Counterintelligence

National Intelligence programs, and, by extension, the overall defenses of nations, are vulnerable to attack. It is the role of intelligence cycle security to protect the process embodied in the intelligence cycle, and that which it defends. A number of disciplines go into protecting the intelligence cycle. One of the challenges is there are a wide range of potential threats, so threat assessment, if complete, is a complex task.

Counter-intelligence (CI) refers to efforts made by intelligence organizations to prevent hostile or enemy intelligence organizations from successfully gathering and collecting intelligence against them. Many governments organize counter-intelligence agencies separate and distinct from their intelligence collection services for specialized purposes.

Military organizations have their own counterintelligence forces, capable of conducting protective operations both at home and when deployed abroad. Depending on the country, there can be various mixtures of civilian and military in foreign operations. For example, while offensive counterintelligence is a mission of the US CIA’s National Clandestine Service, many US embassies have overt legal attaches who work for the FBI. Legal attaches often work on transnational law enforcement, but may well have a liaison responsibility for defensive counterintelligence.