The organisation has the same roots as its sister organisation MI5. It deals with collecting and disseminating information from abroad. It retrieves information from a range of target from Foreign Governments, Drug Cartels to Terrorist Organisations such as Al Qaeda. The Service was created by Captain Sir George Mansfield Smith ( Later Smith-Cumming ) and Sir Vernon George Waldegrave Kell to deal with the threat coming from Germany at the beginning of the twentieth century. Smith had a habit of marking important paper with a C and from that moment on, the head of the Service became known as simply C. It is well known internationally because of one fictional hero, James Bond. Despite James Bond having a licence to Kill, SIS operatives do not and will continue not to for the foreseeable future.
History
Although it didn't have much success with Germany directly during the First World War, it did gain success through a network of agents in other countries. Its size was reduced after the war because the end of the war had reduced the threat. It became obsessed with Communism, which it thought would undermine the British way of life. It had to work closely with Diplomatic Service, agents would pose as a Passport Control Officer to gain diplomatic immunity if caught.
During the Second World War, they weren't anywhere near as successful as their counterparts in MI5 and SOE. The SOE incidentally were a branched off section of MI6. Their work was overshadowed partly by the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS), based in Bletchley Park which is famous for breaking the Enigma code. The GC&CS are the forerunners to GCHQ, the Government Communications HeadQuarters, are roughly equivalent to the American National Security Agency (NSA). Earlier failures were rectified and they proved to be an asset in the later stages of the War.
After the war, they turned their attention to the growing threat of Communism. During this time, they were compromised by the actions of the Cambridge Five and most prominently by Harold 'Kim' Philby who had worked in the Counter-Espionage section. Kim had also worked in America and in Turkey. Another Spy to be found working not in the best interests of the British was George Blake who had allegedly been turned whilst captured in the Korean War. After his release, he was allowed to resume work. Once found out to be a spy, he was arrested but was later busted out of prison. This prompted a review of vetting procedures, which was tightened up and prevented such lapses from happening again.
SIS agents working alongside CIA agents staged operations around the world. These included toppling of leaders in Iran (1953) and Congo (1961) and the effective triggering of war between paramilitary groups in Liberia, thus protecting westerners from being kidnapped. SIS agents according to David Shayler are alleged to have attempted to assassinate Colonel Gadaffi.
The Current Task
Since the end of the Cold War, the SIS has been pre-occupied with finding and preventing Weapons of Mass Destruction from falling into the hands of unstable regimes and terrorists. It has been criticised lately for failing to detect the 9/11 Al-Qaeda attacks and for providing faulty information that led Britain and America to war on Iraq. It is also tasked with finding and routing out Al-Qaeda sympathisers abroad, working closely with CIA and MI5.
Recruitment
Sign me up, I want to join. You have to be a British Citizen first and foremost. You will have needed to be resident in this country for the past ten years; there are some working and educational exceptions. Your parents must prove they have substantial ties to the UK. The youngest to which you can apply is 21 and due to who they are, security clearance can take months so be warned. Having a language because they deal with foreign threats will greatly help your chances working for them
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