Dan Geer

Dan Geer is a computer security 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.

Geer is currently the chief information security officer for In-Q-Tel, a not-for-profit venture capital firm that invests in technology to support the Central Intelligence Agency.^[1]

In 2003, Geer's 24-page report entitled "CyberInsecurity: The Cost of Monopoly" was released by the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA). The paper argued that Microsoft's dominance of desktop computer operating systems is a threat to national security. Geer was fired (from consultancy @Stake) the day the report was made public.^[2] Geer has cited subsequent changes in the Vista operating system (notably a location-randomization feature) as evidence that Microsoft "accepted the paper."^[3]

Geer received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT, where he was a member of the Theta Deuteron charge of Theta Delta Chi fraternity. He also received a Sc.D. in biostatistics from Harvard, and has worked for:^[4]

• Health Sciences Computing Facility, Harvard School of Public Health
• Project Athena, MIT
• Digital Equipment Corporation
• Geer Zolot & Associates
• OpenVision Technologies
• Open Market
• Certco
• @stake (acquired by Symantec in November 2004)
• Verdasys

In 2011, Geer received the USENIX Lifetime Achievement Award.^[5]

Attributions[]

• Geer's Law: Any security technology whose effectiveness can't be empirically determined is indistinguishable from blind luck.

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
• Oh Dan Geer, where art thou? by Ellen Messmer
• 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