Kim E. Petersen

Chairman & President

Kim@SecurityDynamics.us

CNN International described Kim E. Petersen as, “one of the leading security and counterterrorism experts in the world”.  He has over 30 years of combined experience in industrial security, special operations, national security, and intelligence operations. 

He is the founder of such companies as HydroSEC, SeaSecure, and the Mobius Security Group, and is frequently seen on network news programs as an expert on security and counterterrorism.  He has worked for President George H.W. Bush and former Secretaries of State Henry A. Kissinger and Alexander M. Haig, and has held senior staff positions at the US Senate and US Department of Defense.

Education

1. •University of Oxford, Saïd Graduate School of Business, DipGB Masters-level Diploma
   

2. •Harvard Business School, LPR, BNV, OPM
   

3. •Virginia Commonwealth University, BA, Philosophy
   

4. •University of Richmond, Military Science, Army Officer’s Commission (USAR)
   

Appointments (Past & Present):

1. •Governor Emeritus:  Maritime Security Council
   

2. •Visiting Professor:  United Nations World Maritime University, Malmø, Sweden
   

3. •Senior Advisor on Maritime Security:  Florida Ports Council & Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development Council
   

4. •Instructor:  International Association of Chiefs of Police
   

5. •Instructor:  Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), Glynco, GA
   

6. •Member:  Federal Ad Hoc Working Group on Maritime Intelligence and Security, US Maritime Administration
   

7. •Chairman:  Passenger Ship Security Committee, Maritime Security Council
   

8. •Chairman:  1997 International Conference on Cruise Ship Counterterrorism
   

9. •Commissioner:  Fairfax County Transportation Safety Commission
   

10. •Special Advisor on Special Operations to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (M&RA)
    

11. •Selected as a Distinguished Lecturer by the Board of Governors of the Bankers Club
    

12. •Delegate, Council on Foreign Relations: "Adapting Border Controls to Support Caribbean Trade & Development," Trinidad, W.I.
    

13. •Lecturer at the Royal College of Military Science on Terrorism and Maritime Security, Shrivenham, United Kingdom
    

14. •Member:  Canadian Marine Advisory Council Government Working Group, Toronto, Canada
    

15. •Member:  International Council of Cruise Lines Security Working Group, Washington, DC
    

16. •Member:  Steering Committee for International Perspectives on Maritime Security, US Department of Transportation
    

17. •Lecturer at HM Security Service (MI-5) on Maritime & Port Security, London
    

Affiliations & Memberships (Past & Present)

1. •Maritime Security Council
   

2. •International Association of Chief's of Police
   

3. •Association of Former Intelligence Officers
   

4. •US State Department Overseas Security & Advisory Council
   

5. •The Explorers Club
   

6. •The Oxford Union – University of Oxford
   

7. •Harvard Business School Club
   

8. •Jesus College Alumni Association – University of Oxford
   

9. •American Society for Industrial Security
   

10. •African Safari Club
    

11. •Harvard Mountaineering Club
    

12. •American Water Works Association
    

13. •National Association of Water Companies
    

14. •Special Forces Association
    

Years of Experience:  35

Professional Experience

Kim Petersen has over 30 years of experience in the fields of security and counterterrorism, including subspecialties in physical, personnel, and information protection; safety and security in the maritime, railway, and energy industries; and counterterrorism and intelligence operations.  He is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on maritime security and counterterrorism and has conducted assessments in over 50 countries, including most of the Middle East.

Mr. Petersen was the founder and CEO of Mobius Security Group and its several specialized subsidiaries—SeaSecure, RailSecure, and EnergySecure.  These subsidiaries became the leading security consultants to the maritime, railway, and energy industries, respectively, and allowed the parent organization, Mobius, to offer its clients an array of complementary security solutions.  Mr. Petersen built Mobius Security Group into a premier global security consulting firm, with projects valued in excess of $100 million.  TranSystems purchased Mobius Security Group in February 2007.  Mr. Petersen became a Principal at TranSystems, as well as an advisory member on its Board of Directors and the President of the security line of business.  He retired from TranSystems in 2012 and accepted the position of President of Security Dynamics LLC.

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Following university, Mr. Petersen’s career began as a Captain in the US Army’s Special Forces, where he specialized in special operations, unconventional warfare, and counterterrorism.  He was later recruited to serve on the senior staff of former US Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger from 1978-1980 and again in 1985-1986.   Between this period, Mr. Petersen served as the Director of Security for former Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig. 

His government service includes tenure as a federal law enforcement agent, with undercover experience in domestic antiterrorism investigations.  He has been an advisor to several federal agencies and served as a senior staff member in both the US Senate and US Defense Department in the areas of national security and intelligence.

After several years with the US Government, Mr. Petersen created the nation’s first water utility security services company, HydroSEC, in a joint venture with the Aquarion Corporation. HydroSEC became a leading adviser to the US Government on the vulnerability of water utilities to deliberate attacks by terrorists on public water supplies.  Mr. Petersen served as HydroSEC’s Chairman and CEO until 1989, when President-elect George H. W. Bush appointed him Chief of Security Operations for the Presidential Transition.

Following his tenure with HydroSEC, Princess Cruises recruited him in 1995 as their Director of Global Security to create what was later acknowledged as the leading international security and counterterrorism program in the passenger ship industry.  Following this success, he went on to Renaissance Cruises where he developed a similarly successful program.  During this period Mr. Petersen was a senior member of the ICCL (International Council of Cruise Lines) Security Committee, and was elected a Governor in the Maritime Security Council (an international body that represents almost 70% of the world’s merchant shipping).  Within two years, he was elected the Council’s Executive Director, a position he held for nine years until 2006, when he retired and was appointed Governor Emeritus.

Since the mid-1990s, Mr. Petersen has found time to serve as a senior instructor in maritime counterterrorism at the US Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, as well as a visiting professor at the UN’s World Maritime University in Malmø, Sweden.  For over a decade, he has taught counterterrorism and seaport security to the US Navy, USCG, Army, FBI, foreign law enforcement and intelligence services, and numerous state and local police departments and seaport authorities.  He is currently a lecturer and instructor for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) where he trains foreign, federal, state, and local law enforcement on the recruitment and management of confidential informants. 

To meet the growing safety and security needs of the seaports and shipping industries, in early 2001 Mr. Petersen created SeaSecure, which became the largest maritime security company in the United States.  Building on the success of SeaSecure, Mr. Petersen founded SeaSecure’s sister and parent organizations, cultivating an impressive domestic and international client base for each company.  All told, Mr. Petersen’s companies performed hundreds of security vulnerability assessments in dozens of countries, with clients that included governments ranging from the US to China, Jordan to Turkey, Djibouti to Haiti, as well as some of the world’s largest seaports, shipping companies, and cruise lines.

Mr. Petersen helped to draft the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA) and has testified before the US Senate on critical legislation and counterterrorism issues.  In recognition of his expertise, in 2002 he was appointed to the US Senate Port Security Working Group. 

In recognition of his global work in maritime security, in 1997 Mr. Petersen was given the first and only award by the US Secretary of Transportation and the DoT’s Director of Intelligence and Security for “promoting maritime counterterrorism and raising the standards of transportation security throughout the world.”

Mr. Petersen is a sought after international lecturer whose writings have been published in many periodicals, journals, and books.  He has been featured on numerous news programs, such as CNN, BBC, NPR, ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, CBS’s “Sixty Minutes,” and ABC’s “20/20.”