Samaritan Protective Services expands into risk advisory and intelligence

Samaritan Protective Services said July 29 it is broadening from executive and diplomatic protection into a global risk advisory and intelligence company. The Washington-based firm is developing Vigil, an OSINT platform aimed at lean security teams that need contextual intelligence without enterprise-scale cost or complexity.

Why it matters: - Samaritan Protective Services is targeting a growing demand for intelligence tools that help smaller security teams make faster, better decisions without building large in-house programs. - The company is positioning its new platform, Vigil, as a lower-cost alternative to enterprise systems that can be too complex or resource-heavy for lean teams. - The shift also reflects a broader move from pure protection services into technology-driven risk analysis and mission support.

What happened: - Samaritan Protective Services announced on July 29 that it is expanding from a Washington, DC and London executive and diplomatic protection firm into a global risk advisory and intelligence company. - The company said it will retain its protective-services business while directing more resources toward intelligence capabilities. - Samaritan said it will spend the next 12 months developing Vigil, its open-source intelligence platform for security teams and organizations that need actionable intelligence. - The company plans to show Vigil at GSX 2026 in Atlanta this September.

The details: - Vigil is designed to help users move beyond fragmented monitoring, excessive alerts and disconnected information streams. - The platform turns open-source information into curated, contextualized and actionable intelligence based on an organization’s people, assets, locations, operations and priorities. - Samaritan said the next phase includes a redesigned user interface. - The company is adding tens of thousands of new data sources. - Samaritan is also building a more intuitive way for users to create monitors and define mission context. - A mission-centered workflow is meant to show users not only what to monitor, but why each item matters. - Brandon Shafikhani, Samaritan’s CEO, said intelligence only becomes useful when information is contextualized, curated and aligned with the user’s mission. - Shafikhani said the company’s operational experience with executives, diplomats and organizations in complex environments is shaping the product. - Samaritan said Vigil is being built by practitioners who understand how intelligence is used when decisions have real operational consequences. - The company said future updates will be shaped by feedback from security professionals and organizations using intelligence to support active missions. - Samaritan said its development process starts with operational needs rather than with more data, alerts or complexity. - Shafikhani said every update to Vigil must help the user reach a better decision. - Shafikhani said users need a way to communicate their mission, identify what matters and receive intelligence that reflects their operating environment. - Samaritan said Vigil is being positioned as the most accessible and affordable platform in its category. - The company said the streamlined design is intended to give smaller security teams sophisticated intelligence capabilities without enterprise-scale budgets, dedicated intelligence departments or lengthy implementations. - Samaritan said Vigil is being built by an intelligence and protective-services company, not by a software firm detached from frontline security work. - More information - More information - More information

Between the lines: - Samaritan is using its protection background as a competitive differentiator in a crowded intelligence software market. - The company’s pitch is that practitioners can build more usable tools than vendors developing products without direct operational experience. - The emphasis on affordability suggests Samaritan is aiming at organizations that have been priced out of more established enterprise platforms. - The expansion also broadens Samaritan’s identity from a services firm into a hybrid company that combines advisory, intelligence and technology.

What's next: - Samaritan will continue developing Vigil over the coming year. - The company will use GSX 2026 to demonstrate the redesigned platform to the global security community. - Additional product updates will follow, with user feedback continuing to shape the roadmap. - Samaritan said the long-term goal is to make useful intelligence accessible to teams that need clarity, context and action rather than more information.

The bottom line: - Samaritan is betting that frontline protective experience can translate into a more practical intelligence platform for smaller security teams.