10 Questions Live: Raj De discusses cybersecurity and his White House and NSA experiences
Raj De has a unique background which makes him an expert on national security and cybersecurity issues. At a time when the news is filled with speculation about international hacking attempts and the difficulty of protecting data, we wanted to speak with him about his experiences and career path.
After graduating from Harvard Law School, De joined the Department of Justice. He was counsel to the 9/11 Commission and to the U.S. Senate committee charged with drafting and implementing intelligence reform legislation. For two years, De worked directly with President Barack Obama in the White House as staff secretary. He then spent three years as general counsel to the National Security Agency, where he helped steer the agency through perhaps its biggest crisis—the leak of countless classified documents by former contractor Edward Snowden. De left the NSA last March.
Now the director of Mayer Brown’s global cybersecurity and data privacy practice, De joined reporter Jenny Davis during the ABA’s 10 Questions Live Google Hangout on Thursday.
He also discusses his experiences in law school, and how experiences during school led him to his unusual career path. “One lesson I’ve learned is it’s really important to keep an open mind and to allow opportunity and serendipity to take you where they may,” De told Davis.
