Counterintelligence is typically associated with the idea of catching foreign spies and double agents attempting to spy on their own country for financial gain or blackmail. Over the past few decades there have been many high profile counterespionage cases in the media. A number of successful counterintelligence operations have uncovered both foreign spies and domestic double agent operations, such as the Aldrich Ames case of the 1990s as well as the Robert Hanssen case in 2001, in which Hanssen, an agent who worked for the FBI counterintelligence division, spied on the U.S. for the Soviet Union/Russia for over 20 years. Counterintelligence as part of the intelligence cycle is more than just counterespionage or catching spies and therefore offers many types of jobs for individuals interested in this field within the intelligence cycle. This article defines counterintelligence and then explains what a counterintelligence analyst does and what steps are necessary to becoming a counterintelligence analyst.

Defining Counterintelligence

According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), counterintelligence is concerned with “understanding, and countering, all aspects of the intelligence operations of foreign nations. Counterintelligence means information gathered and activities conducted to identify, deceive, exploit, disrupt, or protect against espionage, other intelligence activities, sabotage, or assassinations conducted for or on behalf of foreign powers, organizations, or persons, or their agents, or international terrorist organizations or activities,” (www.dni.gov). Counterintelligence is yet one part of the intelligence cycle, which includes collecting and processing information about enemies of the U.S. (both state and non-state actors) and reporting this information to consumers such as the President of the United States as well as Congress.

Counterintelligence within the United States presently falls under the National Counterintelligence Executive, which provides a strategic overview and direction for the counterintelligence community as a whole, across agencies such as the CIA, DIA, NSA, and FBI. Interesting to note is that counterintelligence today has evolved to include preventing terrorist organizations from gathering information against intelligence organizations themselves, as many terrorist organizations are highly-developed in nature and are capable of infiltrating government agencies. In the past, counterintelligence has been primarily state-centric.

Counterintelligence Jobs

Counterintelligence jobs are focused on identifying and disrupting intelligence operations of foreign governments and non-state actors. Counterintelligence jobs can be found at all levels of government, not only in the intelligence community, but also in state and federal law enforcement and all four branches of the Armed Forces. Nearly all major intelligence agencies within the U.S. maintain counterintelligence divisions. While counterintelligence jobs used to be primarily under the domain of national intelligence agencies, federal law enforcement agencies also employ individuals in this field, as many highly developed criminal organizations have the ability to target law enforcement agencies for intelligence.

With a mixture of civilian and military personnel, a counterintelligence 'agent' is primarily responsible for supervising and conducting counterintelligence surveys and investigations of individuals, organizations, installations and activities.

A vital part of our nation's security lies in the successful protection of national defense from adversarial and terrorist threats. As a counterintelligence agent, your activities can range from clandestine operations to the preparation of reports on Force Protection or liaison operations and investigations on national security crimes (ex: espionage or treason).

Successful counterintelligence analysts have strong analytical and problem-solving skills. This job demands that they be creative and original in their approach to identifying and disrupting foreign intelligence operations. Recruiters look for individuals who are intelligent, focused, and educated. While previous work experience or exceptional regional expertise might be enough to gain employment as a counterintelligence analyst, most government agencies require applicants to have advanced education, such as a master's degree in a security-related field such as intelligence, international affairs, political science, and foreign area studies, or even a specific degree in engineering or computer science. If you are interested in becoming a counterintelligence analyst but do not yet have adequate work experience or regional proficiency, pursuing a graduate degree in a program that provides both academic knowledge and practical, hands-on skills could provide you with both the analytic skills and knowledge to jump start your career in this field.