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NSA Luring Stanford Students; Claims Rewards Outweigh Any Google-Apple Benefits

PALO ALTO (KCBS)— "We come in peace." That was the message delivered by the head of the National Security Agency (NSA) to a Silicon Valley crowd as the nation's spy chief is searching for recruits.

The government's top cyber spy made a stop at Stanford University on Monday with a message that they wanted to mend fences with the tech community.

Admiral Michael Rogers, director of the NSA, spoke to about 100 students and professors and said he understood why there is mistrust of the government.

NSA Luring Stanford Students; Claims Rewards Outweigh Any Google-Apple Benefits

Many tech companies have increased encryption in the wake of the Edward Snowden release of classified documents that detailed the NSA's spying techniques. However, Roger stressed the importance of public and private partnerships in cybersecurity; the same message that he recently delivered to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

"You can't start out by distrusting each other with, 'Hey, you can't trust the government because they're big brother. Or, you can't trust the private sector because they're all about money.' That is not what is going to work," he said.

Rogers also encouraged Stanford Students to consider a career with the NSA, saying that they offer rewards that no benefits package from Google or Apple could match; with opportunities to "do some neat stuff" you can't do anywhere else.

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