The UK’s foreign intelligence service, which gathers intelligence abroad in the interests of the UK’s national security and economic well-being and of preventing serious crime.
According to SIS, the service is accountable to the Foreign Secretary, and its work was given a statutory basis by the Intelligence Services Act 1994.1
The International Spy Museum glossary explains that the Secret Intelligence Service is the official name of MI6.2
Sources
- Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), About us
- International Spy Museum (Washington, DC), Language of Espionage (glossary)
Checked: 4 November 2026