CIA, NSA, FBI
The United States of America has one of the best Intelligence gathering community in the world, intelligence is a serious and crucial element of the US government. They are three major agencies that manage the intelligence of the US government, they are other ones like the Department of Home Land Security and State based Security agencies like New York Police Department (NYPD), Boston Police Department (BPD) etc. Chief amongst these are:
The
National Security Agency
(NSA), Central Intelligence Agency
( CIA ) and Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) are agencies of the
American government that are
concerned with security,
intelligence, and law
enforcement respectively. Each agency has a
specific area of focus,
although they do occasionally cooperate on
cases to share information
which could lead to a breakthrough. The
staff of each agency are
highly trained specialists in their field, and
people interested in pursuing
careers at these agencies usually
attend top tier schools.
The CIA gathers information
internationally which is relevant to
American security. The CIA
also has the ability to evaluate the
information and take action
if the information suggests that the
United States may be at risk.
The CIA operates around the world,
using a series of agents on
the ground to relay information back to
the central offices in
Virginia. CIA agents often cooperate with
other international
intelligence agencies, especially wartime allies. If
terrorists are planning an
attack on the American government from
outside the United States,
for example, the investigation would be
handled by the CIA.
The FBI is a domestic law
enforcement agency. The FBI also gathers
domestic intelligence, and
works to put a stop to threats from
within the United States. As
the premier law enforcement agency in
the United States, the FBI
assists local police in handling major
cases, and also has a
sophisticated evidence lab. Law enforcement
agencies can send material
for analysis to the FBI if their local labs
are not equipped to handle
it. Major murder cases, crimes which
cross state boundaries, and
kidnappings are all under the
jurisdiction of the FBI. If
someone within the United States was
planning to do something that
threatened American security, it
would be under the
jurisdiction of the FBI.
The FBI also handles domestic
surveillance. If the CIA wants
information on individuals
within the United States, they must go
through the FBI to obtain it.
The FBI maintains federal watchlists,
most wanted documentation,
and surveillance services on
suspicious individuals inside
the United States. FBI agents are
distributed around the
country in local bureaus to assist local law
enforcement in enforcing the
laws of the United States and to
neutralize threats to
American security.
The NSA is probably the least
known and most poorly understood
government intelligence
agency. The NSA is actually combined with
the Central Security Service
(CSS), and it is primarily a cryptological
organization. NSA employees
decrypt foreign intelligence, generate
encryption keys to secure
American information, and handle data
processing for the United
States government. The mission of the
NSA is “information
assurance .” Information assurance refers to
breaking foreign intelligence
codes while retaining the security of
American information, which
is accomplished through encryption,
secured computer systems, and
access control.
The NSA handles most American
computer intelligence and
decryption, and has also
contributed significantly to computer
technology around the world.
Early computers were developed in
the offices of the NSA, and
the NSA continues to innovate in the
technological field. NSA
agents are primarily found in the head
offices of the organization
in Maryland, although they also work
closely with the United
States Armed Forces to secure military
information on bases and in
the battlefield.
What is your country's Intelligence Department or Community called?
