RSA 2014: Richard Clarke speaks on rebuilding trust with the NSA

Richard Clarke, chairman and CEO of Good Harbor and a member of Obama's review group on intelligence and communications technology, kicked off the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) Summit 2014 at the RSA Conference by discussing his observations about the NSA surveillance controversy.

Clarke ultimately took a positive stance regarding the NSA, explaining that the organization has been responsible for gathering intelligence on countries that have weapons of mass destruction, as well as for uprooting drug cartels and deterring various types of terrorist threats.

But following the revelations by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, the name of the game has to be about rebuilding trust, Clarke said, explaining that the NSA is comprised of talented people dedicated to protecting the United States.  Clarke said he observed a disconnect between the policymakers' desire to collect information and the people doing the collecting, but explained that NSA workers are not randomly tapping into the emails and phone calls of Americans, even though they could.