NSA Chief Asks Techies for Help, Not Backbench Criticism

Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, tried to repair relations with the tech sector during a keynote speech at the Black Hat cybersecurity conference after damaging revelations about two broad digital surveillance programs.

Gen Alexander said the programs revealed by leaker Edward Snowden receive intense oversight from Congress and the judiciary and are “100 percent auditable.” He urged critics in the tech community to work with the government to improve the programs rather than criticize them from the sidelines. “The assumption is people are just out there wheeling and dealing and nothing could be further from the truth,” Gen Alexander said. “We have tremendous oversight.” Skeptical audience members heckled Alexander several times during the speech, accusing him of lying to Congress about the surveillance programs, saying they didn’t trust him and urging him to “read the constitution.” He also received a few rounds of applause when he described NSA surveillance information helping to foil terrorist plots.