Navy Admiral Michael S. Rogers, Auburn alumni and head of the NSA, came to the Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center to give a talk about cybersecurity in the modern day.
Rogers discussed some recent challenges the NSA had faced against foreign threats.
“Most nation states, groups and individuals out there have clearly not yet come to the conclusion that there is a significant price to pay for these sort of actions,” Rogers said. “You see that in the Russian hack at the Democratic National Convention, you see that in the North Korean hack against Sony.”
Rogers gave a Q&A after his speech, answering audience members’ questions about issues such as the threat of the Islamic State in the cyber world.
In response to one audience member’s question about whether the battle against the Islamic State could be considered a “world war,” Rogers said the issue ran deeper.
“The thing about ISIL is that their ideology is their most powerful weapon,” Rogers said. “Their victory online and in people’s minds is just as important, maybe more important than their victory on the battlefield.”
Rogers answered one audience member’s question regarding this week’s massive DDoS attacks against websites like Netflix and the New York Times along the East Coast.
“We can’t change the fundamental dynamics that we’re dealing in right now," Rogers said. "This is going in a direction that’s going to cost us billions, if not trillions of dollars over time."
Rogers said the cost of this will have a big impact on Americans.
"That’s going to have a significant impact on our everyday lives from a convenience standpoint to much more than just inconvenience," Rogers said.
Rogers said the next step is to upgrade networks in order to keep up with opponents.
“We’re going to have to upgrade our networks," Roger said. "We’re going to have to make it harder for our opponents.”
Rogers said it was important to provide students with useful cybersecurity knowledge and information to combat future conflicts in cyberspace.
“If you think about it, some of the greatest technologies used in war by the government, weren’t created by the government," Rogers said. "They were created in universities and think tanks. I think we should be doing the exact same thing with cyber.”
Auburn could be a key player in moving forward with this process, Rogers said.
“Education, research, thought-places like Auburn are a big part of how we’re gonna move ourselves forward," Rogers said.
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