Four NSA Directors Address American Offensive Cyber Power
Not all chips pose equal national security risk, directors said. They also urged more precise export controls
SAN FRANCISCO, March 24, 2026 — Four directors of the National Security Agency gathered Tuesday to assess the state of American cyber warfare, from a 2008 classified network breach that triggered the creation of U.S. Cyber Command to the age of autonomous AI agents.
At the RSA Conference, the world's largest cybersecurity gathering, they said the United States had not achieved deterrence in cyberspace and debated over whether legislation was the right tool to confront its most serious threats.
The cyber command’s origins
In October 2008, a five-person team investigating suspicious activity on a Defense Department network found 1,500 pieces of Russian malware on a classified system. The breach was contained and patched within 42 hours, said General Keith Alexander, the longest-serving NSA director and founding commander of the cyber command under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
