The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama System, hosted retired four-star General Paul M. Nakasone, former commander of the United States Cyber Command and former leader of the U.S. National Security Agency, as part of UAH’s 2024 Distinguished Lecture Series. The event took place on the UAH campus on Oct. 1 and showcased the speaker’s extensive expertise in national security, geopolitics and cyber defense technology.
Nakasone’s military career spanned from 1986-2024, and he is the longest-serving leader of the U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency/Central Security Service. His efforts were regarded as fundamental to laying the groundwork for U.S. national security in the cyber age, and for more than three decades the former director navigated pivotal moments in modern warfare and digital defense, from 9/11 to Afghanistan, while also examining the challenges and opportunities organizations face in the rapidly changing tech and security landscape working to shape the future.
“Change is coming rapidly,” Nakasone said in beginning his talk. “The scope, scale, speed and sophistication of our national security environment is becoming rapidly different. In 1986 we approached national security in a binary manner: war or peace. For 70-plus years we have focused on one nation, Russia. Now there is competition, crises or conflict.”
The former director made clear which region he sees as the prime source of many of today’s looming challenges.
“China is a nation that could rewrite the world order. President Xi [Jinping] is now in his third term. He sees a declining west and a rising China. China is now number one in naval ships in the world, and they will have increased their nuclear warheads from 200 to 1,000 by 2030. So now we have to focus on two different nuclear powers, without the risk mitigations like a red line phone to both Russia and China.”
Michael Mercier | UAH
The retired general has had substantial personal experience in dealing with the pace of coming change, as he noted in reflecting on his time at the NSA. “I made a list of ten things and told them to call me in the middle of the night if one of them happened. In 2018, my first year on the job, I was called three times. The last year I was there they called me 11 times in one month alone.”
Nakasone went on to detail how fast-moving technology and other factors are making the concept of defending a country according to maps or bygone military stratagems a challenging policy in today’s national security environment.
“What are borderless threats?” the former leader asked. “Cyberterrorism, ransomware, global pandemics, climate change. What’s the most destructive technology you’ve seen in your lifetime? I’d say the smartphone. In February 2022, the Ukraine navy had zero ships. Now they have sunk over half the Russian Black Sea fleet, and they still have zero ships. They have done this with waves of drone attacks. This is a great change in warfare today.”
Another big factor in this ongoing technological revolution that cannot be ignored is the lightspeed advances being made in Artificial Intelligence (AI).
“Who wouldn’t like to have a personal tutor in calculus?” Nakasone said. “What about helping to grow the food we need? What about job displacement? This is going to change so rapidly – it’s going to be months, not years. In the Department of Defense, we approach AI with the idea there is always going to be a human in the loop. But we are going to have to become attuned to what AI can do for us. When Russia knocked out Ukraine’s communication structure, Elon Musk provided Starlink satellites to provide communications.
“The U. S. needs to keep its dominance in Artificial Intelligence,” Nakasone concluded. “It will secure our nation for a long, long time. This is the future for us. How do we become a much more agile nation? With a series of partners and teams of critical thinkers. The challenge for the leaders of our government and the DOD is to put more development into technology. This is the power of higher education. You have 500 students here with security clearances. You have a business community that supports this. This is what I mean about facing change. The really good news is what goes on here in Huntsville: students motivated to tackle the problems we are facing. You have the opportunity to make this the cybersecurity capital of the south.”
