ssqt practice leaflet

8/2/2019 SSQT Practice Leaflet

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Practice Leaflet forractice Leaflet forSecurity Serviceecurity ServiceQualifying Testualifying Test

Please read this leaflet carefully as it will help you to dolease read this leaflet carefully as it will help you to doyour best in the qualifying test.our best in the qualifying test.

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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 whollyreflective 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 tohelp 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, counter-

proliferation 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 inthe 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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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.

2 The PIF has 100 members.

NoYesRequired for the Assessment?

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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 bypartner agency

Significance to

partner agency as

assessed by DSA

liaison

department

How quickly should

intelligence be shared?

XYZ1 Yes Highly significant Immediately

XYZ2 Yes Insignificant Immediately

XYZ3 No Highly significant Immediately

XYZ4 No Significant At regular meeting

XYZ5 No Insignificant Not shared

XYZ6 No Highly significant Immediately

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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

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.


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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.

NoYesCounter-Terrorism Answers to Practice Example A

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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.

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 forinformation 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



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 theearliest opportunity.


DLF stands for the Derandan Liberation Front.

The Deranda Military Intelligence Unit is aware that the DLF possesses a

significant arsenal of guns and ammunition.


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.


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ANSWERS TO PRACTICE EXAMPLE B

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NoYesCounter-Proliferation Answers to Practice Example B





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 ofassessing 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



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 requestedinformation 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.



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

The DSA liaison department considers the information it has received to be

highly significant to the Deranda Military Intelligence Unit.


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 regardingactivities of Bonaccas intelligence community.

The Deranda Police Force has no formal liaison arrangements with the Deranda

Military Intelligence Unit but they meet monthly.



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ANSWERS TO PRACTICE EXAMPLE C

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NoYesCounter-Espionage Answers to Practice Example C



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.



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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 aspossible.

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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