Rep. Adam Putnam

t 29, one of Congress's youngest members, two-term Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., has already distinguished himself as an expert on information privacy and cyber-security in his chairmanship of the Government Reform Committee's Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations, and the Census Subcommittee. In fact, Putnam believes that his youth, considered a drawback in a legislative body dominated by the seniority system, has given him a distinct advantage over his older colleagues.

"People of my generation have high expectations of being able to do everything online," the Sunshine State native and University of Florida graduate said. Having grown up with computers, he said, "has certainly made me more comfortable with them." Putnam said he believes that the Department of Homeland Security has been "obsessed with physical security, clearly to the detriment of cyber-security," although he concedes that "from a risk-assessment point of view, it makes sense to do so."

Still, Putnam expresses frustration with the belief he encounters "that cyber-crime is not a real crime." He said he's proud of the homeland-security work that the Government Reform Committee is carrying out: "My little piece of that world is making information technology more secure, and that's the direction I believe we're heading."

As subcommittee chairman, Putnam has set two main goals for his panel. First, he wants to raise awareness of cyber-terrorism "to the boardroom level," he said. "It has to move beyond the [impression] that the geek [chief information officer] is just crying wolf." Second, he wants to come up with ways to increase cyber-security, such as developing better, more secure computer code, and using the federal government's buying power wisely. "The federal government can lead on information-security products just by their procurement policy," Putnam said. "We spend $60 billion a year, and most of it is poorly spent."