An intelligence agency is a governmental agency that is devoted to information gathering (known in the context as "intelligence") for purposes of national security and defense. Means of information gathering may include espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public sources. The assembly and propagation of this information is known as intelligence analysis.
Intelligence agencies can provide the following services for their national governments.
- provide analysis in areas relevant to national security;
- give early warning of impending crises;
- serve national and international crisis management by helping to discern the intentions of current or potential opponents;
- inform national defense planning and military operations;
- protect secrets, both of their own sources and activities, and those of other state agencies; and
- may act covertly to influence the outcome of events in favor of national interests
Intelligence agencies are also involved in defensive activities such as counter-espionage or counter-terrorism.
There is a distinction between "security intelligence" and "foreign intelligence". Security intelligence pertains to national security threats (e.g. terrorism, espionage). Foreign intelligence involves information collection relating to the political, or economic activities of foreign states.
Some agencies are accused of being involved in assassination, arms sales, coups d'état, and the placement of misinformation (propaganda) as well as other covert operations, in order to support their own or their governments' interests.
Contents |
List of major intelligence agencies (by country)
- Staatsveiligheid / Sûreté de l'État (SV/SE) – State Security Service
- Agência Brasileira de Inteligência (ABIN) – Brazilian Intelligence Agency
- Agencia Nacional de Inteligencia (ANI) – National Intelligence Agency
- Agencia Central de Intelligencia (ACI) Central Intelligence Agency (of Colombia)
- Dirección General de Inteligencia (DGI) General Directorate of Intelligence
- Politiets Efterretningstjeneste (PET) – Danish Security and Intelligence Service
- Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste (FE) – Danish Defence Intelligence Service
- Al-Mukhabarat al-'Ammah – Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate
- Mabahith Amn al-Dawla al-'Ulya – State Security Investigation Bureau
- Suojelupoliisi (Supo) – Protection Police
- Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE) – General Directorate of External Security
- Direction Centrale du Renseignement Intérieur (DCRI) – Central Directorate of Interior Intelligence
- Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) – Federal Intelligence Service
- Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV) – Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
- Militärischer Abschirmdienst (MAD) – Military Counterintelligence Agency
- Ethniki Ypiresia Pliroforion (NIS) – Hellenic National Intelligence Service
- National Investigation Agency (NIA)
- Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
- Intelligence Bureau (IB)
- Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)
- ha-Mossad le-Modiin u-le-Tafkidim Myukhadim (Mossad) – Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations
- Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Interna (AISI) – Agency for Internal Information and Security
- Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna (AISE) – Agency for External Information and Security
- Centro de Investigación y Seguridad Nacional (CISEN) – National Security and Investigation Center
- Agencia Federal de Investigacion (AFI) – Federal Investigation Agency
- Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst (AIVD) – General Intelligence and Security Service
- Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)
- Military Intelligence (MI)
- Intelligence Bureau (IB)
- Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)
- CIA -POLICE(Special Branch) (CIA)
- Agencja Wywiadu (AW) – Foreign Intelligence Agency
- Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego (ABW) – Internal Security Agency
- Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti (FSB) – Federal Security Service
- Glavnoye Razvedyvatelnoye Upravlenie Genshtaba (GRU) – Main Intelligence Directorate of General Staff
- Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki (SVR) – Foreign Intelligence Service
- Al Mukhabarat Al A'amah – General Intelligence Directorate
- Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI) – National Intelligence Centre
- Kontoret för särskild inhämtning (KSI) – Office for Special Acquisition
- Underrättelsekontoret (UNDK) – Intelligence Office
- Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı (MİT) – National Intelligence Organization
- Holovne Upravlinnya Rozvidky (HUR) – Central Intelligence Directorate
- Sluzhba Zovnishnioyi Rozvidky Ukrayiny (SZR or SZRU) – Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine
- Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6)
- Security Service (colloquially MI5)
- Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)
- Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
- Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
- National Security Agency (NSA)
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
See also
- Intelligence (information gathering)
- List of intelligence gathering disciplines
- List of primary and secondary sources on the Cold War
- Mukhabarat
- Secret police
- Secret service
- Security agency
- United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
Further reading
Books
- Encyclopedia of espionage, intelligence, and security, hrg. von K. Lee Lerner und Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, 3 Bände, Detroit [u.a.] : Gale [u.a.], 2004
- Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones, Cloak and Dollar: A History of American Secret Intelligence, Yale University Press, 2002
- Richard C. S. Trahair, Encyclopedia of Cold War espionage, spies, and secret operations, Westport, Conn. [u.a.] : Greenwood Press, 2004
- Amy B. Zegart, Flawed by design : the evolution of the CIA, JCS, and NSC, Stanford, Calif. : Stanford Univ. Press, 1999
Journals
- The Journal of Intelligence History
External links
- Intelligence News
- Outsourcing Intelligence
- Article on intelligence services by the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces
- Proposal for a Privacy Protection Guideline on Secret Personal Data Gathering and Transborder Flows of Such Data in the Fight against Terrorism and Serious Crime by Marcel Stuessi
- Intelligence Online Investigative news and reporting on intelligence agencies world-wide.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
