The CNI replaced the Centro de Investigación y Seguridad Nacional (CISEN) in December 2018 at the start of the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Formally, the agency is charged with intelligence operations as they pertain to national security, which contribute to the preservation of the Mexican State's integrity, stability, and permanence.

[3] The 1994 Zapatista uprising in Chiapas played a formative role in shaping the scope of the agency's objectives and lead to a significant increase in intelligence operations against all sectors of Mexican society.

[5] The spyware was used by the Peña Nieto administration to spy on journalists, human rights activists, and political opponents, including dozens of associates of Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the run-up to his presidential election victory in 2018.

[8] Before taking office in 2018, President López Obrador had been critical of CISEN's opacity in its operations and practices, which included wiretapping and surveillance of political adversaries and ideological dissidents.