The National Security Institute was excited to host the next event in our Technology, Innovation, and American National Security project.

On Thursday, August 13, 2020, NSI hosted Tackling the Techlash.  In recent years, U.S. technology companies have been facing an increasingly hostile public reaction here in the U.S. and abroad. These concerns, expressed most prominently in the United States by political leaders at the state and federal level and in Europe by national and EU legislators are based on perceived threats to privacy created by these companies, their role in creating a new economic reality that may displace jobs, and other significant concerns.  As a result, some of America’s most innovative companies are party to a mounting number of lawsuits and claims of antitrust abuses.  At the same time, the U.S. government’s relationship with these technology giants remains fraught in the aftermath of the Snowden revelations a half-decade ago and the companies’ alignment with particular advocacy groups.  Despite these trends, Americans are engaging with these companies more than ever.  In turn, these tech companies continue to grow, innovate, and drive the U.S. economy which fuels American national security.

Our panel of experts addressed how the U.S. government can address legitimate public concerns without impairing US innovation, economic growth, and national security.

Our panel featured:

Aaron Hughes

NSI Advisory Board member and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy

Aaron Hughes is the General Vice President and CISO at Albertsons Companies. Previously, Mr. Hughes served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy. In this position, he was responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of cyber policies, strategies, operations, and plans for the Department of Defense. As the senior civilian responsible for DoD activities in the cyber domain he engaged regularly with the White House and organizations across the US Government ...

Randal Milch

former General Counsel of Verizon and Co-Chair of the NYU Center for Cybersecurity

Randal Milch is the Co-Chair of the NYU Center for Cybersecurity, a Distinguished Fellow at the Reiss Center on Law and Security, and a Professor of Practice at NYU School of Law. He serves as the Faculty Co-Director of the M.S in Cybersecurity Risk and Strategy Program.  Prior to coming to NYU Milch was the General Counsel and head of public policy at Verizon Communications.   At Verizon, Milch chaired the Verizon Executive Security Council, ...

Samantha Ravich

Commissioner on the Cyberspace Solarium Commission and former Deputy National Security Advisor for Vice President Cheney

Dr. Samantha Ravich is the chairman of Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation and its Transformative Cyber Innovation Lab and the principal investigator on FDD’s Cyber-Enabled Economic Warfare project. She is also a senior advisor at FDD, serving on the advisory boards of FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP) and Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP). Samantha serves as vice chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board ...