Famous Spy Agencies
Famous Spy Agencies is a structured history & culture dataset with 15 entries. Its fields include Agency, Country, Founded. Community voting appears as a separate signal beside eligible rows and does not replace the source values.
Every row is shown below and is also available as CSV, JSON, or Excel.
Dataset details
- Table scope
- All 15 rows
- Fields
- 5 columns
- Source
- Community curated
- Data updated
- Mar 7, 2026
Included fields: Agency, Country, Founded, Primary Focus, Known For.
The table contains every record in this dataset; the same records are available in each download format.
Preview observations
- Founded span
- 1909 to 1995
- Across 14 preview rows
- Country groups
- 12 distinct values
- Across 15 preview rows
Useful for
- Comparing Agency, Country, and Founded across history & culture entries
- Building reference tables, charts, or analyses from 15 downloadable records
Agency↕ | Country↕ | Founded↕ | Primary Focus↕ | Known For↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) | United States | 1947 | Foreign intelligence, covert operations | World's most famous spy agency, MKUltra mind control experiments, Bay of Pigs, drone warfare, Langley headquarters, inspired countless movies |
| MI6 (Secret Intelligence Service) | United Kingdom | 1909 | Foreign intelligence | James Bond's employer, Vauxhall Cross HQ on the Thames, officially denied its existence until 1994, recruited from Oxbridge |
| Mossad | Israel | 1949 | Intelligence collection, covert operations | Captured Adolf Eichmann in Argentina, Operation Wrath of God after Munich Olympics, reputation as world's most effective per-capita agency |
| KGB (Committee for State Security) | Soviet Union | 1954 (dissolved 1991) | Intelligence, counterintelligence, internal security | Largest spy agency in history at its peak, Putin was a KGB officer, Lubyanka headquarters and prison, Cold War espionage mastermind |
| FSB (Federal Security Service) | Russia | 1995 | Domestic security, counterterrorism | Successor to the KGB's domestic branch, controls Russian internal security, Litvinenko poisoning controversy, hybrid warfare operations |
| MI5 (Security Service) | United Kingdom | 1909 | Domestic counterintelligence | Thames House headquarters, caught the Cambridge Five (eventually), counterterrorism lead for UK, Dame Stella Rimington first female head |
| BND (Bundesnachrichtendienst) | Germany | 1956 | Foreign intelligence | Founded by ex-Nazi intelligence officers under Reinhard Gehlen, Berlin Wall era tunnel operations, new HQ is Europe's largest government building |
| DGSE (Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure) | France | 1982 | Foreign intelligence, military intelligence | Rainbow Warrior bombing in New Zealand (1985), operates 'Swimming Pool' HQ near a public pool, active in Africa and Middle East |
| RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) | India | 1968 | Foreign intelligence | Key role in Bangladesh Liberation War 1971, covert operations in South Asia, intelligence support during Kargil War, growing cyber capabilities |
| ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) | Pakistan | 1948 | Military intelligence, covert operations | CIA's key partner during Soviet-Afghan War, funding mujahideen, accused of playing double game in War on Terror, immense political influence |
| NSA (National Security Agency) | United States | 1952 | Signals intelligence, cybersecurity | Edward Snowden revelations (PRISM mass surveillance), codebreaking headquarters at Fort Meade, 'No Such Agency' nickname, largest employer of mathematicians |
| ASIS (Australian Secret Intelligence Service) | Australia | 1952 | Foreign intelligence | Part of Five Eyes alliance, Sheraton Hotel incident in Melbourne (1983 training exercise gone wrong), operations across Asia-Pacific |
| CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) | Canada | 1984 | National security intelligence | Separated from RCMP after McDonald Commission, polite reputation belies serious counterterrorism work, Five Eyes member, relatively scandal-free |
| SVR (Foreign Intelligence Service) | Russia | 1991 | Foreign intelligence | Successor to KGB's foreign intelligence branch, Anna Chapman illegals program, Yasenevo headquarters in Moscow forest, deep-cover sleeper agents |
| MSS (Ministry of State Security) | China | 1983 | Foreign intelligence, counterintelligence | Largest intelligence agency by personnel, massive cyber-espionage operations, accused of infiltrating Western tech companies, notoriously secretive even by spy standards |
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Frequently asked questions
How is Famous Spy Agencies organized?
The table starts in the source data's order. Community voting is enabled as a separate approval signal beside eligible rows; votes do not replace the source values.
How much data is available on this page?
This dataset contains 15 entries, and every row is available in the table and in the downloadable files.
Can I download the complete dataset?
Yes. CSV, JSON, and Excel downloads contain all 15 rows. Before republishing the data, review the source and any usage terms listed on this page; dtbse does not replace the original source's licensing terms.
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