Secret Services of the World Trivia Quiz

Officially called the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 is the UK's foreign intelligence gathering service. It is widely known as MI6, with the initials standing for Military Intelligence and 6 referring to the section number. MI5 is the counter-intelligence division which deals with terrorism in the UK.

MI6 is located in London, on the Albert Embankment overlooking the River Thames. The building is officially called the SIS Building although it is just as often referred to as the MI6 Building. It also has a collection of nicknames.

MSS stands for the Ministry of State Security with its main headquarters in Beijing. It is renowned for its power with subsidiary branches in every region, as low as town level. The MSS is responsible for all of China's intelligence, including internal security, the secret police, counterintelligence and cyber security.

According to the USA, it can be described as 'a combination of the CIA and FBI' and is believed to employ over 100,000 people. It is so secretive that little is known about the inner workings of the MSS but its powers are certainly wide ranging.

Apart from the intelligence services of the UK and USA, Mossad might well be the best known of the options given in the quiz. Officially called the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations, this is the intelligence service of Israel with its task being counter terrorism, intelligence gathering and covert operations. It is for the latter activities that Mossad is commonly recognised, particularly its pursuit of Nazis after World War II.

Another well known operation was the 'Wrath of God' operation which searched for those responsible for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972 and eliminated those they found.

This is the foreign military intelligence service of the Russian Federation and has the official name of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It was previously known as the GRU, during the Soviet era, and is still commonly called by that abbreviation.

The structure of the organisation isn't widely known, but is believed to be split into different directorates each of which focuses on specific parts of the world or on types of intelligence such as cyber operations and military technology. The GRU reports to the Minister of Defence, rather than the President of Russia, and is based in Moscow.

The initials stand for the State Security Agency, the South African civilian intelligence service. It dates only from 2009 being set up to amalgamate various existing services including the National Intelligence Agency and the South African Secret Service.

As with all the agencies in the quiz, their purpose is to gather intelligence and identify threats to national security including terrorism, espionage and organised crime. The SSA has its headquarters in Pretoria, one of South Africa's three capital cities.

India's foreign intelligence agency is known as the Research and Analysis Wing and is located n New Delhi, India's capital. It reports directly to the Prime Minister of India. As expected, its duties include intelligence gathering and dealing with terrorist groups. It is also responsible for safeguarding India's nuclear programme.

The R&AW was formed in 1968, during Indira Gandhi's time in office, and is said to be viewed with some suspicion by the Indian population due to its secrecy and lack of accountability to anyone but the Prime Minister.

The Agência Brasileira de Inteligência, known as the ABIN, is the intelligence service of Brazil, set up in 1999 to replace previous intelligence services. The intention was to take control of Brazil's intelligence gathering away from the military and place the civilian government more firmly in control. This has been a gradual, and not always successful, change.

Its activities are as you'd expect, dealing with threats to the security of Brazil.

The General Directorate for External Security or, to give it its French title, the Direction générale de la Sécurité extérieure is the French version of Britain's MI6. It is located in the French capital, Paris. It works under the direction of the Ministry of Armed Forces with its duties including operating abroad to gather intelligence.

The organisation which deals with internal security such as counter-intelligence and anti-terrorism activities is the DGS, the General Directorate for Internal Security.

No non-English language this time as ASIS stands for the Australian Secret Intelligence Service. It falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and is located in Canberra, the capital city of Australia.

ASIS was set up in 1952 when Robert Menzies was Prime Minister and its existence was kept secret for twenty years, with even other government departments being unaware of its role. As well as the usual roles of intelligence gathering, ASIS is also active in trying to prevent the smuggling of people from other countries, particularly Asia which is the continent closest to Australia.

This may well have been the first one you put in place as the CIA, the Central Intelligence Agency of the USA, is so well known around the world. Formed in 1947, the CIA has its headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

Its stated aims are counterterrorism, counterintelligence, cyber intelligence, reducing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear arms, and ensuring the government of the day is well informed of potential risks.