Did you know: Scotland Yard, now New Scotland Yard, is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, the territorial police force responsible for policing most of London. An official Scotland Yard never has existed.

The name derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police head- quarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became the public entrance to the police station, and over time the street and the Metropolitan Police became synonymous.

   

The British Intelligence Service is called The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6).

The agency is responsible for the collection, analysis, and appropriate dissemination of foreign intelligence. MI6 is also charged with the conduct of espionage activities outside British territory.

The Security Service (SS), known as MI5 (Military Intelligence Section 5) is responsible for protecting the United Kingdom against threats to national security. In short; MI5 deals with threats inside the UK, and MI6 combats overseas threats.

   

Images: FBI and CIA

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a governmental agency belonging to the United States Department of Justice is an intelligence-driven and a threat-focused national security organization with both intelligence and law enforcement responsibilities, the mission of the FBI is to protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to uphold and enforce the criminal laws of the United States, and to provide leadership and criminal justice services to federal, state, municipal, and international agencies and partners.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an independent US Government agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior US policymakers. Although intelligence-gathering is the agency's main agenda, tactical divisions were established in the agency to carry out emergency field operations that require immediate suppression or dismantling of a threat or weapon

       

Images: KGB, FSB and SVR

Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (KGB) means Soviet Committee of State Security (KGB) and was known as the KGB from 1954 until 1991.It was Russia's main intelligence agency, its security agency and the secret police served under the KGB.

The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation - Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii (FSB) - is the main successor agency of the Soviet Committee of State Security (KGB). The FSB is the federal executive body of the Russian Federation to implement government policy in the national security of the Russian Federation, counter- terrorism, the protection and defence of the state border of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the state border), the protection of internal sea waters, the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone, the continental shelf and their natural resources, ensuring the information security of Russia and exercising the basic functions of the federal security services specified in the Russian legislation, as well as coordinating the counterintelligence efforts of the federal executive bodies that have the power to do so.

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service - Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki (SVR) - is Russia's primary foreign intelligence agency.

The SVR is the successor of the First Chief Directorate (PGU) of the KGB since December 1991.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is the federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Navy. It is the successor organization to the former Naval Investigative Service (NIS).

The NCIS mission is to investigate and defeat criminal, terrorist, and foreign intelligence threats to the United States Navy and Marine Corps—ashore, afloat, and in cyberspace.

Protecting the US naval forces (Sailors, Marines, Navy civilian personnel, installations and ships).from international terrorists and extremist organizations - detecting, identifying , neutralizing, deterring, and disrupting them.

The NCIS has advanced cyber technologies, computer investigations and operations agents assigned throughout the world focusing on hackers, criminal groups, foreign intelligence services, terrorists, and insiders.

Computers have become integral pieces of evidence in crime scenes.

Information is gathered and activities conducted to identify, deceive, exploit, disrupt or protect against espionage, other intelligence activities, sabotage or assassinations conducted for or on behalf of foreign powers, organizations or persons, or their agents or other international terrorist organizations or activities.

NCIS civilian Special Agents have investigative responsibility within the Department of the Navy for all crimes punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Types of crimes investigated by NCIS include rape, child physical and sexual abuse, burglary and robbery, theft of government and personal property, and homicide. NCIS also has responsibility for investigating any non-combat death involving a naval service member where the cause of death cannot be medically attributable to disease or natural causes.

   

Images: Mossad and Shabak

The three principal Israeli Intelligence organisations:

The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations,, otherwise known as the Mossad collects and analyzes intelligence information, and performs special covert operations. It involves counterterrorism.

The Directorate of Military Intelligence - In Hebrew, Agaf HaModi'in (Aman)