Springfield Public Forum to host Pulitzer Prize-Winner Discussing “War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age”

The Springfield Public Forum will host a free event: “The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age” on Wednesday, March 9 at 6:00 p.m. at Springfield Symphony Hall featuring David E. Sanger of The New York Times.

Three-time Pulitzer Prize winner and National Security Correspondent for The New York Times, Sanger is known for his extensive research and deep investigations into the complex events of our time. A foreign correspondent for more than 35 years and a National Security and Political Contributor for CNN, Sanger is well-versed on a wide range of diplomatic and national security issues- from the NSA to nuclear proliferation and the rise of cyber conflict between countries. A member of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning team in international reporting, Sanger is one of the nation’s most articulate analysts of geopolitics, globalization and cyber power.

The talk will center around Sanger’s latest book, “The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age,” an incisive look into how cyberwarfare is influencing elections, threatening national security, and bringing us to the brink of global war. Cheap to acquire, easy to deny, and usable for a variety of malicious purposes–from crippling infrastructure to sowing discord and doubt– cyber is now the weapon of choice for democracies, dictators, and terrorists. It explores the past decade of cyber conflict as the primary way nations now compete and sabotage each other– while ordinary Americans are often the collateral damage. Sanger’s work anticipated some of the arguments over the 2020 elections and the “SolarWinds” attack on the government and the private sectorʼs softwares.

“The Forum is delighted to welcome the community back to in-person events at Symphony Hall with the opportunity to hear from Mr. Sanger, one of the world’s foremost experts on geopolitics and cyber power. We could not think of a more timely topic and speaker given the Ukraine crisis, and we are so appreciative of our sponsors and members who made this event possible” stated Hugh Barrett, President of the Forum’s Board of Directors.

No tickets are required to attend the talk and it is presented free to the public thanks to Gold Event Sponsor St. Germain Investments, Premier Media Sponsor MassLive, The Republican, JM O’Brien &Co., P.C., and NEPM.

Following the talk, WesternMass EDC is sponsoring a post-event dinner reception in the Mahogany Room of Symphony Hall with Mr. Sanger. Tickets for the reception can be purchased at http://bit.ly/SPFSanger. More information can be found on the Forum’s website springfieldpublicforum.org