2 minute read
How do our secret services keep us safe?
from Symposium Reinvented
by Bablake
What is Intelligence? Intelligence is the information gathered by governments to help protect them against attacks from enemies or people they think might become enemies.
Our Services?
MI5
MI6
GCHQ
JIC
MOD
DIS
DI
National Crime Agency
DSA
Did you know? The MI6 was founded in1909but it is so top secret the government didn ’t admit it existed until 1944.
A BIT ABOUT SOME OF OUR SERVICES
MI5: Officially known as the Security Service MI5 is responsible for protecting Britain (from inside the country) against threats, which include terrorism, espionage and the increase of weapons used in mass destruction. MI5 operates under the legal authority of the Home Secretary, but it is not part of the Home Office.
MI6: MI6 is officially known as the Secret Intelligence Service and is the sister organisation to MI5. Its role is to gather intelligence abroad by carrying out secret undercover operations all over the world.
GCHQ ( Government Communication Headquarters): The GCHQ is a collection of agents secretly listening in on phone conversations, satellite signals and reading e-mails.
They decode messages, monitor communication between people and ensure that government secrets stay secret. They then pass the information on to whichever government departments want it.
Ministry of Defence (MOD): The Ministry of Defence is the UK government department responsible for the implementation of government defence policies and for the British Armed Forces. The MOD manages the day to day running of the armed forces, emergency planning and defence strategies.
Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS): The DIS is part of the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The people who work for DIS analyse the information MI5, MI6 and GCHQ have gathered. They also work out the power of other countries weapons.
Our services in action
Perhaps the most famous role of the GCHQ is the breaking of the German Enigma codes during WWII. This produced vital intelligence in support of the Allied military operations on land, sea and in the air. Bletchley Park was also the birth place of the codebreaking machines such as the Turning/Welchman Bombe as well as the first electric computer Colossus. Bletchely Park and the GCHQ were decisive in the winning of the war and today Bletchely Park is a heritage site designated to preserve the uniquely important work of our WWII codebreakers.
Why do we need our secret services?
The UK’ s Secret Intelligence Service is a group of people working secretly around the world to make the UK more prosperous. For over 100 years they have ensured that the UK and our allies keep one step ahead of our oppositions. They have three main aims: stopping terrosrism, disrupting the activity of hostile states and giving the UK a cyber advantage. This incredible group of secret services workers are working together to protect us. Without them our world would not be as safe and our lives would look very different!
Secret Services: expectations vs reality
