If you work in intelligence you need to know the competition. During the Cold War the most infamous three letters for anyone working in American intelligence may have been “KGB.” The Soviet security agency actually dissolved in 1991 and was replaced by the FSB, but there are other agencies that America watches closely as well as works closely with – can you identify the following agencies? Take our quiz to find out.
Here are a few sample questions:
1) What is the ISI?
- A) Indian Secret Intelligence – A Branch of India’s Intelligence Bureau
- B) Intérieure Sécurité d’Information – France’s Directorate of Military Intelligence
- C) Inter-Service Intelligence – The premier intelligence service of Pakistan
- D) Intelijen Strategis Indonesia – Indonesia’s Strategic Intelligence Agency
2) Which of these French intelligence agencies still operates today?
- A) Bureau Central de Renseignements et d’Action (Central Bureau of Intelligence and Operations)
- B) Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (General Directorate for External Security)
- C) Deuxième Bureau de l’État-major général (Second Bureau of the General Staff)
- D) Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire (Directorate of Territorial Surveillance)
3) What is PLA Unit 61398?
- A) A branch of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) believed to be charged with conducting intelligence on foreign corporations set up in China to obtain intellectual property and trade secrets.
- B) A branch of the PLA that was responsible for constructing the man-made islands in the South China Sea.
- C) A branch of the Chinese Ministry of State Security that monitors counter revolutionary actions by members of the PLA.
- D) An alleged hacking group that conducts cyber and electronic warfare for the PLA.
There are many intelligence agencies working across the globe. They perform a variety of missions in a variety of locations. Some are incredibly similar to the intelligence agencies at work for the United States. Some are vastly different. The thing intelligence agencies have in common is their work – collecting and analyzing information to support the mission of their host government.
