According to Jeffery T. Richelson in his tome The U.S. Intelligence Community, “intelligence” is the product of an information search and analysis about some foreign nation or about that nation’s operation areas of particular interest. In the United States, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) collects overseas intelligence, whereas the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) collects domestic intelligence. Today, the collection of intelligence includes employing hacking skills to access information stored in computer systems around the world. Legally, the CIA cannot collect intelligence against a U.S. citizen unless the investigation began overseas. For these kinds of cases, the CIA communicates with and shares intelligence with the FBI.

See Also: U.S. Intelligence Community.