Protective intelligence
ObscureIQ / Intelligence deskIndependent analysis. Protective judgment.
← Back to the libraryRecord / CB-169
Command Brief / CB-169

Before you block: preserve, assess, then act

Block It Later. Capture It First.

The intelligence

A suspicious account surfaces around a principal or a household member, and the first impulse is to block it and move on. This brief works through what that impulse can cost, where the exceptions lie, and who in a household should make the call. Built from standard digital-evidence guidance, including NIST Special Publication 800-86, and the firm's protective practice. For family offices and security leads setting the rule staff and family follow in the first hour.

COMMAND intelligence

Unlock this Command Brief.

Get this assessment, the full subscription collection, and new intelligence as it is published.

Introductory rate · through 30 November
$75/month

For your first year, then $100/month. Or $750 for the first year, then $1,000 annually.

  • The CORGI Morning Brief, each morning
  • This brief and the subscription collection, 100+ briefs
  • New Command Briefs as they are released
  • Principal and Analyst briefs, as PDF
Subscribe to COMMAND

Secure checkout through Substack. Substack asks for your email first.

Full subscription details

Topics

Evidence PreservationThreat DoctrineHousehold & Staff
Follow the thread

Cross-referenced intelligence.

CB-167subscription
Command Brief

The two faces of the concealed identity: the account as threat and as shield

The Friendly Account Is the Approach

State-backed campaigns that built fake researcher and recruiter personas to approach targets, documented by platform threat-intelligence teams, are among the cases behind this brief. It treats the concealed account from both sides: aimed at a principal and those around one, and as a separation a principal might legitimately keep. It works from the operational record and published attribution research. For principals, staff and security leads judging an unfamiliar account or weighing an alias of their own.

Synthetic Identity & PersonasSocial EngineeringPseudonymity
View record
CB-168subscription
Command Brief

The relationship does not have to be fake: why the circle is the target

They Befriend Your Assistant, Not You

The FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report, released in April 2026, recorded billions lost to business email compromise and to investment fraud built on online relationships. This brief asks why a hostile approach aimed at a principal may never contact the principal, and what control holds when the relationship being used is genuine. Built from threat-intelligence reporting on persona campaigns, Justice Department case records and the FBI report. For family offices deciding how far protection should reach beyond the principal.

Social EngineeringHousehold & StaffThreat Doctrine
View record
CB-266-Asubscription
Annex

The first hour after the email: a protocol for sextortion threats

A first-hour protocol for a principal, family member or staff member who receives a sextortion threat, with timed steps, a triage routine for the named contact and two messages ready to copy. Companion to CB-266. For a family office that wants the response decided and written down before a frightened recipient has to improvise one, and for the contact who will take the first call.

Breach & Leaked DataPublic RecordsEmail Security
View record
CB-268-Asubscription
Annex

The first hour for a parent: when your child is being sextorted

A first-hour protocol for a parent or guardian whose child discloses sextortion, with timed steps on what to say, what to preserve and what never to copy, where to report, and when to bring in the household's security contact. Companion to CB-268. For households that want the response written down and within reach before a frightened parent has to improvise one.

Child ProtectionHousehold & StaffHarassment & Swatting
View record