Modern Adversary

Force Multiplying Security: A Playbook

Feb 2025. Updated Sept 2025.

A few days ago I caught up with two friends, a former US Army Green Beret and an IDF recon soldier in reserve, and we talked about what makes small teams effective. The conversation moved from tactics to practical tradecraft, and after they critiqued some of my past notes, we sketched a short playbook for small security teams that need strong results with limited resources.

The idea behind the playbook is simple. It comes down to using what you already have, partnering with the right teams, and applying automation and technology where they multiply force.

Your existing tools, skills, and partnerships are the easiest and fastest path to impact, so look for pieces you can repurpose, combine, or re-prioritize to deliver value right away. Security that lives in a silo is fragile, while deep cross-functional relationships give you visibility, reduce friction, and turn one team's defense into the organization's posture.

Automation removes repetitive work and lets people focus on more pressing problems. Data should guide those decisions, and the automation itself should stay simple and scale without adding maintenance debt. Continuous improvement then comes from learning from successes and failures.

Decentralized leadership and initiative create resilience. When people have space to experiment, fail fast, and own the results, a small squad becomes a force multiplier. Security also has to connect to the business, so measure it in language leadership understands, tie it to outcomes they care about, and communicate it without unnecessary noise.