The Atrocity Archives

GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS, ACRONYMS, AND ORGANISATIONS

BA British Airways [UK]

BLACK CHAMBER Cryptanalysis agency officially disbanded in 1929, secretly retasked with occult intelligence duties [US]

CESG Communications Electronics Security Group, division within GCHQ [UK]

CIA Central Intelligence Agency [US]

CMA Computer Misuse Act, the law governing hacking [UK]

COTS Cheap, Off The Shelf-computer kit; a procurement term [US/UK]

CPU Counter-Possession Unit, a specialised team operating across departmental lines within The Laundry [UK]

DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, formerly ARPA, a government scientific research agency affiliated with the Department of Defense [US]

DEA Drug Enforcement Agency [US]

DERA Defense Evaluation and Research Agency, privatised as QinetiQ [UK]

DGSE Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure, the external intelligence organisation (French equivalent of CIA)

[France]

DIA Defense Intelligence Agency [US]

EUINTEL European Union Intelligence Treaty-fictional [EU]

FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation [US]

FO Foreign Office [UK]

FSB Federal Security Service, formerly known as KGB [Russia]

GCHQ Government Communications HQ (UK equivalent of NSA) [UK]

GCSE General Certificate of Secondary Education-high school qualification; not to be confused with CESG [UK]

GRU Russian Military Intelligence [Russia]

HMG Her Majesty's Government [UK]

JIC Joint Intelligence Committee [UK]

KCMG Knight-Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George-honours service overseas or in connection with foreign or Commonwealth affairs [UK]

KGB Committee for State Security, renamed FSB in 1991 [Russia]

LART Luser Attitude Readjustment Tool-see The New Hacker's Dictionary, edited by Eric S. Raymond, MIT Press, ISBN 0-262680-92-0 [All]

THE LAUNDRY Formerly SOE Q Department, spun off as a separate organisation in 1945 [UK]

MI5 National Security Service, also known as DI5 [UK]

MI6 Secret Intelligence Service, also known as SIS, DI6 [UK]

NEST Nuclear Emergency Search Team (US equivalent of OCCULUS) [US]

NKVD Historical predecessor organisation to KGB, renamed in 1947 [USSR/Russia]

NSA National Security Agency (US equivalent of GCHQ) [US]

NSDAP Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei-National Socialist German Workers Party, aka Nazi Party [Germany]

OBE Order of the British Empire-awarded mainly to civilians and service personnel for public service or other distinctions [UK]

OCCULUS Occult Control Coordination Unit Liaison, Unconventional Situations (UK/NATO equivalent of NEST) [UK/NATO]

ONI Office of Naval Intelligence [US]

OSA Official Secrets Act, the law governing official secrets [UK]

OSS Office of Strategic Services (US equivalent of SOE), disbanded in 1945, remodelled as CIA [US]

Q DIVISION Division within The Laundry associated with R amp;D [UK]

QINETIQ See DERA [UK]

RIPA Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, the law governing communications interception [UK]

RUC Royal Ulster Constabulary, the paramilitary police force deployed in Northern Ireland during the Troubles [UK]

SAS Special Air Service-British Army special forces [UK]

SBS Special Boat Service-Royal Marines special forces [UK]

SIS See MI6 [UK]

SOE Special Operations Executive (UK equivalent of OSS), officially disbanded in 1945; see also The Laundry [UK]

TLA Three Letter Acronym [All]