Steven M. Bellovin, Ph.D.

Dr. Steven M. Bellovin earned a B.A. from Columbia University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He currently serves as professor of computer science at Columbia University. His primary areas of research interest are networks, security and, especially, their failure to get along. He’s also interested in public policy issues related to networks and network security.

Prior to joining the faculty at Columbia in 2005, Dr. Bellovin worked for many years at Bell Labs and AT&T Labs where he earned distinction as an AT&T Fellow. Prior to his post-doctorate successes, he, along with Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis, was awarded The Usenix Lifetime Achievement Award, The Flame, for his efforts in creating USENET. He’s been actively involved with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), most notably in areas pertaining to security. He also served on the Internet Architecture Board from 1996-2002, and as Security Area co-Director with the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) from 2002-2004.

Beginning in 2012, Dr. Bellovin acted as Chief Technologist of the Federal Trade Commission. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and he serves on the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Academies, the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Advisory Committee, and the Election Assistance Commission’s Technical Guidelines Development Committee. In 2007, he received the NIST/NSA National Computer Systems Security Award.

In addition to holding a number of patents on cryptographic and network protocols, Dr. Bellovin is the co-author of Firewalls and Internet Security: Repelling the Wily Hacker. He has been a member of numerous National Research Council Study committees during his professional career, including those focused on the trustworthiness of information systems, authentication technologies and privacy implications, and cybersecurity research needs.