Category Archives: Adm. Mike Rogers

National cyber resilience requires closer integration of public and private efforts

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We live in a world where we are united in fear against digital enemies who threaten our very subsistence: our food and water supply, the electric grid, even the delivery of essential healthcare. Cyberattacks have disrupted commercial organizations, exposed our data and put our national security at risk. And although we can clearly see the escalation of this very clear and present threat, we still struggle to overcome the hurdles that stand between our public and private organizations and true collaborative efforts to strengthen our nation’s cybersecurity and resilience. There are many reasons for this. Private companies have historically been reticent to share information with government stakeholders, and vice versa. We have also lacked clear processes to share data at scale or to allow government assistance in our efforts to protect privately-owned infrastructure. This isn’t the fault of any past administrations, and we have made progress in each of these […]

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NSA to establish new Cybersecurity Directorate to boost defense

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The National Security Agency is creating a cybersecurity directorate to better protect the country against cyberthreats from foreign adversaries, an NSA spokesperson told CyberScoop. Anne Neuberger will be the intelligence agency’s first director for cybersecurity, a decision NSA Director Gen. Paul Nakasone is expected to make public Tuesday in New York City at the International Conference on Cyber Security. The directorate is slated to be operational Oct. 1 of this year, the spokesperson said. The move is intended to allow the NSA  — which is part of the U.S. military — to better provide information gleaned from signals intelligence to agencies and the private sector in order to protect national critical infrastructure, an NSA spokesperson said. “It’s a major organization that unifies our foreign intelligence and our cyberdefense mission, and it’s charged with preventing and eradicating threats to national security systems and the defense industrial base,” the official told CyberScoop. Civilian agencies — such as the Department of […]

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Former NSA contractor sentenced to 9 years for theft of government info

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Former NSA contractor Harold T. Martin was sentenced Friday to 9 years in prison for his role in a massive theft of classified documents. Martin was responsible for one of the largest leaks of U.S government secrets, after it was found that the former NSA contractor possessed up to 50 terabytes of classified government documents he collected over the course of two decades. Judge Richard Bennett’s sentence falls short of the maximum number of years Martin previously face — 10 years for each of the 20 counts against him — for unauthorized and willful retention of national defense information. However, the sentence aligns with the plea agreement his public defenders reached with the U.S. government. The U.S. attorneys said his theft called for “significant” prison time, according to the government’s sentencing memorandum, which CyberScoop obtained. “The exceptionally grave nature and circumstances of the defendant’s criminal conduct call for a significant […]

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Mueller report confirms Trump lobbied top intel officials to refute Russia stories

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President Donald Trump pushed top intelligence officials to refute information tied to the investigations into links between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, according to information publicly released Thursday in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report. According to the report, Trump phoned then-NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers on March 26, 2017 to complain the investigation was “messing up” his ability to get things done with Russia, as far as Rogers recalls. The president also asked Rogers if there was anything he could do to refute news stories linking him to Russia. Richard Ledgett, former NSA deputy director who was reportedly present for the exchange, drafted a memo about the substance of the call. He and Rogers both signed it and locked it in a safe. Ledgett “said it was the most unusual thing he had experienced in 40 years of government service,” the report states. By the time the phone call […]

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Ex-NSA chief welcomes more U.S. offensive operations in cyberspace

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Former National Security Agency director Michael Rogers has welcomed the Trump administration’s willingness to use cyber-operations to deter foreign adversaries, adding that the United States’ previous reluctance to do so was counterproductive. “My argument when I was [in government was]: “We want to keep the full range of options and capabilities available,” Rogers said Tuesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “One of the things that frustrated me at times was: Why are we taking one element just straight off the table?” said Rogers, who left the administration in May for the private sector. “I just thought, boy, if you’re in Moscow or Beijing, you are loving this approach to life because it doesn’t really change your risk calculus,” Rogers added. While NSA director from 2014 to 2018, he also led U.S. Cyber Command. Presidential Policy Directive 20, which then-President Barack Obama signed in 2012, had installed an intricate inter-agency legal […]

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Ex-NSA employees criticize Mike Rogers’ role with Israeli venture firm

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Some former National Security Agency officials have strongly criticized ex-NSA Director Adm. Michael Rogers’ decision to join the advisory board of a venture capital firm that is closely linked with an Israeli intelligence agency. The company, Team8, announced Rogers’ position last week. Founded by former members of the elite Israeli army intelligence group known as Unit 8200, Team8 researches cybersecurity market demand, raises investments from big tech companies, and creates startups based on those demand signals. It also describes itself as a think tank, and does its own threat research. Rogers, who headed NSA and U.S. Cyber Command for four years before stepping down this past May, will advise companies in Team8’s portfolio as well as companies under development. The retired admiral will be “instrumental in helping strategize” Team8’s expansion in the United States, the firm said in a statement last week. Rogers’ decision to join Team8 irked Robert Lee, a former Air Force officer and former NSA employee. […]

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The NSA now officially has a new chief

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Gen. Paul Nakasone, an experienced military leader with a unique background in cyber-operations and intelligence gathering, has been approved to take over the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command. The Senate confirmed Nakasone, who currently leads Army Cyber Command, by voice vote Tuesday morning. The promotion was expected for months and faced little opposition, but like most things in the Senate, it took some time to schedule. President Donald Trump nominated Nakasone for the job on Feb. 13. The previous NSA chief, Adm. Michael Rogers, is expected to officially retire soon after having served for four years at the top of the spy agency. During his tenure, the NSA attempted a massive reorganization effort known as “NSA21,” which combined certain components of the NSA’s defensive and offensive cyber teams for the first time. The current hierarchy, approved by Congress, prescribes that the leader of NSA is also simultaneously the head of U.S. Cyber Command, a still-nascent cyberwarfare […]

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Enemies of U.S. continue cyberattacks without fear of reprisal, NSA director nominee says

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Russia and China continue to hack into U.S. companies and government agencies because they aren’t afraid of a potential response, senior U.S. officials say. The Army general expected to be confirmed as the next head of the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command told senators at a congressional hearing on Thursday that he doesn’t believe U.S. adversaries in cyberspace fear any repercussions for conducting hacking campaigns and cyber-espionage. Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone’s bleak assessment at at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing comes two days after the the same committee grilled the outgoing Adm. Mike Rogers, who Nakasone would replace, for indicating that the U.S. does not have offensive plans in motion to retaliate against cyberattacks. Responding to a line of questioning from Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska., who called the U.S. “the cyber punching bag of the world”, Nakasone said that countries known to target the U.S. in cyberattacks are not deterred […]

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Enemies of U.S. continue cyberattacks without fear of reprisal, NSA director nominee says

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Russia and China continue to hack into U.S. companies and government agencies because they aren’t afraid of a potential response, senior U.S. officials say. The Army general expected to be confirmed as the next head of the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command told senators at a congressional hearing on Thursday that he doesn’t believe U.S. adversaries in cyberspace fear any repercussions for conducting hacking campaigns and cyber-espionage. Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone’s bleak assessment at at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing comes two days after the the same committee grilled the outgoing Adm. Mike Rogers, who Nakasone would replace, for indicating that the U.S. does not have offensive plans in motion to retaliate against cyberattacks. Responding to a line of questioning from Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska., who called the U.S. “the cyber punching bag of the world”, Nakasone said that countries known to target the U.S. in cyberattacks are not deterred […]

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Next NSA director is chosen by Trump

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President Donald Trump plans to nominate the head of Army Cyber Command, Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone, to be the next NSA director and commander of U.S. Cyber Command, White House cybersecurity coordinator Rob Joyce announced on Twitter late Tuesday. Nakasone is a respected military professional who has gained a reputation for pioneering the development of the the U.S.’s premier cyberwarfare force. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the first Asian-American to hold the position. NSA Director Mike Rogers is expected to retire this spring. CyberScoop, The Washington Post, Cipher Brief and Politico all reported in recent weeks that Nakasone was the favorite to land the job. If confirmed, he will bring an innate familiarity to the role given his recent work with U.S. Cyber Command, a partner organization to NSA, which is similarly headquartered at Fort Meade military base in Maryland. Cyber Command includes the cyber mission teams of each military service branch, including the […]

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