The Future of Tech Policy: Balancing Innovation, Security, and Regulation
Paul Nakasone, Chris Krebs, Ted Schlein
RSA Conference 2025 · Day 1 · Policy
Former NSA Director and Cyber Command Commander General Paul Nakasone and former CISA Director Chris Krebs, in conversation with veteran security investor Ted Schlein, delivered a frank assessment of where the United States stands against its adversaries, what a more aggressive offensive posture would actually entail, and where policy on AI, software liability, and platform regulation is heading. The session was notably candid about the failures of the past decade's voluntary framework and the widening gap between China's capabilities and everyone else's. ---
AI review
Nakasone and Krebs are the highest-caliber combination of cyber principal and cyber operator RSA 2025 put on stage, and they don't waste the opportunity. The China threat quantification is stark. The defend-forward validation with Ukraine confirmation is policy-relevant. Krebs on Volt Typhoon's strategic purpose — not espionage but leverage for force projection constraint — is the clearest framing of that threat at the conference. The AI and software liability sections are thinner but honest about complexity.