UK Guides for Understanding and Preparing for “Marauding Terrorist Attacks”

The United Kingdom’s Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) has published series of guides to help organizations assess the risks of “marauding terrorist attacks” to their facilities and personnel and implement a range of protective security measures. The CPNI defines marauding terrorist attacks, or “MTAs,” as fast-moving, violent incidents where assailants move through a location aiming to find and kill or injure as many people as possible. As further described by the CPNI, MTAs can take a variety of forms and can be perpetrated by a lone attacker, multiple attackers, or multiple groups of attackers; can begin with the perpetrators arriving on foot or in a vehicle or be perpetrated by insiders; can consist of the perpetrators entering without force or forcing entry with explosives; and can involve weapons like firearms, pipe bombs, or suicide vests. The CPNI emphasizes to its audience the importance of being aware of the heightened risks and being adequately prepared for potential attacks.

The documents consist of:

• A Busy Reader’s Guide to Making Your Organisation Ready, which provides a high level summary of the key issues for senior managers
• Making Your Organisation Ready, which is the principal guidance document setting out all of the protective security mitigations and considerations
• Technical supplements, which provide further information on specific topics, including: announcements, lockdown, physical barriers to delay and discourage attackers, active delay systems, preparing personnel, working with police and emergency services, testing and exercising, and improving response to MTAs

Access the guides at the UK’s National Counter Terrorism Security Office.