Originally formed during the colonial era in 1913 as the Intelligence wing of the National Police, the service was reformed and reorganized following the Revolution of 1952 to suit the security concerns of the new socialist regime. The State Security apparatus was made a separate branch of the Interior Ministry, separate from the regular Police command, and was focused intensively on political threats to the State's security, particularly those emanating from Islamist, Liberal or far-Left opposition sources. The State Security was made independent of the Police Command and given legal powers of arrest, detention, and prosecution. Separate State Security Courts were set up to prosecute detainees arrested by the SSIS, separately from the regular prosecution judiciary. The first Chief of the SSIS was the Police Brigadier Ayman Mahfoud, an ex-Army officer who had become a Police officer and a part of the Free Officers' Movement of Gamal Abdel Nasser.