Our mission

At SID, our mission is paramount – to protect Singapore against external threats and to advance our national interests.

We provide relevant, timely and accurate intelligence and assessments to Singapore government agencies and decision makers. We support discussions on key strategic issues, and analyse global developments which could affect Singapore's security and national interests. These include areas related to terrorism, cyber security, other transnational threats, and geopolitics.

Where it matters, we strive to seek, to know and to forewarn.

To achieve our mission, SID works closely with the rest of the Singapore government and our international partners.

What is often not appreciated is that in intelligence work, we sought to acquire knowledge about events, so as not to misunderstand them and jump to erroneous conclusions. That often provided reassurance that developments abroad were less of a threat than public speculation and media reporting might suggest. Rather like the diplomatic service, the job of SID was often to allay concerns, and of course not to create them.”

— Mr S R Nathan, former Director, SID