The Cyberboss Steps Forward

摘要

General Keith Alexander used to be anonymous-which is how he liked it. But after recent disclosures about surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA), which Alexander leads, the mild-mannered intelligence officer stepped forward to argue that fears of an Orwellian surveillance state are wildly inflated and that the NSA keeps Americans safe. The public role is new for the 61-year-old four-star, who told Congress on June 18 that the NSA's domestic snooping targets only foreigners abroad and has helped stop dozens of terrorist "events." Alexander, who was tapped in 2005 by Donald Rumsfeld to run the NSA and will retire next year, must worry about a different type of threat as well: he also heads the Cyber Command, the Pentagon office in charge of planning for and waging computer warfare.