Practice Leaflet for Security Service Qualifying Test

Please read this leaflet carefully as it will help you to do your best in the qualifying test.

INTRODUCTION This leaflet provides you with information about the exercise that you will be asked to complete when you attend the qualifying test session. To enable you to perform at your best you are advised to take this opportunity to familiarise yourself with the format of the test and try out the examples enclosed. PRACTICE TEST INSTRUCTIONS The exercise is designed to assess how effective you are at processing and assessing information. You are required to compare data, identify patterns and spot connections. In the exercise you will need to imagine that you are an Intelligence Officer in the Derandan Security Agency (DSA). Deranda is a fictitious country and all the information presented about it has been made up for this exercise. The issues, procedures and intelligence are also fictitious and not wholly reflective of the working practices or views of the UK Security Service. One of the DSAs roles is to assess information relating to threats to Derandan national security. In this exercise your task will be to decide which of a number of extra pieces of information are required to make an assessment of whether, and with what urgency, information should be shared with partner agencies. You will not be asked to write any assessments. To help you, you are provided with a Guidance Note. This provides background information to help you make your decisions. It is based on precedents set by the experiences of other Intelligence Officers. An example of a Guidance Note is on page 4 of this booklet. The booklet also contains Intelligence Summaries and Intelligence Updates. The Intelligence Summaries relate to one of three areas of the DSAs work: counter-terrorism, counterproliferation of weapons of mass destruction and counter-espionage. An example of an Intelligence Summary is on page 5 of this booklet. The Intelligence Updates build on the Intelligence Summaries. They contain the extra pieces of information referred to above. All this extra information is of interest; you need to decide which pieces are required for the assessment you have been asked to make. Other parts of the DSA will use anything you discard. An example of an Intelligence Update is on page 5 of this booklet. When you have worked out whether or not a piece of extra information is required for the assessment, you should shade in one of the circles next to that piece of information. You should shade in the circle under the Yes heading if you think the information is required and shade in the circle under the No heading if you think the information is not required. In the extract below the No heading has been shaded in as the information is not considered to be required.
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Required for the Assessment?

The PIF has 100 members.

Yes

No

You should identify the minimum number of pieces of extra information. This could be all of the pieces, none of them, or any number in between. You will gain marks for each piece of information you correctly identify as required or not required. Now try practice example A on page 5. You will need to refer to the Guidance Note on page 4 to answer the questions.

Guidance Note Sharing Information When intelligence is received, it is important that an assessment is made of whether and with what urgency to share it with partner agencies. This decision is based on a combination of two factors. The first factor that is considered is whether or not the partner agency has made a request for specific intelligence to be shared with it. The second factor to bear in mind is how significant the DSA liaison department considers the information would be to the partner agency. A combination of these factors produces an assessment of how quickly the information is to be shared. The information may either be shared with the partner agency immediately or as part of the regular liaison meetings that take place. No one has written down how to combine these factors but the examples below should provide you with an idea of how decisions are reached regarding the sharing of information:

Intelligence received

Specific intelligence requested by partner agency Yes Yes No No No No

Significance to partner agency as How quickly should assessed by DSA intelligence be shared? liaison department Highly significant Insignificant Highly significant Significant Insignificant Highly significant Immediately Immediately Immediately At regular meeting Not shared Immediately

XYZ1 XYZ2 XYZ3 XYZ4 XYZ5 XYZ6

COUNTER-TERRORISM PRACTICE EXAMPLE A

(You need to follow Guidance Note Sharing Information to answer these questions.)

Intelligence Summary
Information has been received about the activities of the FNM, a terrorist organisation operating within Deranda. An assessment needs to be made of how that information should be shared with the partner agency, the Deranda Police Force. The Deranda Police Force has not made any specific requests for information regarding the FNM.

Intelligence Updates

Required for the Assessment?

Yes

No

FNM stands for The Futami Nationalist Movement.

The FNMs leader is Jerome Filimbi.

The DSA liaison department considers the information it has received to be of significant interest to the Deranda Police Force.

The next liaison meeting with the Deranda Police Force is in 3 days.

Liaison meetings always take place at the DSAs headquarters.

The Deranda Police Force has made a request to all its partner agencies to provide it with any intelligence regarding the activity of an organised crime group called the GSF.

The answers to this example are on the next page

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ANSWERS TO PRACTICE EXAMPLE A

You will see from the table presented in the Guidance Note that: If a partner agency makes a specific request for intelligence, an assessment is made to share it immediately regardless of the significance placed on the intelligence by the DSA liaison department. If a partner agency does not make a specific request for intelligence, an assessment regarding when to share the information is dependent on how significant the DSA liaison department considers the information to be to the partner agency.

Counter-Terrorism Answers to Practice Example A

Although this information is of interest it is irrelevant for the purposes of assessing how to share information and so should be marked as not required. The circle under the No heading has therefore been filled in.

Yes

No

Although this information is of interest it is also irrelevant for the purposes of assessing how to share information and so should be marked as not required.

Although the Deranda Police Force has not made a specific request for information regarding the FNM, the significance to the Deranda Police Force as assessed by the DSA liaison department will have an impact upon when the information will be shared. This information should therefore be marked as required.

This information is of interest but is irrelevant for the purposes of assessing how to share information and so should be marked as not required.

This information is of interest but is irrelevant for the purposes of assessing how to share information and so should be marked as not required.

The specific request to share information is with regard to the GSF not the FNM. This information is therefore irrelevant for the purposes of assessing how to share information about the FNM and so should be marked as not required. Now try practice example B on the next page
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COUNTER-PROLIFERATION PRACTICE EXAMPLE B

(You need to follow Guidance Note Sharing Information to answer these questions.)

Intelligence Summary
Information has been received regarding the activities of the DLF. Intelligence suggests that it is developing its weapons arsenal. A partner agency, The Deranda Military Intelligence Unit, has requested that any information regarding the activities of the DLF and the development of its weapons capability be shared with it at the earliest opportunity.

Intelligence Updates Required for the Assessment?

1 DLF stands for the Derandan Liberation Front.

Yes

No

The Deranda Military Intelligence Unit is aware that the DLF possesses a significant arsenal of guns and ammunition.

The DSA liaison department considers the information it has received to be of significant interest to the Deranda Military Intelligence Unit.

The Deranda Military Intelligence Unit routinely requests information about the possible acquisition of weapons by terrorist organisations.

The Deranda Military Intelligence Unit is mainly composed of army personnel.

Liaison takes place between the DSA and the Deranda Military Intelligence Unit every four days.

The answers to this example are on the next page

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ANSWERS TO PRACTICE EXAMPLE B Counter-Proliferation Answers to Practice Example B

Although this information is of interest it is irrelevant for the purposes of assessing how to share information and so should be marked as not required.

Yes

No

Although this information is of interest it is irrelevant for the purposes of assessing how to share information and so should be marked as not required.

The Deranda Military Intelligence Unit specifically requested that information regarding the DLF and the development of their weapons capability be shared with them. The Guidance Note suggests that when specific information is requested by a partner agency, a decision is made to share it immediately regardless of the assessment of significance made by the DSA Liaison Department. This information is therefore redundant and so should be marked as not required.

Although this information is of interest it is irrelevant for the purposes of assessing how to share information and so should be marked as not required.

Although this information is of interest it is irrelevant for the purposes of assessing how to share information and so should be marked as not required.

Although this information is of interest it is irrelevant for the purposes of assessing how to share information and so should be marked as not required.

Now try practice example C on the next page

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COUNTER-ESPIONAGE PRACTICE EXAMPLE C

(You need to follow Guidance Note Sharing Information to answer these questions.)

Intelligence Summary
Intelligence has been received that a team of agents from the neighbouring country of Bonacca may enter Deranda within the next two months. There is no specific information regarding the teams proposed activities and Bonacca has never posed a threat to Deranda. While none of the DSAs partner agencies has requested information regarding the activities of Bonaccas intelligence community, an assessment needs to be made of when the intelligence should be shared with the Deranda Military Intelligence Unit and the Deranda Police Force.

Intelligence Updates Required for the Assessment?

1 Bonacca has never sent a team of agents to Deranda before.

Yes

No

The DSA liaison department considers the information it has received to be highly significant to the Deranda Military Intelligence Unit.

The DSA liaison department considers the information it has received to be of significance to the Deranda Police Force.

The Deranda Military Intelligence Unit has not requested any information regarding activities of Bonaccas intelligence community.

The Deranda Police Force has not requested any information regarding activities of Bonaccas intelligence community.

The Deranda Police Force has no formal liaison arrangements with the Deranda Military Intelligence Unit but they meet monthly.

The answers to this example are on the next page

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ANSWERS TO PRACTICE EXAMPLE C Counter-Espionage Answers to Practice Example C

Although this information is of interest it is irrelevant for the purposes of assessing how to share information and so should be marked as not required.

Yes

No

Although no agency has made a specific request for information regarding the Bonaccan intelligence community, the significance to the Deranda Military Intelligence Unit as assessed by the DSA liaison department will have an impact upon when the information will be shared. This information should therefore be marked as required.

Although no agency has made a specific request for information regarding the Bonaccan intelligence community, the significance to the Deranda Police Force as assessed by the DSA liaison department will have an impact upon when the information will be shared. This information should therefore be marked as required.

We already know from the information presented in the Intelligence Summaries that none of the DSAs partner agencies has requested information regarding the activities of Bonaccas intelligence communities so this information is redundant.

We already know from the information presented in the Intelligence Summaries that none of the DSAs partner agencies has requested information regarding the activities of Bonaccas intelligence communities so this information is redundant.

Although this information is of interest it is irrelevant for the purposes of assessing how to share information and so should be marked as not required.

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FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS When you complete the exercise at the test centre, you will be presented with a number of new Guidance Notes. You will be told which Guidance Note you need to attend to as the exercise progresses. The Guidance Notes build upon each other and are presented in sequence so you should read them in the order they are provided. As you progress to each new Guidance Note, the previous Notes are still applicable and you should continue to consider these. The information relating to each of the situations described in the Intelligence Summaries builds up as the exercise progresses so you should attempt each question in sequence. The exercise will last for approximately one hour. The exercise will be presented in a document like this one so if you have any difficulties reading it or any other specific requirements please contact Penna on 0845 450 2152 as soon as possible. We look forward to meeting you at the test session where you will receive further instructions about this test and have a chance to ask any questions.

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Developed in conjunction with

Chartered Occupational Psychologists