Dan Geer is a

computer security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, t ...

analyst and risk management specialist. He is recognized for raising awareness of critical computer and network security issues before the risks were widely understood, and for ground-breaking work on the

economics of security The economics of information security addresses the economic aspects of privacy and computer security. Economics of information security includes models of the strictly rational “homo economicus” as well as behavioral economics. Economics of se ...

. Geer is currently the

chief information security officer A chief information security officer (CISO) is a senior-level executive within an organization responsible for establishing and maintaining the enterprise vision, strategy, and program to ensure information assets and technologies are adequately pr ...

for

In-Q-Tel In-Q-Tel (IQT), formerly Peleus and In-Q-It, is an American not-for-profit venture capital firm based in Arlington, Virginia. It invests in high-tech companies to keep the Central Intelligence Agency, and other intelligence agencies, equipped with ...

, a not-for-profit

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...

firm that invests in technology to support the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

. In 2003, Geer's 24-page report entitle
"Cyber''In''security: The Cost of Monopoly"
was released by the

Computer and Communications Industry Association The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) is an international non-profit advocacy organization based in Washington, DC, United States which represents the information and communications technology industries. According to t ...

(CCIA). The paper argued that

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...

's dominance of desktop computer operating systems is a threat to national security. Geer was fired (from consultancy

@Stake ATstake, Inc. was a computer security professional services company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded in 1999 by Battery Ventures (Tom Crotty, Sunil Dhaliwal, and Scott Tobin) and Ted Julian. Its initial core team of techno ...

) the day the report was made public. Geer has cited subsequent changes in the Vista operating system (notably a location-randomization feature) as evidence that Microsoft "accepted the paper." Geer received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, where he was a member of the Theta Deuteron charge of

Theta Delta Chi Theta Delta Chi () is a social fraternity that was founded in 1847 at Union College, New York, United States. While nicknames differ from institution to institution, the most common nicknames for the fraternity are TDX, Thete, Theta Delt, and Thump ...

fraternity. He also received a

Sc.D. Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

biostatistics Biostatistics (also known as biometry) are the development and application of statistical methods to a wide range of topics in biology. It encompasses the design of biological experiments, the collection and analysis of data from those experime ...

from Harvard, and has worked for: * Health Sciences Computing Facility,

Harvard School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. The school grew out of the Harvard- MIT School for Health Officers, the nation's firs ...

Project Athena Project Athena was a joint project of MIT, Digital Equipment Corporation, and IBM to produce a campus-wide distributed computing environment for educational use. It was launched in 1983, and research and development ran until June 30, 1991. , A ...

Digital Equipment Corporation Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC ), using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. The company was co-founded by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson in 1957. Olsen was president unti ...

* Geer Zolot & Associates * OpenVision Technologies *

Open Market The term open market is used generally to refer to an economic situation close to free trade. In a more specific, technical sense, the term refers to interbank trade in securities. In economic theory Economists judge the "openness" of markets a ...

* Certco *

@stake ATstake, Inc. was a computer security professional services company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded in 1999 by Battery Ventures (Tom Crotty, Sunil Dhaliwal, and Scott Tobin) and Ted Julian. Its initial core team of techno ...

(acquired by

Symantec Symantec may refer to: *An American consumer software company now known as Gen Digital Inc. *A brand of enterprise security software purchased by Broadcom Inc. Broadcom Inc. is an American designer, developer, manufacturer and global supplier ...

in November 2004) * Verdasys In 2011, Geer received the USENIX Lifetime Achievement Award.

References

External links

Dan Geer's home publications page

''All Geered Up: An Interview With Dan Geer'' By Richard Thieme

''Letter to Massachusetts Senator Marc Pacheco on OpenDocument Standards'' by Dan Geer

''Security of Information When Economics Matters'' by Dan Geer (PDF format)

''The Shrinking Perimeter: Making the Case for Data-Level Risk Management'' by Dan Geer (PDF format)

Dan Geer's ''Convergence'' Time based security and the convergence of both digital and physical security (PDF format)

Dan Geer's April 23, 2007 Testimony to Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology (PDF Format)

Geer's nomination to the FTC Advisory Committee

Geer's keynote speech at Black Hat USA 2014: ''Cybersecurity as Realpolitik''video of Geer's keynote
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geer, Dan MIT School of Engineering alumni Harvard School of Public Health alumni Chief security officers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Harvard University staff