Drone Threats as an Intelligence Problem: Why Security Program Development Beats Technology Theater

We run drone security across Central Florida, and the first question we usually hear after a drone incident is “what should we buy?” Detection hardware. Alerting software. Sometimes a jammer someone read about. It’s the wrong first question, and it stays the wrong first question no matter how good the hardware gets.

An unidentified drone over your facility is not a procurement problem. It is an intelligence problem — who is operating it, why it is there, and what your organization will actually do with the answer. Buying detection before those questions are answered produces what this industry already has too much of: alerts nobody can act on.

On August 1, 2026, Security Technology — the ASIS International supplement to Security Management magazine — published an article by Nic Moretto, founder and CEO of TESS Global, that makes this case directly. You can read “Drone Threats as an Intelligence Problem: Why Security Program Development Beats Technology Theater” in Security Technology here.

In the article’s own words, as published in Security Technology:

“Technology is essential, but it is a tool, not a strategy. A radar ping means nothing without understanding the threat actor’s intent, capabilities, and operational patterns.”

That sentence is the argument. The article sets out an intelligence-led counter-UAS framework — threat intelligence and program assessment, mission planning, a single coordinator during deployment, after-action review — and closes with the questions to ask before any purchase. It opens with encounters we recognize from the field: a drone making low passes over an armed walking patrol in Brevard County, and another hovering over an outdoor concert stage until the headliner refused to perform.

If you’re weighing counter-drone options, two places to start on our side:

• Drone security — how we run drone operations and counter-UAS support for events and facilities across Central Florida, and what an intelligence-led approach looks like as a service rather than a sales pitch.
• How Drone Technology Is Transforming Private Security — our earlier piece on how certified drone operations change coverage, response, and what a security team can see.

We didn’t write the article to talk anyone out of technology. The point is sequence: intelligence first, tools second. If a drone over your event or facility is a question you’re facing, read the article before you sign the purchase order.