Asecurity agency is agovernmental organization that conductsintelligence activities for theinternal security of astate.[1] They are the domestic cousins of foreignintelligence agencies, and typically conductcounterintelligence to thwart other countries' foreign intelligence efforts.[2]
For example, the United StatesFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is an internal intelligence, security andlaw enforcement agency, while theCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an external intelligence service, which deals primarily with intelligence collection overseas. A similar relationship exists inBritain betweenMI5 andMI6.
The distinction, or overlap, between security agencies,national police, andgendarmerie organizations varies by country. For example, in theUnited States, one organization, the FBI, is a national police, an internal security agency, and a counterintelligence agency. In other countries, separate agencies exist, although the nature of their work causes them to interact. For example, in France, thePolice nationale and theGendarmerie nationale both handle policing duties, and theDirection centrale du renseignement intérieur handles counterintelligence. Some nations, such as the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey, have one agency that is responsible for both security and intelligence.[3]
Likewise, the distinction, or overlap, betweenmilitary andcivilian security agencies varies between countries. In the United States, the FBI and CIA are civilian agencies, although they have variousparamilitary traits and have professional relationships with the U.S.'smilitary intelligence organizations. In many countries all intelligence efforts answer to the military, whether by official design or at least on ade facto basis. Countries where various military and civilian agencies divide responsibilities tend to reorganize their efforts over the decades to force the various agencies to cooperate more effectively, integrating (or at least coordinating) their efforts with some unified directorate. For example, after many years of turf wars, the member agencies of theUnited States Intelligence Community are now coordinated by theDirector of National Intelligence, with the hope to reducestovepiping of information.
InIreland, for example, intelligence operations relevant to internal security are conducted by the military (G2) and police (SDU), rather than civilian agencies.
Security agencies frequently have "security", "intelligence" or "service" in their names. Private organizations that provide services similar to a security agency might be called a "security company" or "security service", but those terms can also be used for organizations that have nothing to do with intelligence gathering.
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There is debate about whether some security agencies should be characterized assecret police forces. The extent to which security agencies use domestic covert operations to exert political control varies by country and political system. Such operations can include surveillance, infiltration, and disruption of dissident groups, attempts to publicly discredit dissident figures, and even assassination or extrajudicial detention and execution. Security agencies are constrained in some countries by a mesh of judicial and legislative accountability, whereas in others they may answer only to a single leader or executive committee.
