White Paper 2 February 2020

Know your enemy

A brief guide to Counter Terrorism and Implementing Unpredictability.

Since August 2014, the threat level in the UK has never dropped below Severe. This stretch of five years at such a high threat level is unprecedented and the likelihood is it will not go down any time soon. In fact, since reaching Severe there have been occasions where the threat has increased to the highest possible level; Critical.

It is clear that the level of threat will not decrease in the foreseeable future, and the source of the threat is no longer confined to one group. The rise of far-right extremists and the continued threat from Islamic State and Al-Qaeda shows that we must continue to be vigilant.

The terror operation has also changed its face, with large scale, mass casualty events now less likely, and a focus switched to smaller, harder to prevent incidents. The threat of everyday items as weapons grows, with many terrorists now turning to these easily obtainable items that can be used to cause harm.

However, we can still take action to prevent the threat or minimise the impact should an incident occur. Being unpredictable and getting in the mindset of an attacker are key to preventing potential attacks and to identifying weaknesses in your security. With the addition of live exercising, strong security measures can be implemented to ensure your assets, people and environments remain secure.

Drawing upon the knowledge and experience of our counter-terrorism specialists, our ‘Know your enemy’ report in a concise guide to helping organisations assess their risk and exposure to terrorist threat.

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