Despite being under constant assault from hackers around the globe, U.S. military and government cybersecurity efforts will not compromise individual civil liberties or unnecessarily invade citizens’ privacy, according to Gen. Keith Alexander, the National Security Agency’s director told attendees at the O’Reilly Media Gov 2.0 Summit.
As eSecurity Planet reports, the refrain echoed what Alexander and others have said in recent months as the government plays catch-up to hackers and malware syndicates looking to infiltrate or destroy some of our country’s most sensitive and important information.
Government systems endure more or less constant scrutiny from an array of hackers and other operators at home and abroad probing for vulnerabilities. Defense Department systems, for instance, are subject to roughly 250,000 unauthorized probes every hour, Alexander said.
“Preserving those rights is not an added-on activity or something we do because we have to. It is a core tenant the way we conduct our business all around, cyber included,” he said. “That is an obligation that is never compromised.”
WASHINGTON — As the federal government ramps up its around-the-clock struggle against unprecedented cyber intrusions, the civilian and military officials heading those operations are committed to implementing meaningful safeguards to protect citizens’ privacy, National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith Alexander said on Tuesday.
Alexander, speaking here at the O’Reilly Media Gov 2.0 Summit, took issue with the notion espoused by many cybersecurity experts that greater security necessarily comes at the expense of personal privacy.
In addition to his role directing the NSA, Alexander also heads up U.S. Cyber Command, a division the Defense Department created earlier this year to protect military information systems and conduct offensive cyberattacks.
