Each candidate for Certified Anti-Terrorism Officer certification is required to pass an examination consisting of multiple-choice questions that measure comprehension of the cATO™ Body of Knowledge. The cATO™ Body of Knowledge includes, but is not limited to, dynamics of contemporary terrorism and terrorist modus operandi; explosive device technology; chemical and biological terrorism; principles of risk management; protective counterintelligence and operations security; physical security and access control technology and system design; blast mitigation principles; measures for protecting building occupants against chemical and biological attacks; mail security; emergency management planning; and organizational response to terrorist attack events.

The cATO™ Certification Examination is administered online through the cATO™ testing portal as a 100-question exam randomly-generated from a pool of multiple-choice questions developed and peer reviewed by the Certifying Board of the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals. No two examinations are the same.

All questions on the cATO™ Certification Examination are equal to one point (01/100). Candidates are required to pass the examination with a score of 80% or greater (80/100) in order to receive award of the Certified Anti-Terrorism Officer designation. Notification of the exam results is provided immediately to the testing candidate.

Candidates who do not pass the examination on the first attempt are permitted one opportunity to retest under their current application. Candidates that fail both examination attempts must re-apply before being permitted a third opportunity of examination.

Exam Proctor Requirements

To ensure validity of the testing process, the cATO™ Certification Examination is administered according to strict policies under the supervision of an approved proctor. As part of the application process, you will be requested to propose an eligible colleague or supervisor to serve as your examination proctor.