Who are considered entities that oppose national security interests?

The correct choice, which identifies entities that oppose national security interests, is adversaries. This term encompasses a wide range of individuals, groups, or nations that actively work against a nation's strategic goals, policies, and stability. Adversaries can include foreign intelligence services, terrorist organizations, hostile governments, or any entity engaged in actions that threaten a nation’s security.

Understanding adversaries in this context is critical because they can employ various tactics and methodologies to undermine national interests, such as espionage, propaganda, and cyber attacks. Recognizing them is essential for effective counterintelligence strategies aimed at safeguarding national integrity and preventing potential threats.

In contrast, covert operators, while skilled and trained in espionage and intelligence gathering, typically work within the framework of their national security interests, as opposed to opposing them. Competing organizations refer to those entities that compete in the economic or political sphere but may not necessarily pose a direct threat to national security. Insider threats relate to individuals within an organization who may exploit their access to harm that organization, but they do not necessarily represent external opposition to national security interests on the scale that adversaries do.