The National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) is a United States government organization responsible for national and international counterterrorism efforts.^[4] It is based in Liberty Crossing, a modern complex near Tysons Corner in McLean, Virginia.^[5] NCTC advises the United States on terrorism.

Part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the center brings together specialists from other federal agencies, including the CIA, the FBI, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Homeland Security.^[6]

The idea of a center to merge intelligence on terror threats was discussed by the 9/11 Commission as it investigated the September 11 attacks.^[7] Plans to create such a center were announced by President George W. Bush in his January 2003 State of the Union address. On May 1, 2003, Executive Order 13354 established the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC).^[8][9]

In 2004, the center was renamed NCTC and placed under the United States Director of National Intelligence by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act.

After the Christmas 2009 terrorist attempt on Northwest Airlines Flight 253, the NCTC was tasked with creating a process to "thoroughly and exhaustively" prioritize terrorism threat threads; identify follow-up action by intelligence, law enforcement, and homeland security; and enhance the "Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment" database, to add names to watchlists.^[10]

In 2012, United States Attorney General Eric Holder granted NCTC the authority to collect, store, and analyze extensive data collections on U.S. citizens compiled from governmental and non-governmental sources for suspicious behavior through pattern analysis and to share the databases with foreign states. The effort has drawn controversy for its pre-crime effort, which has been likened to the Information Awareness Office and its proposed mass surveillance.^{[11][12][13][14]}

In August 2019, The Daily Beast reported that the NCTC had begun to work on counterintelligence to combat domestic terrorism.^[15]

The center analyzes terrorism intelligence including potential domestic threat intelligence; monitors communications internationally and domestically for potential threats; generates actionable information to potentially prevent criminal acts domestically; stores terrorism information; supports U.S. counterterrorism activities using information technology (IT); and plans counter-terrorism activities as directed by the President of the United States, the National Security Council, and the Homeland Security Council.

It provides terrorism information to the intelligence community; makes detailed lists of terrorists, terrorist groups, and worldwide terrorist incidents; supports the response to terrorist incidents in the United States and worldwide; and writes assessments and briefings for policymakers.

The NCTC has access to various databases, including those from the NSA and the CIA, and is in charge of the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) database.^[16] It also operates the publicly accessible Worldwide Incidents Tracking System database.

The NCTC's Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) database contains more than 1.2 million identities of people who are known to be terrorists, suspected of it, or linked to people who are.^[11]

• Director of Central Intelligence Directive
• Counterterrorism Center
• Information Sharing Environment
• Disposition Matrix
• Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre – a similar body in the UK