Speaking at a forum on cyber security threats, the Director of the National Security Agency cautioned against increasing the role that for-profit entities are playing in US military operations.
When asked a question about the possible threat that could come from a private security going rogue–a reference to a plotline in the most recent “Call of Duty” video game–Adm. Mike Rogers intoned that it wasn’t worth entirely ignoring.
Rogers said that he believed “the application of force” is “best controlled through the nation state,” in remarks delivered Thursday at the Cybersecurity Technology Summit, a symposium hosted by an industry group called the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association. He also noted that he was “not a big fan of the corporate world taking on this idea.”
A membership group, AFCEA is compromised of individuals form the military, government, and private sector.
Referencing stories of the Revolutionary War, in which the fledgling new government of the colonies relied on private shipmen to fight the British at seas, Rogers noted that the private sector taking on traditionally military roles is “not without precedence,” and that “nature abhors a vacuum”–a nod to the US security state’s reliance on enterprising wheelers and dealers.
Without referencing any company specifically, Rogers said he was “looking at analysis on some entities that are already offering a wide range of services” in the field of force, but, that he believed “in the long run that’s not in the best interest.”
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have unleashed lucrative contracts for private mercenary forces. In 2013 alone, government watchdog reports counted more than 108,000 private security contractors operating in Afghanistan. At the time, there were only 67,000 US troops in the country.
According to the Congressional Research Service, the Pentagon dished out more than $160 billion on private security firms in Iraq and Afghanistan over the previous six years.
While wary of further privatization itself, the NSA chief was quick to exalt partnerships between the spy agency and the private sector.
“The first thing I always say when I’m up on the Hill testifying is…we have got to get this cyber information sharing legislation passed,” Rogers said.
One version of that law enforcement reform popular among legislators is known as CISPA. The bill could, according to privacy advocates, lead to the federal government collecting even more personal data of American citizens unsuspected of any criminal activity. The bill would grant legal immunity to companies that share users’ information with the government–a change purportedly aimed at empowering law enforcement officers gathering cyber threat data.
