Booz Allen Hamilton Executive Vice President Mike McConnell shared a stage for a lunchtime discussion about cyberpower and cybersecurity with James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic, on July 7, 2010, at Doerr-Hosier Center on the Aspen Institute campus. McConnell leads Booz Allen’s National Security Business. He spent his career in the Navy as an intelligence officer, eventually serving as director of the National Security Agency in the early 1990s and as director of National Intelligence from 2007 to 2009. McConnell has been working on cybersecurity issues since his time at NSA, and continues to do so in his current role at Booz Allen. He shared his experience and wisdom with Fallows and the audience at Ideas Fest.
Watch the full conversation between Mike McConnell and James Fallows:
Why is cybersecurity such an important issue right now?
McConnell: This phenomenon of cyber has connected the globe from one side to the other in less than a second. Increasingly, the nation state has come to depend upon it, and we have to understand that. While we want to preserve privacy and freedom to navigate in cyberspace, we also have to mitigate potential vulnerability. The potential vulnerabilities are catastrophic if someone should choose to attack us.
In terms of our national debate on cybersecurity, what does success look like for you in 25 years?
McConnell: The government’s role is going to be very different. We’re going to have a system that allows us to move through with anonymity if we choose to do so. We’re going to have partnerships with other nations where we agree to secure cyberspace the same way we’ve agreed to secure the airways. We need a similar process for international movement of digital information, where it’s recognized that it is in the interest of all parties to have it safely secured.
You talk about the possibility of two systems, the “wild wild web” and a secure World Wide Web. Is there level of risk tolerance that we need to talk about that allows those two forms Internet activity to coexist?
McConnell: Absolutely. But think about it this way: We’re all riding the same Internet, right? The U.S. is sending military orders around the world on the same physical infrastructure that grandma’s fruitcake recipe travels on. So what do we do differently to secure information? Think of it as locking it in a steel box and sending it from point A to point B. We encrypt information so we can know with mathematical certainty if it has been tampered with. Some people would call it a VPN, a virtual private network. It is a way to conduct business inside the Internet that allows the necessary level of security.
You spoke about 50-year cycles of technology and the changing role of government over that time. Rail and automobiles are past examples you’ve cited in explaining government’s changing relationship with an industry. Where are we now in this cycle in terms of cyber technology?
McConnell: We’re about halfway through it. Today, information technology globally is about $5 trillion, about double the activity of automobile industry. The Internet is routing power in the smart grid to places that need it and moving money in the trillions every day, and running our transportation system. If something goes wrong, it hurts lots of people. That’s the balance we’re after: How to preserve the goodness of anonymity and privacy in the Web and achieve a level of security that gives you the attributes of attribution and data integrity.
You sometimes refer to the Federalist Papers and cybersecurity in the same breath. What are you thinking about?
McConnell: Informed debate. The question is, how do we frame this discussion so we get to the right solutions? One answer is from those who have credibility on the topic: Business leaders of standing who can influence the nation, who have credibility and no apparent self-interest. They are well informed and lead the debate and promote public dialogue between the public and the private sector. That’s what I am advocating for.
Over the next two years, what role do you see for organizations like Booz Allen in this debate?
McConnell: We’re a business and have some members in the organization that are passionate about this issue. When our clients would ask us for insight or understanding or recommendations, we’re certainly going to have to participate in the debate. We have a point of view that we’re going to share with them.
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