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.

Daniel Earl Geer Jr.
Dan Geer, 2015
Citizenship	USA
Alma mater	Harvard University (SC.D. Biostatistics) MIT (SB EECS)
Known for	Project Athena Open Market CertCo
Scientific career
Fields	Computer Scientist
Institutions	MIT CertCo SystemExperts In-Q-Tel

Career

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]

References

1. Dan Geer leaves Verdasys for In-Q-Tel, by Ryan Naraine, ZDNet, May 28, 2008. Accessed 2008-07-09.
2. "Critique of Microsoft eyed in firing: Ex-tech officer claims report cost his job", by Jay Fitzgerald, Boston Herald, September 27, 2003. Reprint. Accessed 2008-07-09.
3. Dan Geer Helping CIA Archived 2021-02-16 at the Wayback Machine, CSOonline.com, August 4, 2008.
4. "Daniel Earl Geer, Jr., Sc.D." veracode.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 26 October 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
5. "Flame Award : USENIX". usenix.org. 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.

External links

• Biography portal

• Dan Geer's home publications page
• All Geered Up: An Interview With Dan Geer By Richard Thieme Archived 2016-03-22 at the Wayback Machine
• 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