Government Communications Headquarters
From SR
Roles
Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is an intelligence and security organisation.
GCHQ has two missions: signals intelligence (Sigint) and Information Assurance.
- Sigint work protects the vital interests of the nation: providing information to support Government decision making in the fields of national security, military operations and law enforcement, in areas such as terrorism and the prevention of serious crime.
- Information Assurance helps keep Government communication and information systems safe from hackers and other threats. GCHQ also help keep the UK's critical national infrastructure networks (power, water, communications etc.) safe from interference and disruption.
The Communications-Electronics Security Group is the Information Assurance (IA) arm of GCHQ, capitalising on the UK's Sigint knowledge base
Clients
GCHQs primary customers are the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and law enforcement authorities, but they also serve a wide range of other Government Departments.
Reporting Hierarchy
As a Civil Service Department, GCHQ report to the Foreign Secretary and work closely with the UK's other intelligence agencies, MI5 and MI6.
