Jacqueline Sutherland: Counterterrorism Expert & Senior Security Analyst

Welcome to the second episode of the Day in the Life podcast!

In today’s show, I talk with Jacqueline Sutherland who works for The Chertoff Group. Jacqueline is a Senior Security Analyst who has extensive knowledge in counterterrorism.

Jacqueline’s career couldn’t be more different than mine and it was incredibly insightful to learn about her experiences studying abroad and a day in her life is like.

Jacqueline Sutherland – Counterterrorism Expert & Senior Security Analyst

Show notes

In today’s show, you’ll learn:

How her family reacted when she decided to study abroad in Istanbul in 2012.
What it was like going to school amidst protestors who were getting tear gassed and water-bombed, and having to crawl through a window just to get to an exam.
What the counterculture shock was like after getting back to the States.
The first thing she does when she gets up in the morning that changed her life.
Her thoughts on the huge DDOS attack that happened earlier in 2017.
Where to start when you’re figuring out what to do when a huge cyber attack happens.
What it’s like working for the government on counterterrorism efforts vs. working for private companies.
How she stays organized in the midst of having a schedule that can change within minutes.
Why employing a younger generation is so important to the counterterrorism industry.
How she established credibility with older generations / with new clients when she was just starting out.
Advice for anyone who wants to get into the counterterrorism industry.
How she got her first BBC news interview.
How she turns her brain off at night after a long day working in a chaotic environment.
Her thoughts on the current state of affairs and what she thinks the US should be doing to fight against terrorism right now in 2017.

Jacqueline currently serves as a Senior Security Analyst at The Chertoff Group, a premier security and risk management firm, where she works to advise Fortune 500 clients on how to best assess, mitigate, and monitor risks related to terrorism, cyber breaches, fraud, border protection, and supply-chain issues.

In addition to her work at The Chertoff Group, Jacqueline is the Terrorism & Asymmetric Warfare Fellow at Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP), through which she has published in The Hill, The Huffington Post, The National Interest, Real Clear Defense, and Real Clear World. She also serves as a non-resident Counterterrorism Fellow at the London-based Asia-Pacific Foundation, where she has been interviewed as a counterterrorism expert on the BBC, NBC, Fox, and CTV News, and has authored numerous reports in the aftermath of terrorist attacks that have been used to brief high-ranking officials in government, military and law enforcement. In April 2016, Jacqueline was invited to present her research at a conference hosted by West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center (CTC), where she briefed cadets, CTC staff, and experts in the field on terrorist propaganda and recruiting methods.

Jacqueline holds a Master of Science (MSc) with highest honors (Distinction) from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) with Phi Beta Kappa honors from Wake Forest University, where she served as the President of the Student Body.

Key takeaways from this episode

It's all that much more important for me to enjoy life, knowing how fragile it is and how random it can be for it to end. - Jacqueline Sutherland Click To Tweet

“With terrorism, social media and understanding radicalization via social media is a brand new thing. Now it’s such a huge portion of understanding ISIS, recruitment, and ISIS radicalization”. – Jacqueline Sutherland

The last thing that these susceptible sympathizers are wanting is to be hearing from the United States why they are wrong, that's not going to be a credible source for them. - Jacqueline Sutherland Click To Tweet

Links to resources

Articles written by Jacqueline:

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