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Friday, February 14, 2025

2025 Homeland Security Threat Forecast: Insider Threat and the Vulnerability of Infrastructure 

One of the greatest security threats to the homeland is from insiders. This threat is one of the most difficult because it manifests from within an organization despite the typical presence of a vetting process, whether it is a government or commercial organization. Insider threats take various forms, which range from information collection to theft to actual acts of subversion and sabotage or terrorism.   

The U.S. has faced its largest increase of illegal immigration in the last four years. Millions of illegal immigrants have been able to disappear into the U.S. population and integrate into society. While the vast majority of these individuals are here for a better life, there is a significant risk of criminals, terrorists, foreign intelligence officers, and foreign special operation forces who are here to perpetrate illegal activities. One of the classic techniques of infiltration used by militaries, paramilitaries and terrorists is to enter their target areas by posing as fellow migrants, sanctuary seekers and/or asylum seekers. Just look at the massive numbers of Chinese, Russian and Middle Eastern illegal immigrants who transited our border in the last several years. Some of these individuals were nefarious actors who then integrated and established “normal” lives while intent on their goal, whether it be criminal activity, intelligence collection, subversive activities, and/or terrorist activities.   

Our capability to counter insider threats has become much more difficult with the significant increases in illegal immigrants integrating into our system. It has become a problem of sheer numbers versus our capacity to identify and verify the identity of these persons within a government or commercial organization. Aggressive insider threat mitigation and procedures are needed, and creating “security as a culture” within organizations will become a necessity. This will require the use of techniques and protocols such as continual vetting of personnel using open-source data tied to biometric identification; employment of unpredictable security measures and deterrence operations; enhanced monitoring of internal and external communications; and compliance and introduction of cyber security monitoring measures.     

Forecast: Countering insider threats will become a significant issue for Department of Homeland Security personnel during 2025. Organizations will need to embrace “Security as a Culture” and enhance their internal security systems. The need to provide enhanced insider threat protocols will become essential. Without adequate insider threat mitigation, organizations will see increases in theft, technology transfer compromise, criminal activity, disruption of supply chains and worse, to include possible acts of terrorism.  

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John Halinski
John Halinski
Former Deputy Administrator/Deputy Assistant Secretary, Transportation Security Administration After retiring honorably from the Marine Corps in 2004 John Halinski became the Transportation Security Administration’s Representative in Africa and Italy where he continued his work in counterterrorism and helped expand the administration’s operations and increased performance. John launched an operational initiative that emphasized using a risk based approach to security and has resulted in increased efficiency. As Assistant Administrator for OGS from 2008 to 2012, Halinski’s duties included enhancing international transportation security and increasing compliance and engagement. His most notable accomplishments included the improvement of strategies to prevent/suppress all acts of unlawful interference against civil aviation and acting as the U.S. Representative on Aviation Security for the International Civilian Aviation Organization. During his tenure with the TSA John Halinski served as a lead during the Winter Olympics in 2006 and was assigned to be the TSA Representative during the 2006 evacuation of Americans from Lebanon. As a specialist in Aviation John served as chief technical advisor for aviation security during the U.S. State Department’s Open Skies negotiations. John has had a positive impact on the TSA’s response to many major and minor security situations across the globe for over a decade. During the international cargo plot of 2010 he directed the TSA’s response and worked to rebuild Haiti’s transportation security after the devastating earthquake in 2010. He also directed the TSA’s incident response during the attempted terrorist bombing and printer bombing attempt in 2009. After leaving the TSA in 2014 John Halinski became Partner at S&R Investments, LLC, which is a veteran owned company that specializes in consulting, security, intelligence, national defense, risk management, leadership, international affairs and crisis incident management among others. In 2017 he added more responsibilities to his plate by accepting a position as President at Raloid Corp in addition to his Partner duties. Raloid Corp is a high performance metal manufacturing company that produces parts for classified government programs. After his retirement John Halinski made education as much of a priority as his career. He believes knowledge is power and strives to improve his education whenever possible. Before joining the Marines he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Florida. During his time in the military he worked towards and obtained his Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence and International Affairs from the National Intelligence Agency. John seized every opportunity for educational advancement offered to him by the Marines and took classes in Intelligence Studies, Homeland Security/Emerging Threats and earned a certificate in Organizational Leadership.

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