- Intelligence agency
An intelligence agency is a governmental agency that is devoted to the
information gathering (known in the context as "intelligence") for purposes ofnational security and defense. Means of information gathering may includeespionage , communication interception,cryptanalysis , cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public sources. The assembly and propagation of this information is known asintelligence 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 internationalcrisis management by helping to discern the intentions of current or potential opponents;
* inform national defense planning andmilitary 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 ofnational interests Intelligence agencies are also involved in defensive activities such as
counter-espionage orcounter-terrorism .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.ee also
*
Intelligence (information gathering)
*List of intelligence agencies
*List of intelligence gathering disciplines
**HUMINT or human intelligence
**GEOINT or geospatial intelligence
**IMINT or imagery intelligence
**MASINT or measures and signatures intelligence
**OSINT or open source intelligence
**SIGINT or signals intelligence
***COMINT or communications intelligence
***ELINT or electronics intelligence
*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, 1999journals
*The journal of intelligence historyExternal links
* [http://www.HavenWorks.com/intelligence Intelligence News]
* [http://montages.blogspot.com/2005/01/outsourcing-intelligence.html Outsourcing Intelligence]
* [http://www.dcaf.ch/publications/kms/details.cfm?lng=en&id=18413&nav1=4 Intelligence Services]
* [http://www.nachrichtendienste.ch/THESIS_BY_MARCEL_STUESSI_SECRET_PERSONAL_DATA_GATHERING_.pdf 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]
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