About Us

Before Proximities was a company, Daan, our founder, was an officer serving in the Dutch Special Forces. During one of his tours, he noticed two men dressed in business attire. Normally, Daan would not budge seeing two men going to work were it not for the fact that the city was in a de facto state of civil war. 

Intrigued by the men who were dressed to bill, and not dressed to kill, Daan’s team picked them up and secured them out of harm’s way. These two men were businessmen with a western background in hostile territory. Curious about their story, Daan asked how they prepared themselves. What precautions did they take? Did they inform their loved ones? Did they know about the security risk? None of the above.

Daan was flabbergasted and confused. He was used to taking precautions, he would be briefed about the local situation and train before deployment. Why is it that civilians didn’t do the same? Shouldn’t civilians take the same precautions?

As Daan continued his career in the Dutch military, he kept noticing the differences between military deployments and civilian business trips. While business trips and military deployments are two very different forms of labour, they require the same precautions and preparation when they take place in an unstable country. 

Daan figured that security and safety are as vital for civilians as they are for the military. As a Special Forces Intelligence officer, and a man with a knack for spotting unique concepts, Daan was set to lay the foundations for Proximities in 2014. A company that would solidify commercial interests and strengthen international ambitions in both the long and short term. 

That everything changes with time is a cliché that also applies to your security. With innovation, science and geopolitical shifts being the main cause of these changes, it is vital that you and your company are not left behind. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to us that you, and your company, are up to date with the latest that modern safety standards have to offer.

Providing your company with a security framework that is tailored to its needs, while embedding it in all relevant levels of your organisation, is our strong suit. 

We believe that the interconnectivity between these levels is of vital importance.

To understand the world of security, you must understand the “Theory of Risk”. Getting acquainted, and getting to know how security risk works, allows you to manage the risks they pose to your company.  These risks generally consist of three factors: probability, impact and vulnerability.

To understand how probable it is for your company to be at risk, we have to look at what your company does and where it conducts its business. These variables are key to solving your security equation. Does your company do high-profile or high-value work? Is the region where you operate volatile? By answering questions like these, we are able to assess what is needed to avoid, mitigate and prevent security risks that might cause your company harm.

The impact of a security incident differs between people and companies. If an employee is threatened by people with malicious intent, he or she will catch the bulk of the impact. If you look at an information leak on the other hand, it is the company that is hurt the most. Making sure both the company and your staff are efficiently protected is therefore our prime objective.

Last, but not least, is vulnerability. Vulnerability indicates what level of influence you can exercise on your risk level. If you can increase the resilience of your company against security threats, your company can withstand the bad elements of our society. How does one increase its resilience, though? By preparing your staff and implementing adequate security measures. This will result in a lower residual security risk.