# NSA Scandal Part I-Lost-Count: Keith Alexander and the Golden Parachute **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 30, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-scandal-part-i-lost-count-keith-alexander-and-the-golden-parachute/694448 "2014-07-30T21:51:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-scandal-part-i-lost-count-keith-alexander-and-the-golden-parachute/694448/1 "2014-07-30T21:51:30Z")
[The story](http://boingboing.net/2014/07/29/former-nsa-chief-to-profit-fro.html) is, on its surface, a typical example of Washington revolving-door payola: > [@](#): > > Keith Alexander, the former director of the National Security Administration, is filing for tech security patents related to his work running the NSA. > > He’s hawking a hacker/intrusion-detection service to banks and big corporations for a reported fee of one million dollars a month. > > Is it ethical for an NSA chief to pursue patents on technologies directly related to their work running the agency? He is believed to be the first former NSA director do so. Will the Justice Department investigate? Don’t hold your breath… What gives this particular case its Pittable distinction is [Alexander’s own role in creating the problems](http://www.fiercegovernmentit.com/story/paper-nsa-surveillance-harming-internet-underming-cybersecurity-hurting-us/2014-07-30) for which he now sells solutions: > [@](#): > > …The NSA has also seriously damaged Internet security by weakening key encryption standards, creating backdoors into widely used hardware and software products, stockpiling information about security vulnerabilities rather than disclosing them and undertaking hacking operations that undermine the global Internet’s overall security, the paper said… Well, this certainly puts the crass in his [Crassus](http://www.fsmitha.com/bits/bit-crassus.htm) reincarnation. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-scandal-part-i-lost-count-keith-alexander-and-the-golden-parachute/694448/2 "2014-07-31T16:34:52Z")
If he created it while working for the NSA (and I get that the article does not actually say this), wouldn’t it _belong_ to the NSA? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-scandal-part-i-lost-count-keith-alexander-and-the-golden-parachute/694448/3 "2014-07-31T17:07:14Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > If he created it while working for the NSA (and I get that the article does not actually say this), wouldn’t it _belong_ to the NSA? Given that his skills are in administration rather than technogeekery, it is unlikely that he himself personally created it either during or after his government employment. Of course, that simply shifts the issue onto the actual creators, and raises the addition question of whether they are still working for the government or have gone through the same revolving door to FreeMoneyLand. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-scandal-part-i-lost-count-keith-alexander-and-the-golden-parachute/694448/4 "2014-07-31T18:21:29Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > What gives this particular case its Pittable distinction is [Alexander’s own role in creating the problems](http://www.fiercegovernmentit.com/story/paper-nsa-surveillance-harming-internet-underming-cybersecurity-hurting-us/2014-07-30) for which he now sells solutions You kind of have to wonder about the opposite end of this also. When Alexander was NSA director, did he ever squash proposed surveillance programs because he knew he wouldn’t later be able to beat them? He might have intentionally kept the bar low enough for his future business to be able to jump over it. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-scandal-part-i-lost-count-keith-alexander-and-the-golden-parachute/694448/5 "2014-07-31T18:33:58Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You kind of have to wonder about the opposite end of this also. When Alexander was NSA director, did he ever squash proposed surveillance programs because he knew he wouldn’t later be able to beat them? He might have intentionally kept the bar low enough for his future business to be able to jump over it. That’s possible, though it doesn’t seem to have any obvious relevance to the specific type of services (anti-intrusion security, not private-communication security – admittedly, the former is a prerequisite for the latter to be effective) Alexander is apparently selling as a contractor. In any case, the [latest report](http://justsecurity.org/13401/report-costs-nsa-surveillance/) on the damage done by government policy has some useful recommendations, including one that would help avoid this sort of problem: > [@](#): > > 1. Separate the offensive and defensive functions of the NSA in order to minimize conflicts of interest.