Electronic interception appeared as early as 1900, during the Boer Wars. The Royal Navy had installed wireless sets produced by Marconi on board their ships in the late 1890s and some limited wireless signalling was used by the See more

With the importance of interception and decryption firmly established by the wartime experience, countries established permanent agencies dedicated to this task in the interwar period.
These agencies carried out substantial SIGINT work … See more

After the end of World War II, the Western allies began a rapid drawdown. At the end of WWII, the US still had a COMINT organization split … See more

• Signals intelligence by alliances, nations and industries See more

It was over the course of the War that the new method of intelligence collection - signals intelligence - reached maturity. The British in particular built up great expertise in the newly … See more

The use of SIGINT had even greater implications during World War II. The combined effort of intercepts and cryptanalysis for … See more

Threat from terrorism
Terrorism from foreign groups became an increasingly major concern beginning in the late 20th century, as seen with the 1992 al-Qaeda attack … See more