The Special Seminar addressed by Dr. Joel F. Brenner, Senior Research Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was held on May 24, 2017, on the topic of “Protecting Critical Infrastructure Networks: Learning Lessons from the U.S. Experience”.

Abstract

Dr. Brenner addressed the underlying causes of network insecurity and MIT’s recent proposal for creating a more secure cyber environment. He payed particular attention to non-technological challenges and to the illusion that technology alone will bring safety. He also discussed the regulation of sensitive cross-border transactions and the potential for better U.S.-Japan cooperation in that regard.

Speakers’ Profile:

Joel Brenner served as the head of U.S. counterintelligence under the Director of National Intelligence and as the inspector general and later as senior counsel of the National Security Agency. He was also a prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice. Mr. Brenner holds a JD from Harvard Law School, a PhD from the London School of Economics, and a BA from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. His works include America the Vulnerable: Inside the New Threat Matrix of Digital Espionage, Crime, and Warfare (in paperback as Glass Houses: Privacy, Secrecy, and Cyber Insecurity in a Transparent World); “Keeping America Safe: Toward More Secure Networks for Critical Sectors”; and many articles on security.

He maintains a private law and consulting practice specializing in the regulation of sensitive cross-border transactions and other security issues.