National Security Law Today National Security Law Today

Could the personal data of millions of Americans be our country's greatest national security treasure? This week, host Elisa is joined by Brandon Pugh, Policy Director and Resident Senior Fellow for the Cybersecurity and Emerging Threats team at the R Street Institute. Together, they discuss the silent behemoth that is online personal data collection and distribution. What could a foreign adversary do with our bulk data? And how close is Congress to passing a framework to address this growing threat?
Brandon Pugh is Policy Director and Resident Senior Fellow for the R Street Institute’s Cybersecurity and Emerging Threats team

References:
Register to attend our June 28th luncheon program: "The National Security Constitution in the 21st Century: A discussion with Harold Hongju Koh"
R Street Event, June 18th: "Cybersecurity: Tackling the Policy Puzzle"
The AI Summit at Blackhat USA – August 6th 2024
National Cyber Security Strategy, March 2023
Microtargeting Unmasked: Safeguarding Law Enforcement, the Military, and the Nation in the Era of Personalized Threats
The General Data Protection Regulation
The American Privacy Rights Act (APRA)
H.R.8152, American Data Privacy and Protection Act
H.R.7520, Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024
S. 1409, Kids Online Safety Act
Cyber Civil Defense Initiative

On May 29th, the Standing Committee on Law and National Security hosted a luncheon featuring Jonathan Meyer, General Counsel for the DHS. Moderated by committee member Harvey Rishikof, Jonathan shared some of the department's key insights from the 2024 Homeland Threat Assessment, highlighting threats like foreign and domestic terrorism, immigration, cyber attacks, and the leveraging of AI technologies to create and spread disinformation. The following episode features his commentary from the event, as well as questions from the audience.
Jonathan E. Meyer is General Counsel for the DHS
Moderated by Harvey Rishikof, Senior Counselor of the ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security

References:
C-SPAN: "Homeland Security General Counsel on Agency Priorities". May 29th, 2024
"Homeland Threat Assessment 2024". The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis
H.R. 815, "Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024"
FISA, Section 230
The General Data Protection Regulation

(Part 2 of 2) Continuing our series on the intersection of sci-fi and national security, host Elisa is joined by Sunita Patel, Senior Assistant General Counsel for Product Security at Micron. Together they unpack the 1990's film, Total Recall, exploring themes of memory, identity, and reality. What can sci-fi tales like Total Recall teach us about real "brain-computer" projects like Nuralink? And do we have the right agency to oversee this type of technology, taking all of its benefits and risks into account?

Sunita Patel is the Senior Assistant General Counsel for Product Security at Micron

References:
Ramkumar, Amrith. “The Solar Breakthrough That Could Help the U.S. Compete with China.”The Wall Street Journal, 30 May 2024
Rivkin, David, and Lee Casey. Opinion | Israel, Hamas and the Law of War, 29 May 2024
Verhoeven, Paul. Total Recall. TriStar Pictures, 1990
We Can Remember It for You Wholesale, by Philip K. Dick
"Driving U.S. Innovation in Artificial Intelligence: A Roadmap for Artificial Intelligence Policy in the United States Senate." The Bipartisan Senate AI Working Group
“AI Governance Needs Sociotechnical Expertise.” Data & Society. 15 May 2024
Markoff, John. “Elon Musk’s Neuralink Wants ‘sewing Machine-like’ Robots to Wire Brains to the Internet.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 July 2019
H.R. 4346, Chips and Science Act
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
S. 2103, Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024

Continuing our series on the intersection of sci-fi and national security, host Elisa is joined by Sunita Patel, Senior Assistant General Counsel for Product Security at Micron. Together they unpack the 1990's film, Total Recall, exploring themes of memory, identity, and reality. What can sci-fi tales like Total Recall teach us about real "brain-computer" projects like Neuralink ? And how could technologies like Neuralink impact society in the future, to include on topics of national security, medical care, cybersecurity policymaking, and privacy?

Sunita Patel is the Senior Assistant General Counsel for Product Security at Micron

References:
Verhoeven, Paul. Total Recall. TriStar Pictures, 1990
We Can Remember It for You Wholesale, by Philip K. Dick
"Driving U.S. Innovation in Artificial Intelligence: A Roadmap for Artificial Intelligence Policy in the United States Senate." The Bipartisan Senate AI Working Group
“AI Governance Needs Sociotechnical Expertise.” Data & Society. 15 May 2024
Markoff, John. “Elon Musk’s Neuralink Wants ‘sewing Machine-like’ Robots to Wire Brains to the Internet.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 July 2019
H.R. 4346, Chips and Science Act
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
S. 2103, Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024

This week, Elisa dives straight in with a quick national security news update, spotlighting the recent death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, as well as the ICC announcement of war crime charges against both Israel and Hamas leaders in relation to the Oct. 7th attacks and aftermath. Following the news update, Elisa revisits a previously aired discussion with Dimitri Alperovitch, co-founder of Crowdstrike Inc. and a visionary in cybersecurity, on global power dynamics in the cyber realm.
Dmitri Alperovitch is the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of the Silverado Policy Accelerator, a non-profit focused on advancing American prosperity and global leadership in the 21st century and beyond:

References:

Alperovitch, Dmitri, and Garrett Graff. World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the 21st Century. PublicAffairs, 2024
Listen in to Dimitri's podcast, "Geopolitics Decanted" by Silverado
The CHIPS Act of 2022
Alperovitch, Dmitri. “The Case for Cyber-Realism.” Foreign Affairs, 2022
NSLT Ep. 277, "Justice on the World Stage: Inside the ICC with Cora True-Frost (Part 1)
NSLT Ep. 277, "Justice on the World Stage: Inside the ICC with Cora True-Frost (Part 2)

Looking for the latest national security news? This week, Elisa breaks down recent national security related headlines, including Russia's advancement in Ukraine, major U.S. leaps in quantum computing, and a preview of next week's episode covering how your personal data, including DNA data, are quietly being bought and sold.

References:

"Russia intensifies Attacks on Ukraine's Kharkiv Region." Aljazeera. May 13 2024
"Turkey's trade with Russia drops after U.S. pressure." Financial Times. April 30 2024
E.O. 14081: Executive Order on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy