An intelligence agency is a governmental A government is the body within an organization that has the authority to make and enforce rules, laws and regulations, control and direct the actions or behavior of the individuals within the organization and deal with everyday administrative issues agency A government agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of types of agency. Although usage differs, a government agency is normally distinct both from a Department or that is devoted to information gathering (known in the context as "intelligence Intelligence refers to discrete information with currency and relevance, and the abstraction, evaluation, and understanding of such information for its accuracy and value. Sometimes called "active data" or "active intelligence", intelligence typically regards the current plans, decisions, and actions of people, as these may") for purposes of national security The late political scientist Hans Morgenthau, author of Politics Among Nations, defines national security as the integrity of the national territory and its institutions and defense Personal defense implies measures taken by individual soldiers in protecting themselves whether by use of protective materials such as armor, or field construction of trenches or a bunker, or by using weapons that prevent the enemy approaching them to initiate close combat. In close combat where blade weapons are used, defense refers to a specific. Means of information gathering may include espionage Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, as the legitimate holder of the information may change plans or take other countermeasures once it is known that the information is in unauthorized, communication interception Signals intelligence is intelligence-gathering by interception of signals, whether between people (i.e., COMINT or communications intelligence) or between machines (i.e., ELINT or electronic intelligence), or mixtures of the two. As sensitive information is often encrypted, signals intelligence often involves the use of cryptanalysis. However,, cryptanalysis Cryptanalysis is the study of methods for obtaining the meaning of encrypted information, without access to the secret information which is normally required to do so. Typically, this involves finding a secret key. In non-technical language, this is the practice of codebreaking or cracking the code, although these phrases also have a specialised, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public sources. The assembly and propagation of this information is known as intelligence analysis Intelligence Analysis is the process of taking known information about situations and entities of strategic, operational, or tactical importance, characterizing the known, and, with appropriate statements of probability, the future actions in those situations and by those entities. The descriptions are drawn from what may only be available in the.
Intelligence agencies can provide the following services for their national governments.
- provide analysis in areas relevant to national security The late political scientist Hans Morgenthau, author of Politics Among Nations, defines national security as the integrity of the national territory and its institutions;
- give early warning of impending crises;
- serve national and international crisis management Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with any major unpredictable event that threatens to harm the organization, its stakeholders, or the general public. Three elements are common to most definitions of crisis: a threat to the organization, (b) the element of surprise, and (c) a short decision time by helping to discern the intentions of current or potential opponents;
- inform national defense planning A military operation plan is a formal plan for military armed forces, their military organisations and units to conduct operations, as drawn up by commanders within the combat operations process in achieving objectives before or during a conflict. Military plans are generally produced in accordance with the military doctrine of the troops involved 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 Counterintelligence refers to efforts made by intelligence organizations to prevent hostile or enemy intelligence organizations from successfully gathering and collecting intelligence against them. National intelligence programs, and, by extension, the overall defenses of nations, are vulnerable to attack. It is the role of intelligence cycle or counter-terrorism Counter-terrorism refers to the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed.
Some agencies are accused of being involved in assassination Assassination is the targeted killing of a public figure. Assassinations may be prompted by ideological, political, or military reasons. Additionally, assassins may be motivated by financial gain, revenge, personal public recognition, or mental illness, arms sales The arms industry is a global industry and business which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology and equipment. Arms producing companies, also referred to as defence companies or military industry, produce arms mainly for the armed forces of states. Products include guns, ammunition, missiles, military aircraft, military vehicles,, coups d'état, and the placement of misinformation (propaganda Propaganda is communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, often presents information primarily in order to influence its audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis, or gives) as well as other covert operations, in order to support their own or their governments' interests.
Contents |
List of prime intelligence agencies by country
Main article: List of intelligence agencies Categories: Intelligence agencies | Intelligence agencies by country | Lists of organizationsSee also
- Intelligence (information gathering) Intelligence refers to discrete information with currency and relevance, and the abstraction, evaluation, and understanding of such information for its accuracy and value. Sometimes called "active data" or "active intelligence", intelligence typically regards the current plans, decisions, and actions of people, as these may
- List of intelligence gathering disciplines Categories: Intelligence gathering disciplines | Open source intelligence
- HUMINT HUMINT, a syllabic abbreviation of the words HUMan INTelligence, refers to intelligence gathering by means of interpersonal contact, as opposed to the more technical intelligence gathering disciplines such as SIGINT, IMINT and MASINT. NATO defines HUMINT as "a category of intelligence derived from information collected and provided by human or human intelligence
- GEOINT or geospatial intelligence
- IMINT IMINT, short for IMagery INTelligence, is an intelligence gathering discipline which collects information via satellite and aerial photography. As a means of collecting intelligence, IMINT is a subset of intelligence collection management, which, in turn, is a subset of intelligence cycle management. IMINT is especially complemented by non-imaging or imagery intelligence
- MASINT Measurement and Signature Intelligence, or MASINT, refers to intelligence gathering activities that bring together disparate elements that do not fit within the definitions of the major disciplines mentioned above or measures and signatures intelligence
- OSINT or open source intelligence
- SIGINT Signals intelligence is intelligence-gathering by interception of signals, whether between people (i.e., COMINT or communications intelligence) or between machines (i.e., ELINT or electronic intelligence), or mixtures of the two. As sensitive information is often encrypted, signals intelligence often involves the use of cryptanalysis. However, or signals intelligence
- COMINT Signals intelligence is intelligence-gathering by interception of signals, whether between people (i.e., COMINT or communications intelligence) or between machines (i.e., ELINT or electronic intelligence), or mixtures of the two. As sensitive information is often encrypted, signals intelligence often involves the use of cryptanalysis. However, or communications intelligence
- ELINT Signals intelligence is intelligence-gathering by interception of signals, whether between people (i.e., COMINT or communications intelligence) or between machines (i.e., ELINT or electronic intelligence), or mixtures of the two. As sensitive information is often encrypted, signals intelligence often involves the use of cryptanalysis. However, or electronics intelligence
- List of primary and secondary sources on the Cold War
- Mukhabarat
- Secret police Secret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy to maintain national security against internal threats to the state
- Secret service
- Security agency
- United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is a U.S. federal court authorized under 50 U.S.C. § 1803. It was established by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA). The FISC oversees requests for surveillance warrants against suspected foreign intelligence agents inside the United States by federal police agencies (
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
- Intelligence Services
- 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.
Categories: Intelligence agencies
