Central Intelligence Agency

A civilian foreign intelligence service of the United States government, known informally as the Central Intelligence Agency and historically as the Company, is responsible for gathering, processing, and analysing national security information from around the world. The Agency's primary means of gathering information is through human intelligence (HUMINT), and its covert operations include espionage and assassination. It is the most important member of the United States Information Community (IC), and it reports to the Director of National Intelligence. Its primary mission is to provide intelligence to the President and Cabinet of the United States, as well as to other foreign governments. According to a presidential directive issued on January 22, 1946, President Harry S. Truman established a Central Intelligence Group under the direction of a Director of Central Intelligence, and this group was transformed into the Central Intelligence Agency with the implementation of the National Security Act of 1947.

For example, in contrast to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which is a domestic security service, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) does not have a law enforcement function and is officially focused primarily on gathering information from abroad, with only limited domestic intelligence collection. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) acts as the national coordinator for human intelligence efforts throughout the United States intelligence community. It is the only government agency allowed by law to carry out and supervise covert operations at the direction of the President of the United States. It exercises international political influence via tactical units such as the Special Activities Center, which are part of the United States military. Furthermore, the CIA was essential in the establishment of intelligence agencies in other United States ally nations, including Germany's BND. It has also supplied assistance to a wide range of international political parties and governments, including planning, coordination, torture training, and technical assistance, among other things. It was engaged in a number of regime transitions, terrorist assaults, and murder plots against foreign leaders, among other things.

Since 2004, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been structured under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) (ODNI). Although it has delegated some of its authority to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the CIA has expanded in reaction to the September 11th attacks. The Washington Post stated in 2013 that the CIA had the greatest budget of all the intelligence agencies in the United States for the fiscal year 2010, surpassing prior projections.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has steadily increased its function, which now includes clandestine paramilitary activities. On January 1, the Information Operations Center (IOC), one of the Defense Department's main departments, formally changed its emphasis from counter-terrorism to offensive cyber-operations.

There have been several issues surrounding the agency, including charges of human rights breaches, domestic eavesdropping and propaganda, as well as drug trafficking allegations. It has also appeared in works of fiction, such as novels, films, and video games, as well as nonfiction.