WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security is planning to add a new level to its terrorism advisory system to better reflect a “new phase” in the global terrorist threat against the homeland, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said Monday.
The “intermediate” level would be used to alert Americans to a generally heightened risk environment in which the government might not necessarily know where the threat is coming from, Johnson said at a panel discussion in Washington.
The new level, which DHS officials said is likely to be announced in the near future, comes amid growing concern about terrorism after the recent attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif.
The current National Terrorism Advisory System, begun in 2011, contains two levels. Elevated threat means there is a credible terrorist threat against the U.S., while imminent threat refers to a more specific impending attack.
That system, which replaced the frequently mocked five-color coded system put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has never been used.
