After managing to speak with my contacts at security expo Black Hat 2013 I can confirm that the NSA director, General Keith Alexander, did go ahead and deliver his presentation at the event – just hours after details of the spy organisation’s XKeyscore were leaked to the press.
In fact, he took a right verbal pasting, by all accounts. About half an hour into his speech, members of the audience began to get a little boisterous.
John McCoy, a security consultant and perhaps a big William Wallace fan, screeched: "Freedom!"
To be fair, Alexander didn’t do a runner or ignore the interjection. He kept his cool, replying: "Exactly. We stand for freedom."
"Bulls***!" McCoy retorted, to applause. Again, Alexander remained calm, responding: "I think what you’re saying is that in these cases, what’s the distinction, where’s the discussion and what tools do we have to stop this."
"No, I’m saying I don’t trust you!" McCoy yelled before another member of the audience piped up: "You lied to Congress. Why would people believe you’re not lying to us right now?"
Alexander denied lying to Congress, adding: "The whole reason I came here was to ask you to help us make it better. And if you disagree with what we’re doing, you should help us twice as much."
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So should we feel a bit sorry for him? Or did he have it coming?
In any case, the heckles were to be expected. The Xkeyscore – which covers browsing history, emails, social media activity and is accessible to NSA analysts with little or no prior authorisation – was just the latest unsavoury revelation that the NSA has been called out on.
I think I might have joined in with the heckling as well!
