When I first got an invitation to attend a roundtable discussion with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, I thought thought it was a hoax, as did some of the people I asked about it. A little fact checking revealed that it was the real deal, but the meeting was in Washington, DC. Traveling cross country for an hour meeting isn’t in my budget, so I regretfully passed on the opportunity. Fast forward a month and the invite comes again, but this time it’s happening at Stanford University. There’s no way I could pass that by. Andrew Storms and George Ou expressed interest in going and Secretary Chertoff’s Press Secretary, Caroline Dieker, made the arrangements and we were all invited to attend.
I was impressed by Secretary Chertoff; he speaks plainly, with only a little of the evasion I’d expected from someone in a position like his. I don’t agree with all his arguments and ideas, but he was very open to discussing them publicly. I almost feel bad that he’s going to be gone come January. I tried to tweet the whole thing as much as possible, but it’s easy to get distracted in a situation like this. I captured the entire conversation on my little iRiver 795 and here it is so you can listen for yourself.
Network Security Podcast, Episode 127, November 11, 2008 – Blogger Roundtable with DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff
November 12th, 2008 at 8:17 am
[...] said, but I still enjoyed talking to him and learning about his point of view. You can listen to the audio in the latest [...]
November 14th, 2008 at 5:44 am
Very interesting discussion….
As a IT security guy in the airline business I found Chertoff’s discussion of aviation security both amusing and serious at the same time. It’s clear that DHS takes aviation security seriously but, as was made clear in the discussion, it’s a very simple world view that he has about it. Perhaps that’s a function of his job…
In any case, thanks for posting this.
November 14th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
[...] Although I wasn’t on the Network Security Podcast this week, Martin interviewed Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff. [...]
November 15th, 2008 at 2:02 am
Martin,
Nice score. Your enthusiasm and knowledge on this topic are contagious and really shine through. Go you.
Bk
November 21st, 2008 at 10:30 am
[...] On the Network Security Podcast this week, Martin and Rich interviewed Glenn Flieshman on the recent WPA crack and more [...]
July 20th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
[...] staffers and Mr. Chertoff. Martin already posted a good wrap-up here and he put up the whole audio session on his regular podcast. I just wish I had grabbed Martin’s camera and got a shot of [...]