Mi6

Laurie Nevay (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons

MI6 is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, established as an agency responsible for covert intelligence operations abroad. Operating since 1997, the organization focuses on gathering and analyzing human intelligence on foreign individuals to support international intelligence partnerships, particularly within the Five Eyes alliance. As one of Britain's principal intelligence agencies, MI6 operates under the oversight of the foreign secretary, to whom its chief reports directly. The service plays a central role in the UK's national security apparatus through its overseas intelligence activities.