It doesn't get much stranger than this, even in Vegas.

Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, stood in front of a standing-room-only crowd Wednesday, selling the idea of government surveillance programs. His audience? More than 3,000 cybersecurity specialists, including some of the world's best hackers, an unruly community known for its support of civil liberties and skepticism of the government's three-letter agencies.

Alexander praised the group as one of the brightest collections of technical minds in the world. He asked them to help the NSA fulfill its mission of protecting the country, while also protecting privacy.