Capitol Club Kicks Off Fall Speakers Program

Dr. Michael Van Putte, DARPA Strategic Technology Office Program Manager, was the lead-off speaker in the Capitol Club's Fall Speaker's Program held at Schafer TMD on September 23. He set a high bar for future speakers with his presentation on Cyber Warfare and Cyber Defense.

Dr. VanPutte gave a brief chronology of the running battle between DOD's computer defense organizations and the nameless, faceless actors who would disrupt and exploit this critical infrastructure. A lot of heads nodded when he held up a copy of "The Cuckoo's Egg," the fascinating account by Cliff  Stoll of one of the earliest incidents of computer intrusion at the Lawrence Berkley National Lab in 1986.

Our speaker went on to interweave subsequent incidents with the corresponding responses by the Department of Defense. He also identified and debunked some of the popular myths about cyber security.

Schafer TMD was our host for this session and, as usual, the organizational details were handled flawlessly. If you have been missing these speakers due to the inability to break away from your day job, be advised that this venue is less than a block from Metro and public parking is also plentiful. More than 35 members of the Capitol Club came for the presentation and stayed around afterwards for networking and dialogue with Dr. VanPutte.



Bob Lindseth, Chapter President, introducing Dr. Van Putte to the  membership.