Speaking

Glenn S. Gerstell: “The challenge is simply how do we preserve our American values of liberty and freedom while constructing appropriate new government structures and laws to deal with these new threats?”

Glenn S. Gerstell delivers refreshingly candid and insightful talks informed by four decades of leadership at the highest levels of national security policy and international law. He challenges his audiences to respond to the new risks and changing realities posed by rapidly evolving technology, including how cyber-technology is shaping the future of privacy, politics, and national security.

Gerstell has spoken at cybersecurity conferences sponsored by RSA in San Francisco, at conferences of the Cloud Security Alliance and the Consumer Electronics Show, public policy organizations such as the Council on Foreign Relations and the Pacific Council, at federal judicial conferences, and at a wide range of universities including Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Duke, New York University, Stanford University, University of Chicago, University of Texas, and University of Virginia.

Recent speaking topics include, “The Challenges of the Digital Revolution for Our Way of Life,” “Coping with a Rising China that Wants to Displace America,” “National Security Challenges facing America across the Globe,” and “Is the Fourth Amendment Ready for the Digital Revolution…and What does Privacy Really Mean Today Anyway?”

Glenn is represented by Leading Authorities, Inc.

Glenn S. Gerstell: “The challenge is simply how do we preserve our American values of liberty and freedom while constructing appropriate new government structures and laws to deal with these new threats?”

Glenn S. Gerstell delivers refreshingly candid and insightful talks informed by four decades of leadership at the highest levels of national security policy and international law. He challenges his audiences to respond to the new risks and changing realities posed by rapidly evolving technology, including how cyber-technology is shaping the future of privacy, politics, and national security.

Gerstell has spoken at cybersecurity conferences sponsored by RSA in San Francisco, at conferences of the Cloud Security Alliance and the Consumer Electronics Show, public policy organizations such as the Council on Foreign Relations and the Pacific Council, at federal judicial conferences, and at a wide range of universities including Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Duke, New York University, Stanford University, University of Chicago, University of Texas, and University of Virginia.

Recent speaking topics include, “The Challenges of the Digital Revolution for Our Way of Life, ” “Coping with a Rising China that Wants to Displace America,” “National Security Challenges facing America across the Globe,” and “Is the Fourth Amendment Ready for the Digital Revolution…and What does Privacy Really Mean Today Anyway?”

Glenn is represented by Leading Authorities, Inc.

RECENT SPEAKING TOPICS

The Challenges of the Digital Revolution for Our Way of Life

We tend to think too conventionally and have difficulty imagining something completely new. But that is precisely what we must do in order to cope with extraordinary change that is about to sweep over us. The advent of the internet of things, 5G telephony, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other products of the digital revolution will present major benefits for society but also extraordinary challenges that we have not addressed. It will change the way we think about business, the role of government, and personal interactions. Yet we will almost surely underestimate the implications of technology.

Coping with a Rising China that Wants to Displace America

For the first time since the United States became a global power, we must confront another country that represents not merely a political or military threat, but also an existential economic one. China is an adversary and partner rolled into one, and there is no better example of how global technological development and trade produce complicated interdependencies. China’s Belt and Road Initiative — their worldwide development plan integrating infrastructure, markets and political systems — aims at nothing less than using their technical and financial prowess to replace the United States as the global power.

National Security Challenges facing America across the Globe

The next war could be won without a shot being fired but by an adversary’s turning off our stock exchange, our electric grid, or our civilian air traffic control system. Prior challenges such the specter of atomic bombs in the Cold War or terrorist acts following 9/11 inspired greater fear, but in some ways those threats were more manageable than the complex challenges we now face. Dealing with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are themselves daunting challenges. We also face the continuing threat of terrorism and new threats from cyberattacks and biological and chemical warfare.

Is the Fourth Amendment Ready for the Digital Revolution…and What does Privacy Really Mean Today Anyway?

As more and more of our lives become digital, and we share more of our personal experiences online, what does privacy really mean anymore? The 4th Amendment, which limits unreasonable searches and seizures, didn’t even apply to tapping telephones, telegraphs and radio signals until 1967. But since then, our courts have struggled to keep up with the digital revolution and Congress has tried to balance privacy and civil liberties with national security needs. At the NSA, we daily coped with the competing challenges of keeping our nation safe while adhering to the Constitution.

RECENT TALKS

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 Front Row View of the NSA: Reflections from General Paul M. Nakasone

Center for Strategic & International Studies,  August 10, 2023

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).

TikTok Talk: Is Social Media Really a National Security Threat?

#Connexions Conference at UT Austin,  April 18, 2023

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 Series: To Fix or Flat Ban? with Glenn Gerstell

National Security Law Today podcast, March 2, 2023

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?

Understanding Electronic Surveillance with NSA’s Former Top Lawyer

CBS News, “Intelligence Matters” with Michael Morell,  January 25, 2023

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.

Cyber Warfare

PALS Lecture Series, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Becton College of Arts and Sciences,  October 31, 2022

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).

Evaluating Cyber Warfare and Espionage

American Security Project, April 28, 2022

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.

“CITI Hearing: Tech & Information Warfare: The Competition for Influence and the DOD”

U.S. House Armed Services Committee hearing, April 30, 2021

Lessons Learned from a Cyberattack: SolarWinds Conversation (Part 2 of 2)

Center for Strategic and International Studies, February 26, 2021

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.

Disinformation and the National Security Implications of Technology

The Institute of World Politics, December 11, 2020

(Click on the video above to watch, or click here to listen to the audio only via Soundcloud)

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

Balancing Electronic Intelligence with Democratic Rights of Privacy

CSIS “Engine Room of Democracy,” podcast, August 11, 2020

(To play audio, click the image above or follow this link to the Megaphone audio)

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.

Intelligence in a Pandemic

Webinar in association with the Schar Center at George Mason University, April 30, 2020

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.

Glenn S. Gerstell speaks at The Cipher Brief Threat Conference

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.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution

The Pacific Council – PolicyWest 2019, October 2019

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.

The Future of the Cyber Landscape

ABA Rue of Law Initiative, May 31, 2019

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.