Speaking

Glenn moderated a virtual fireside conversation with Michael Casey, Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), on the changing nature of counterintelligence (CI) threats. Suzanne Spaulding, Director of the Defending Democratic Institutions Project, ISP. Director Casey discussed the recently issued National Counterintelligence Strategy, focusing on an expanded range of threats from China in particular, and how private industry can protect itself. The conversation also covered the role of the NCSC, the overall nature of foreign threats to U.S. innovation and critical infrastructure and how the private sector can work with and benefit from the NCSC.

For many Americans, it’s hard to imagine life without a mobile phone. In fact, over 95 percent use them to stay in touch with friends and family, pay for goods and services, plan trips and more.

But along with convenience, mobile phones also bring cybersecurity and privacy risks that are often overlooked. Users face text message interception, malicious applications, and phishing that can lead to fraud or data loss. Though these threats have existed for years, the average user doesn’t know enough about them or how to best protect themselves.

Policy proposals, including calls for interoperability and secure-by-design/secure-by-default approaches, could improve the situation if scoped and implemented correctly—but they could also lead to unintended consequences.

Join us for a virtual panel featuring experts with backgrounds spanning government, industry and civil society. Panelists will explore the mobile device threat landscape, best practices for security, and implications for both national and international policy efforts.

A wide-ranging discussion with U.S. Army General Paul M. Nakasone, Director of the National Security Agency, who oversees the nation’s premier signals and cybersecurity intelligence service. General Nakasone  discusses with CSIS Senior Adviser and former NSA General Counsel Glenn Gerstell his unique five-year perspective on geopolitical upheaval, evolving threat matrixes, advances in artificial intelligence, the power of partnerships, and importantly, the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

Is TikTok really a national security threat? Even if it is, does banning it make sense? We’re happy to accept the benefits of social media, and more broadly, the digital revolution — but is our nation ready to deal with the challenges and threats imposed by new technology? Moderator: Adam Klein, director of the Strauss Center for International Security & Law.

Tik Tok, the Chinese-owned social media platform, has taken the U.S. by storm with nearly two thirds of American teenagers currently active on the app. Through a national security lens, Tik Tok is a giant red flag – Congress is advancing legislation to enable a nationwide ban over growing data-privacy concerns. But would a flat ban actually hurt more than it helps? This week, host Elisa welcomes Glenn Gerstell, former General Counsel at the National Security Agency. Together they examine Tik Tok’s business model, what user data the company collects, and why concerns over transparency are legitimate. What does Tik Tok know about us? Is it just government employees that should be concerned? And is a nationwide flat ban just a slippery slope for future social media legislation?

In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host and Former CIA Acting Director Michael Morell speaks with Glenn about how and when the NSA is authorized to use electronic surveillance to collect intelligence on foreign targets. Glenn offers a detailed explanation of the origins and evolution of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the statute, most commonly referred to as Section 702, that allows electronic surveillance using U.S. electronic communications service providers. He and Morell walk through the legal limitations put forth in the statute and the debate currently surrounding its reauthorization by Congress.

Every fall, the Public Affairs Lecture Series (PALS) offers a dozen lectures on major issues in domestic and international affairs, featuring nationally and internationally renowned speakers, to a group of more than 300 lifelong learners. Special Guest Glenn Gerstell discusses how cyberattacks and defense is a new and extremely dangerous aspect of international and domestic conflict.

Current CISO, board members, and former top federal cyber officials “role play” a board of directors meeting, with real examples and specific options, including dealing with the FBI, CISA, insurers, customers, and the news media, negotiating the ransom, directors’ responsibilities, and repairing the company’s reputation. Glenn is joined by panelists, Preston Golson, Director, Brunswick Group, Robert Huber, Chief Security Officer, Tenable, Inc., and Suzanne Spaulding, Commissioner, Cyberspace Solarium, Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS).

Theaters for conflict have grown in the last several decades to now include the digital universe and cyberspace. The borderless nature of these forums enables perpetrators to attack critical infrastructure, large populations and pose a serious threat to U.S. national security. Cyber disruptions are widespread with the potential to impact every aspect of society in both the public and private spheres. With the importance of protecting intellectual property also being a major consideration in the cyber realm, this event will answer questions regarding how the U.S. and private industry can innovate to protect against malign actors using technology for nefarious purposes. Glenn is joined by host the Hon. Manisha Singh and co-speaker Guillermo Christensen.

Host and Milbank partner Allan Marks sits down with former NSA General Counsel (and former Milbank partner) Glenn S. Gerstell for a regulatory overview and an insider’s perspective on the current threat landscape for cyber risks. Glenn also shares his thinking on how governments can better address cyber risks to agencies, private entities and along global supply chains, and the role of cryptocurrencies in ransomware attacks.

This escalation of international security cyber-attacks poses complex questions about privacy in the 21st century. The right to individual privacy — codified in the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment — is central to American society. How can the U.S. strengthen its national security infrastructure without compromising citizens’ constitutional rights to privacy?

This livestream features Glenn Gerstell, General Counsel of the National Security Agency (2015-2020). The conversation is moderated by Sina Beaghley, Senior National Security Policy Researcher at the RAND Corporation and deliberates how cyber-technology is shaping the future of privacy, politics, and national security.

Glenn Gerstell joins a CSIS Defending Democratic Institutions Project panel of policymakers and practitioners to discuss the lessons learned, implications of, and the path forward from the recent cybersecurity breach.

Michael Morell speaks with former NSA general counsel Glenn Gerstell about national security issues stemming from disinformation on social media. Gerstell outlines legal, technological, and policy approaches the new administration can take to combat the spread of disinformation on social media.

Glenn Gerstell discusses the national security burdens that our private sector must bear due to the advent of new technology and widespread disinformation online.

Glenn Gerstell discusses how the United States undertakes sophisticated intelligence collection while staying consistent with a constitutional obligation to protect the privacy of American citizens.

Former CIA Acting Director Michael Morell and former NSA General Counsel Glenn S. Gerstell discuss national and digital intelligence in the middle of a pandemic and examine its lasting impact on the US intelligence community.

An in-depth discussion of how vulnerabilities created by technological developments across the globe have serious implications for the U.S. economy and national security, and how those vulnerabilities are centered on China.

Glenn S. Gerstell discusses the real danger in how the United States underestimates and is unprepared for the impact of technology as it advances in the modern age — an unacceptable risk for our national security.

A keynote speech focused on emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and 5G networks, and how they will affect matters of national intelligence and security, including the global threat cyberattacks pose to elections.