Intelligence officer

Intelligence officer

An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organisation to collect, compile and analyse information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organisation. Organisations which employ intelligence officers include armed forces, police, civilian intelligence agencies and customs agencies.

Role and Responsibilities

The actual role carried out by an intelligence officer varies depending on the remit of his/her parent organization. Officers of foreign intelligence agencies (e.g. the United States' Central Intelligence Agency or the United Kingdom's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)) may spend much of their careers abroad. Officers of domestic intelligence agencies (such as the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation or the UK's Security Service (MI5)) are responsible for counter-terrorism, counter-espionage, counter-proliferation and the detection and prevention of serious organized crime within their own countries (although, in Britain, the Serious Organized Crime Agency has been set up to take care of serious organized crime).

Responsibilities which are common to most intelligence officers include compiling and analysing intelligence to determine the identities, intentions, capabilities and activities of hostile individuals or groups, and planning or enacting the necessary steps to disrupt or prevent such activities.

ources of Intelligence

Intelligence officers make use of a variety of sources of information, including

*Open source information (e.g. Internet, libraries, newspapers, etc.)
*Eavesdropping or telephone tapping
*Interception of communications (signals intelligence)
*Surveillance
*Covert human intelligence sources ("agents" or "moles")
*Co-operation and sharing of information with other intelligence agencies
*Interrogation

ee also

*Central Intelligence Agency
*Federal Bureau of Investigation
*National-Geospatial Intelligence Agency
*National Security Agency
*Defense Intelligence Agency
*Intelligence Bureau
*Internal Revenue Service
*British Security Service more commonly known as MI5
*Secret Intelligence Service more commonly known as MI6
*Security Service
*Government Communications Headquarters
*Serious Organised Crime Agency
*Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • intelligence officer — noun a person secretly employed in espionage for a government • Syn: ↑secret agent, ↑intelligence agent, ↑operative • Hypernyms: ↑agent • Hyponyms: ↑agent in place, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • intelligence officer — officer in the intelligence department …   English contemporary dictionary

  • intelligence officer — a military officer responsible for collecting and processing data on hostile forces, weather, and terrain. [1880 85] * * * …   Universalium

  • Sergei Tretyakov (intelligence officer) — Colonel Sergei Tretyakov (5 October 1956,[1] Moscow, USSR – 13 June 2010, Sarasota County, Florida, United States) was a Russian SVR (foreign intelligence) officer who defected to the United States in October 2000. Contents 1 Biography 2 Book… …   Wikipedia

  • Colquhoun Grant (British intelligence officer) — Lieutenant Colonel Colquhoun Grant (1780–1829) was a British Army soldier and intelligence officer during the Napoleonic Wars. He should not be confused with his contemporary and namesake Sir Colquhoun Grant, who was a British cavalry general. Of …   Wikipedia

  • Anthony Shaffer (intelligence officer) — Anthony Shaffer is publicly known for his connections and revelations regarding the United States Army s LIWA (the Land Information Warfare Activity) and Special Operations Command (SOCOM) program Able Danger. He contends that the program… …   Wikipedia

  • Air Intelligence Officer — An air intelligence officer serves to collect information about air operations and assist in the direction of their execution for maximum effect. The evaluation of target damage is an essential task of the air intelligence officer, who is… …   Wikipedia

  • Intelligence collection management — is the process of managing and organizing the collection of intelligence information from various sources. The collection department of an intelligence organization may attempt basic validation of that which it collects, but is not intended to… …   Wikipedia

  • chief intelligence officer — office in charge of military intelligence …   English contemporary dictionary

  • Intelligence dissemination management — This article is part of a series on intelligence cycle management, and deals with the dissemination of processed intelligence. For a hierarchical list of articles, see the intelligence cycle management hierarchy. It is a classic maxim of… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”