The intelligence agency of a country essentially functions as a nervous system in that nation’s defense setup. It is responsible for feeding vital information to the armed forces and enforcement agencies about any possible threat to the internal and external security of a nation. They are responsible for collecting, analyzing, and exploiting secretive information that is not available to the common people.
1. Central Intelligence Agency – The United States
It was established in 1947 by President Harry S. Truman. It was established with the motive of mediating foreign policy intelligence and analysis countrywide. In the United States Intelligence community, it is the most powerful agency. Most of the resources and manpower of the organization are spent on collecting foreign intelligence with a minimal amount of domestic data. CIA has five priorities for which they work that are counter-terrorism as its top priority, cyber intelligence, counterintelligence, non-proliferation, and informing/ warning leaders of America about important overseas events. This agency has always been the subject of many controversies both abroad and at home.
2. Secret Intelligence Service – The United Kingdom
The British Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, is among the most respected organization in the world of spies. It was established in 1909 and is the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service and is directly accountable to the Foreign Secretary. It was officially acknowledged in 1994, almost after 9 decades after its initial establishment. The domain of SIS is only limited to entities and people outside the British Isles, unlike MI5. This agency was involved in many big events of history like the Second World War, the Cold War, and many other regional disputes all over the world.
3. Mossad – Israël
Mossad is the intelligence agency of Israel, and it is the most capable, one of the oldest and most feared spy agencies in the world. Mossad is a foreign intelligence agency like the CIA of the United States. It is not only tasked with intelligence gathering but is also responsible for conducting counter-terrorism and covert operations abroad. Mossad started a Libratad technological innovation fund for investing in up-and-coming tech startups. This agency has its own counter-terrorism units, namely Kidon and Metsada. For highly sensitive missions. Kidon is a group of highly trained soldiers that perform sabotage across the globe and high-profile assignation.