughout 2022. In addition, with new COVID-19 variants emerging, continuing disruptions to economic recovery remain possible.

But, how does the continuing worldwide inflationary trend translate to direct threats to businesses and other organizations?

Historically, inflation and rising food prices have created waves of protests in the United States and elsewhere, particularly when other political instabilities are at play. Data Journalist, Katharina Bucholz reports that there is a strong link between surging prices and unrest. During such chaotic times, businesses and other organizations are at significantly higher risk of property damage, supply line disruptions and potential looting and theft.

Experts also suggest that cyber attacks could be another considerable threat resulting from civil unrest and instability. These attacks can include social media hijacking, website seizure and defacement, denial of service attacks and data exploitation. Such assaults can be disastrous for local governments, healthcare institutions and corporations.

As part of your organization’s emergency preparedness and business continuity planning, basic facilities audits are no longer enough. Civil unrest during times of crisis or inflation can have unpredictable results, and business leaders must take a proactive approach to the protection of people, property and assets through the collection of intelligence and forecasting.

In recent years, threat intelligence has become a popular tool for large enterprises to alert stakeholders to potential risks from a number of elements. Simply put, threat intelligence helps organizations monitor risks such as extreme weather, financial market conditions, travel safety dangers, supply chain disruptions, reputation monitoring and civil unrest.

With continuing inflationary pressures, the potential for civil unrest remains very real. Healthcare facilities, manufacturing, financial services and venues are all vulnerable to losses from violent events and social calamities. Threat intelligence can provide actionable insights to potential risks that can prove invaluable for virtually every type of business or organization.

Combined with an overarching communications plan, threat intelligence closes gaps that might otherwise expose organizations to disruptions or hazards.

Regroup’s Threat Intelligence Suite was built to deliver timely evaluations from a wide network of trusted intelligence sources. It can deliver hyperlocal and global risk reporting as well as asset monitoring. Used in conjunction with Regroup’s mass notification platform, this Threat Intelligence Suite arms your stakeholders with the data they need to employ early response strategies before a crisis occurs.

Regroup Mass Notification integrates its Threat Intelligence Suite to be a scalable yet seamless part of a complete business continuity and risk management tool. This not only bolsters security immediately, it can help organizations improve long-term crisis management and response.

If predictions are correct and inflation and shortages continue, organizations must take on a more proactive approach to protecting people and assets. This means having as much forewarning and information as possible so that key players can put crisis management into effect.

Your Next Steps

Regroup Mass Notification understands that enterprise security is a moving target and offers a range of smart technologies to help address these needs.

From our award-winning mass notification platform to our Threat Intelligence Suite, Regroup is arming organizations with the tools they need to keep people, property and assets protected. Since 2006, we’ve provided organizations with the technology and the guidance they need to improve safety and operational readiness.

You can learn more about Regroup’s Threat Intelligence Suite here and download our free guide to implementing threat monitoring in your organization’s safety plan.