The combined agency was originally known as the Second Directorate for Intelligence and Counter-intelligence (Zarząd II Wywiadu i Kontrwywiadu); it was renamed to WSI in 1991.

WSI was bound by law to shield vital state information for the newly independent Poland, under the direct control and management of the Ministry of Defense (Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej).

Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński appointed conservative politician Antoni Macierewicz to oversee the disbanding of WSI.

According to military experts of the Polish Democratic Left Alliance and Civic Platform, some NATO officials expressed disapproval of disbanding of the WSI.

[2][3] The Sejm allowed President Lech Kaczyński's administration to publish the Macierewicz Report, a 164-page document detailing the extralegal activities of the WSI that lead to its disbandment.