The DGSI (Directorate General for Internal Security) is emerging from the shadows. The French intelligence service launched on Tuesday
his website to present its missions, its organization, the legal framework of its activities and the challenges it faces. Objective: “Demystify” intelligence, “make better known” this direction attached to the national police, and “highlight the action of the 4,700 men and women” who compose it, explained its director, Nicolas Lerner, during the meeting. ‘a press conference. The DGSI “has an important notoriety with the French”, but many are those who “cannot explain what it does”, underlines it.
The site, which required a year of work, details the main missions of the service, the fight against terrorism, cyber defense or counter-espionage. But also others less known such as the fight against the proliferation of arms or economic interference. The DGSI warns about the methods used by foreign intelligence services who want to collect sensitive information from institutions or companies, and recruit sources. The website therefore offers some practical advice to avoid getting caught in a trap, especially during business trips, or to protect yourself from cyber attacks.
“A tool for exchange”
“It is also a tool for contact, for exchange”, insists Nicolas Lerner. The site allows individuals to report a radicalized person to the national center for assistance and prevention of radicalization set up by the state in 2014, when many French people joined ISIS fighters in Syria.
The DGSI also intends to use this site to attract future recruits. Between 2014 and 2021, the service gained more than 1,500 agents. Around 4,700 officials work there today. Ultimately, they will be more than 5,500. The site thus explains “how the recruitment process unfolds”, presents candidates with the missions and professions of its agents, and allows them to apply directly.
The site also gathers information concerning the history of this intelligence service or a virtual museum presenting unusual objects related to the world of espionage. But also quizzes for young people… who might one day also want to become a secret agent.