7 October 1909; 114 years ago (1909-10-07) (as the Secret Service Bureau)
Jurisdiction
His Majesty's Government
Headquarters
Thames House, London, United Kingdom 51°29′38″N0°07′32″W / 51.49389°N 0.12556°W / 51.49389; -0.12556 (Security Service – MI5)
Motto
Regnum Defende (Defend the Realm)
Employees
5,259[1]
Annual budget
Single Intelligence Account £3.711 billion (2021–22)[1]
Minister responsible
James Cleverly, Home Secretary
Agency executive
Ken McCallum, Director General
Website
www.mi5.gov.uk
The Security Service, also known as MI5 (Military Intelligence, Section 5),[2] is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), and Defence Intelligence (DI). MI5 is directed by the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), and the service is bound by the Security Service Act 1989. The service is directed to protect British parliamentary democracy and economic interests and to counter terrorism and espionage within the United Kingdom (UK).
Within the civil service community, the service is colloquially known as Box,[3] or Box 500,[4] after its official wartime address of PO Box 500; its current address is PO Box 3255, London SW1P 1AE.[5]
^ abIntelligence and Security Committee of Parliament "Annual Report 2021–2022"
^"What's in a name?". www.MI5.gov.uk. MI5. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
^"Annie Machon: my so called life as a spy". The Telegraph. 29 August 2010. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
^"MI5 edges out of the shadows: 42% of elite Security Service officers are women – Terrorists are main target – Bugging of Royal Family denied – Booklet outlines organisation". The Independent. 16 July 1993. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
^Geraghty, Tony (2000). The Irish War. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00638-674-2.
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