Intelligence and national security

Who we are and why we exist

The Coral Island Intelligence Service (CIIS) is the Government's national intelligence agency. It gathers and assesses information about threats to the island, its people and its interests, and gives the President, the Cabinet and the services that keep the island safe the warning and understanding they need to act in time.

Coral Island is a young state with an open door. Visitors, investors and new residents arrive every day, and the Relocation Programme is bringing families to a brand new town. That openness is a strength, and it rests on security. The Government has chosen to be intelligence-led: to understand risks early, to deal with them quietly and lawfully, and to decide on evidence rather than guesswork.

The Service exists to protect:

• the people who live on, work on and visit the island
• the Constitution and the institutions of government
• the border, the airspace and island waters
• the investment, tourism and trade on which the island's prosperity depends

Most residents and visitors will never have any dealings with the Service. That is as it should be.

Status and authority

The Service is part of the Ministry of Border Security and Defence. It is led by a Director General, appointed by the President under Article 7 of the Constitution, who answers to the Minister and reports directly to the President on matters of national security. As is the practice of intelligence services elsewhere, the names of the Director General and of the Service's officers are not published.

The Service operates under the authority of the President and the Constitution (Articles 6 and 7), pending an Intelligence and Security Ordinance. It works within the laws already in force, among them:

• the offences against the State in Part 7 of the Criminal Code Ordinance 2026: treason, terrorist acts and espionage
• the Protected Places and Restricted Areas Ordinance 2026
• the Border Security and Airspace Ordinance 2026
• the Immigration and Citizenship Ordinance 2026

The Service is not a police force and does not prosecute. When its work points to a crime, the information goes to the Coral Island Police Service, which decides for itself whether to investigate. Prosecutions are for the Attorney General (Article 14).

How the Service is organised

The Service has seven directorates. Each has its own field, and all of them work to one set of national intelligence priorities agreed by the Cabinet.

Signals and Communications

Carries out the lawful interception of communications and the location of mobile devices, under a written intelligence order. It runs the technical surveillance the Service is authorised to use, including listening devices and the tracking of vehicles and devices, and it protects the Government's own communications from interference.

Human Intelligence and Liaison

Works with people who choose to help the Service, and protects their identity and their safety. It also manages the Service's relationships with partner agencies, on the island and beyond it.

Border and Immigration Intelligence

Supports the Department of Immigration and Citizenship with the assessment of risk in travellers and applications. Fingerprints are on file for everyone who flies to the island: the Coral Island Flights desk at Sandy Shores Airfield checks them before anyone boards. Applications are checked against the register of visas, residence permits and citizens, the entry ban list and the watchlist. The Directorate looks for the patterns a single check can miss: false identities, undeclared records, and people who try to return after a removal or a ban.

Air and Maritime Surveillance

Works alongside Coral Control and the Coral Island Defence Force to keep one picture of every aircraft and vessel near the island. Radar and identification friend or foe cover the surveillance area, the Air Defence Identification Zone and sovereign airspace and waters, and observation from Government and Police Service helicopters adds to the picture over land. The Directorate identifies. Decisions to hail, warn or engage a craft stay with Coral Control and the Defence Force under the Border Security and Airspace Ordinance 2026.

Economic and Financial Intelligence

Follows the money. It looks at fraud against the Government and against investors, the laundering of criminal money through island businesses, and attempts to get round entry bans, removals and the other restrictions the Government imposes. It supports the confiscation of the proceeds of crime under section 30 of the Courts and Criminal Procedure Ordinance 2026, and the integrity checks of the Business Registry and the Gaming Commission when they ask for its help.

Counter-Intelligence and Protective Security

Detects and disrupts espionage, sabotage and interference by hostile states, groups and individuals. It advises on the protection of Government House, the airfield, the harbour, the air defence sites and the other protected places, vets people who need access to sensitive information, and helps protect the President, Ministers and official visitors. The records of certain people the Government protects are restricted, and whenever anyone seeks one of those records, the Service is told.

Assessment and Analysis

Brings everything together. Analysts draw on the Service's own reporting, on partners and on open sources, such as the press, public records and what is said openly in public places, to write the National Assessment: the Service's regular judgement of the threats and opportunities facing the island, prepared for the President and the Cabinet.

Working with partners

Intelligence is only useful when it reaches the people who can act on it. The Service works most closely with:

• the Coral Island Police Service, which receives written intelligence reports for its records and decides independently what to do with them (section 4 of the Police Service Ordinance 2026)
• the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, on travellers, applications and entry bans
• the Coral Island Defence Force, Coral Control and Coastguard Command, on the air and sea picture
• the Border Security Directorate, on illegal landings and smuggling
• the Office of Disaster Management, on early warning

Coral Island values its friendship with its neighbours. Where it is lawful and in the island's interest, the Service exchanges information with agencies in San Andreas, through agreed channels and case by case. Cooperation never gives an officer of another state or city any power on the island: that needs the written authority of the Commissioner of Police (section 7 of the Police Service Ordinance 2026).

Building intelligence to build a better country

Security is not the only purpose of intelligence. Good intelligence makes for good government, and the Government is building the island's capability year on year: more trained analysts, better tools and stronger partnerships.

• Decisions based on evidence. The National Assessment informs the Cabinet's priorities, the border status set by the President, and policy on immigration, policing and the economy. Where it can, the Service shares what it knows with the ministries in a form they can use.
• Early warning. Threats are cheaper to stop than to clear up after. The Service watches for the first signs of organised crime, smuggling, unrest and hostile activity, and warns the services that can act before harm is done.
• Protecting what the island depends on. The airfield, the harbour, Government House, the air defence sites and the island's communications are protected for a reason. The Service helps keep them safe and working.
• Supporting growth. Investors, employers and the new residents of the Relocation Programme need to know that Coral Island is a safe and honest place to build a life and a business. Checks on applicants, licensees and money keep criminal interests out, so that legitimate ones can thrive.
• A confident welcome. Tourism and public events are safer when risk is understood in advance, and that lets the island keep its doors open.

Oversight and safeguards

The Service holds powers that most people never see used. That is why they are tightly controlled.

• Authorisation. Intercepting communications, locating or tracking a phone and placing a listening device each need a written intelligence order, with the reason recorded. An order lasts no more than 24 hours and must be sought again, on fresh reasons, to continue. Interception also needs the approval of a second senior officer who did not ask for it.
• Necessity and proportionality. An intrusive power is used only when it is necessary for the security of the island or to prevent or detect serious crime, and only when the same result cannot reasonably be achieved by less intrusive means.
• Lawful activity is never a target. The Service does not investigate anyone for peaceful political activity, protest, dissent, journalism or opposition to the Government. The Criminal Code is plain that the peaceful expression of opinion is never treason, and that advocacy, protest and dissent are not terrorist acts (sections 44(5) and 45(2)).
• Records. Every use of an intrusive power is recorded with the officer, the reason and the time, and the record is kept for review. Information is kept only for as long as it is needed and is shared only with those who need it. Records sealed by law are excluded from identity matching.
• Restricted records. Records about people the Government protects are restricted, and every attempt to see one is reported.
• Annual statement. The Director General makes a statement to the Cabinet each year on the work of the Service, including the number of intelligence orders granted and refused. The Cabinet publishes a summary of its decisions; under Article 10 of the Constitution, matters of security may be withheld.

Information and complaints. You can ask for information the Government holds. Information may be withheld on grounds of security, and if it is, you are given the reason (section 7 of the Access to Information Ordinance 2026). If you believe the Service has acted wrongly towards you, make a complaint about the Ministry of Border Security and Defence. If you are not satisfied with the answer, the independent Complaints Commissioner can review it and may require any public officer to provide information (section 7 of the Complaints Commissioner Ordinance 2026).

Working for the Service

The Service recruits people of integrity from every background: analysts, linguists, technical specialists, investigators and support staff. Many officers join from the public service, the Defence Force or the Police Service. Every applicant is security vetted before appointment, and every officer must keep what they learn in confidence.

Posts that are advertised appear on Working for the Government. The Service never recruits through unsolicited messages and never asks anyone for money.

Report information securely

If you know of a threat to the island, its people or its institutions, tell us through Report a concern. Choose "Something else" and say that your report is for the Intelligence Service. Reports are confidential and are never shown to the person they concern.

The Service will never contact you to ask for payment, your account details or your passwords. Pretending to be one of its officers is an offence under section 47 of the Criminal Code Ordinance 2026. If it happens to you, report it.