What is the Center for Terror Analysis?

Center for Terror Analysis (CTA) was established in the Danish Security and Intelligence Service 1 January 2007 as a result of the work carried out by a working group which was set up by the Danish Government in 2005 with the purpose of assessing the preparedness of Danish society against terrorism.

What are the tasks of CTA?

Through analyses of the threat picture against Denmark and Danish nationals abroad, CTA contributes to the Danish Government’s overall efforts to counter terrorism.

CTA’s contribution is to provide a tactical and strategic basis for decisions through assessments of e.g. terror related networks in Denmark and abroad that may be of significance to the terror threat against Denmark. This contribution supports relevant government agencies in taking the necessary measures to investigate and prevent terror threats as early as possible.

Further the Center contributes to the national emergency management planning.

The products range from short assessments of specific threats to more extensive reports on terror related phenomena or trends.

The CTA prepares the following types of analyses:

Threat assessments

General threat assessments, including “Assessment of the Terror Threat against Denmark” which determines the national threat level. This assessment is updated on a regular basis.

Assessments of specific threats – e.g. threats made on the Internet.

Assessments of terror related networks in Denmark and their possible relations abroad.

Assessments of threats made against specific events, locations, persons, or organisations – e.g. threats against VIPs, royal events et cetera.

Assessments of the threat against critical infrastructure – both public and private.

Assessments of terrorist groups and threats abroad

Analyses of terrorist groups and networks abroad that might have an impact on the security situation in Denmark.

Terror threat assessments that may be included in the travel advice issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and used as a basis for advising Danish nationals on the terror threat abroad.

Trend analyses

Analyses of modus operandi and developing trends, both nationally and internationally.

Gathering and processing national and international investigational experience in order to strengthen counterterrorism efforts.

Analyses of topics such as radicalisation, recruitment for terrorism and ideology in order to, among other things, strengthen the preventive effort against terrorism in Denmark.

Who works at CTA?

CTA consists of 16 staff members from the Danish Defence Intelligence Service, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and the Danish Emergency Management Agency.

The basic principle is that staff members from agencies crucial to the Danish counterterror effort are placed at the CTA on a rotation basis.