SECRET SERVICE

SECRET SERVICE

Whatever agency they belong to and wherever in the world they go to sneak and snoop, the modern spy can choose from a wealth of gadgets and gizmos to make sure they get that mission accomplished.
CIA(Central intelligence agency)

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the secret service for the United States. Its spies gather information about governments, corporations, and terrorist groups in other countries. Some CIA agents go undercover to infiltrate the target organizations abroad.

The CIA has an executive office and several agency-wide functions, and four major directorates:

• The Directorate of Intelligence, responsible for all-source intelligence research and analysis
• The National Clandestine Service, formerly the Directorate of Operations, which does clandestine intelligence collection and covert action
• The Directorate of Support
• The Directorate of Science and Technology

FSB(Russian Federal Security Service)

Formed from the KGB (the intelligence agency and secret police of the communist Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991), the Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti (FSB— “Russian Federal Security Service”) employs more than half a million agents. The agency targets criminals, drug smugglers, and terrorists, although critics claim it targets anybody who disagrees with the Russian government.The FSB is responsible for internal security of the Russian state, counterespionage, and the fight against organized crime, terrorism, and drug smuggling. Since 2003, when the Federal Border Guards Service was incorporated to the FSB, it has also been responsible for overseeing border security.The FSB is engaged mostly in domestic affairs, while espionage duties are responsibility of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. However, the FSB also includes the FAPSI agency, which conducts electronic surveillance abroad. All law enforcement and intelligence agencies in Russia work under the guidance of FSB, if needed. For example, the GRU, spetsnaz and Internal Troops detachments of Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs work together with the FSB in Chechnya.The FSB combines functions and powers similar to those exercised by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Federal Protective Service, the Secret Service, the National Security Agency (NSA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, United States Coast Guard, and Drug Enforcement Administration. The FSB employs about 66,200 uniformed staff, including about 4,000 special forces troops. It also employs about 160,000–200,000 border guards.

DGSE

La Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (General Directorate of External Security) is France’s secret service. The DGSE’s most secret branch is the Action Division. Aside from undercover operations abroad, the Action Division looks after the security of France’s nuclear installations. In 1985, it notoriously sank the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior to stop the charity from protesting against France’s nuclear tests in the Pacific.The DGSE includes the following services:

• Directorate of Administration
• Directorate of Strategy
• Directorate of Intelligence
  • Political intelligence service
  • Security intelligence service
• Technical Directorate (Responsible for electronic intelligence and devices)
• Directorate of Operations
• Action Division (Responsible for clandestine operations)

SIS(Secret Intelligence Service)

In the UK, the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service)—also known as MI6—sends out secret agents to track down terrorists, investigate reports of weapons of mass destruction in other countries, and infiltrate and track major international crime rings. James Bond is a fictional agent for MI6.

MOSSAD(The Institute of Intelligence and Special Operations)

Mossad is the Hebrew word for “The Institute” (short for The Institute of Intelligence and Special Operations) and is Israel’s secret service. Mossad’s most secret division is that of Special Operations, or Metsada, which seeks out and neutralizes enemies of Israel, as well as conducting raids on terrorist bases.

The Mossad is responsible for intelligence collection, covert operations, and counterterrorism, as well as bringing Jews to Israel from countries where official Aliyah agencies are forbidden, and protecting Jewish communities worldwide. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with Aman (military intelligence) and Shin Bet (internal security), but its director reports directly to the Prime Minister.

MOIS (The Ministry of Intelligence and Security)

Iran’s secret service is MOIS (The Ministry of Intelligence and Security). Its main task is to track and gather information about any opponents of Iran’s government at home and abroad. Iran is an Islamic country and by law the head of MOIS must be a religious cleric who reports directly to the country’s supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.The Ministry of Intelligence and National Security of the Islamic Republic of Iran (MISIRI) (Persian: وِزارَتِ اِطّلاعات جُمهوریِ اِسلامیِ ایران Vezarat-e Ettela'at Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran) is the secret police and primary intelligence agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is also known as VEVAK(Vezarat-e Ettela'at va Amniyat-e Keshvar) or VAJA or alternatively MOIS. It was initially known as SAVAMA, when it took over the previous government's intelligence apparatus. It remains an important part of the Iranian government's security apparatus, and is well funded and equipped. In 1999, "rogue elements" of the ministry were held responsible for the infamous serial murders of dissident writers and intellectuals, including assassination of Iranian political dissidents inside and outside the country.

ASIS(Australian Secret Intelligence Service)

ASIS, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, protects Australia’s interests by gathering intelligence in foreign countries. A news report broadcast in the 1990s claimed that the ASIS gathered intelligence on Australians, too, but the government denied it. The ASIS often works with the CIA and SIS.ASIS is part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade portfolio and is housed within DFAT's headquarters in Canberra. Its current Director-General is Nick Warner.

RAW(The Research and Analysis Wing)

The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW or R&AW) is India's external intelligence agency. It was formed in September 1968 under the helmsmanship of its first Director, R. N. Kao. Its creation was necessitated by the poor performance of the Intelligence Bureau (IB, which then handled both internal and external intelligence) in the recent wars against China (1962) and the Pakistan (1965) convinced the government that a specialized, independent agency was required for competent external intelligence gathering.The primary function of the RAW is collection of external intelligence, counter-terrorism and covert operations. In addition, it is responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and persons, to advise Indian policymakers. It has been said that RAW is the "effective instrument of India's national power".RAW is also involved in the security of India's nuclear programme.The working of the RAW is not answerable to the Parliament of India and it works under the Prime Minister of India.