An Introduction to Counterintelligence
Counterintelligence is defined as the effort made by intelligence agencies to stop their hostile counterparts from successfully gaining and collecting useful intelligence. It is the job of intelligence cycle security to maintain the process embodied in the intelligence cycle by combining a variety of disciplines which often have to monitor a wide range of potential threats, making complete threat assessment a very complex task.
Most governments make CI agencies separate and very distinct from their intelligence collection services. In the majority of countries, the counterIntel is spread across several organizations and there is usually a domestic counterintelligence service which is perhaps part of a larger law enforcement organization.
Great Britain utilizes this model successfully with their separate internal intel service known as MI5. Although MI5 does not have any direct police powers, it works in conjunction with a limb of the police known as Special Branch, they can carry out arrests and conduct warranted searches.
Military organizations will normally have their own counterIntel forces, capable of conducting offensive, protective and counter-espionage operations. ‘Counter-espionage’ is normally specific to countering human intel, but, since virtually all offensive counterintelligence involves exploiting human intel, the term ‘offensive counterintelligence’ is used often to avoid confusion.
In current models of practice, a number of missions are associated with counterintelligence. Firstly, ‘defensive analysis’ or the practice of looking for vulnerabilities in one’s own organization, and, with regard for risk versus benefit, repairing the discovered gaps.
Secondly, ‘offensive counterespionage’ is the set of tactics that neutralizes discovered foreign intelligence service (FIS) personnel and arrests them or, in the case of diplomats, expels them. Alternatively, it exploits FIS personnel to obtain intelligence for the allied side and or actively uses the FIS personnel to harm the hostile FIS.
Current CI missions have broadened somewhat exponentially now that threat is no longer restricted to the FIS. Threats have increased to include threats from non-national or trans-national groups, including internal enemies, organized crime and transnational based agencies. Still, ‘FIS’ remains the usual term for describing the threat faced by counterintelligence agencies.
Finally, ‘counterintelligence force protection source operations’ (CFSO) are human source operations conducted abroad and are intended to fill the existing void in national level coverage in securing a field station or force from terrorism and espionage.
