Tarah Wheeler
Tarah Marie Wheeler[1] (born February 12, 1979) is an American technology and cybersecurity author, public speaker,[2] entrepreneur[3] and former executive. She is currently a Cybersecurity Policy Fellow at D.C. policy think-tank New America.[4] She is the former Website Cybersecurity Czar at Symantec,[5] author of Women in Tech, and founder of Infosec Unlocked.
Tarah Wheeler | |
---|---|
Born | Tarah Marie Wheeler February 12, 1979 |
Alma mater | Carroll College, Portland State University |
Spouse(s) | Dean Van Vlack (m. 2010–2015)Deviant Ollam (m. 2017) |
Early life and education
Wheeler received her bachelor's degree from Carroll College and a master's degree in political science from Portland State University.[6] In 2004, she was named a National Science Foundation-funded fellow at the Center for the Study of Complex Systems at the University of Michigan.[7]
Career
In 2012, Wheeler founded now-defunct employee management company Fizzmint.[8][9]
From 2012 to 2014 Wheeler was a systems architect at mobile encryption firm Silent Circle.[10]
In 2014, Wheeler founded Infosec Unlocked, a non-profit whose goal is to help bring more diverse voices to infosec conferences across the United States through paper writing events and scholarships.[11] This was an extension of her YouTube series where she discussed diversity topics, "DEF CON Unlocked." [12] This series mostly covered topics relating to diversity at the hacker conference DEF CON, one of the world's largest hacker conferences.
In 2016, Wheeler was named a Cybersecurity Passcode Influencer by Christian Science Monitor[13] and spoke to the Federal Trade Commission on information security in tech startups.[14]
After a Kickstarter campaign,[15][16] Wheeler published Women in Tech, a book dedicated to teaching women how to succeed in tech careers.[17][18] The book was published with several contributors, including Esther Dyson and Brianna Wu, one of the targets of the Gamergate controversy.[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]
In August 2017, Wheeler announced on Twitter that she left Symantec to work on several books.[27] In October, she was awarded the inaugural "Women Leaders in Cybersecurity Award" from NYU.[28] Wheeler and her husband Deviant Ollam helped cybersecurity expert Marcus Hutchins with his bail in August 2017 and to house him in Los Angeles during his arraignment period while he was investigated by the FBI on charges related to the Kronos rootkit.[29]
She had been Senior Director, Data Trust & Threat and Vulnerability Management at Splunk.[30]
She is currently a Cybersecurity Policy Fellow at D.C. policy think-tank New America.[31][32]
Wheeler has been cited in national media on issues relating to cybersecurity such as cyberterrorism, malware and data breaches[33][34][35][36] and has written about cyberwar policy.[37]
Poker
Wheeler has competed in the World Series of Poker[38] with $3640 in lifetime cashes.[39] In Women in Tech, Wheeler notes that interests such as poker can be useful in business, the same way golf can be.[40]
References
- Wheeler, Tarah (January 1, 2004). "Prospect Theory and the Cyprus Conflict: Analyzing Decisionmaking in the Turkish Cypriot President". Political Science Masters Theses.
- "5 questions with HDC keynote Tarah Wheeler Van Vlack". Silicon Prairie News. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- "How This Author Is Leveling The Playing Field For Women In Tech". Forbes. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
- "Cybersecurity-iniative". newamerica.org. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
- "Symantec appoints first cybersecurity czar". Retrieved August 17, 2016.
- "Speaker Biography: Tarah Wheeler". www.thelavinagency.com. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
- "Complex Systems Advanced Academic Workshop's (CSAAW) Final Report for the 2005-2006 Academic Year". Center for the Study of Complex Systems. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
- "How This Author Is Leveling The Playing Field For Women In Tech". Forbes. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- employee management company Fizzmint, retrieved September 30, 2019
- "Commentary: To bring 'binders full of women' into tech, we must get on the same page". GeekWire. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- "InfoSec Unlocked". Retrieved October 3, 2016.
- "DEF CON Unlocked". YouTube. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
- "Meet Passcode's Influencers". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
- "Start with Security". Federal Trade Commission. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- Larson, Selena (February 7, 2015). "Meet the woman writing the book on Women in Technology". Daily Dot. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- "Women in Tech: The Book". Kickstarter. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- Barbara Speed (January 8, 2016). "Against the "pipeline problem": Elissa Shevinsky on getting women and minorities into tech". New Statesman. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- Halverson, Matthew (January 23, 2013). "Tarah Wheeler Van Vlack Fights for Women in Tech". Seattle Met. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
- "A New Kickstarter Funds a Book Aimed at Inspiring Women in Technology". Boston Globe. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- "Tarah Wheeler Van Vlack On Doing What You Love". Power To Fly. Archived from the original on August 18, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- "Who Knew Helping Women Get Tech Jobs Could Be So Controversial?". Huffington Post. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- Iain Thomson (April 26, 2016). "Docker hired private detectives to pursue woman engineer's rape, death threat trolls". The Register. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- "Sexism isn't getting better in Silicon Valley, it's getting worse". The Register. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- Barbara Speed (January 8, 2016). "Against the "pipeline problem": Elissa Shevinsky on getting women and minorities into tech". New Statesman. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- Halverson, Matthew (January 23, 2013). "Tarah Wheeler Van Vlack Fights for Women in Tech". Seattle Met. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
- "Book excerpt: Salary negotiating secrets for women in the tech industry". GeekWire. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- Wheeler, Tarah M. (August 4, 2017). "Some personal news: today is my last day at @Symantec. I learned and incredible amount, was supported in education, and met amazing ppl". @tarah. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
- "Women Leaders in Cybersecurity: Emerging Technologies - Center for Cybersecurity". NYU Center for Cybersecurity. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
- Greenberg, Andy (May 12, 2020). "The Confessions of Marcus Hutchins, the Hacker Who Saved the Internet". Wired. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
- https://tarah.org
- "Cybersecurity-iniative". newamerica.org. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
- "Tarah Wheeler - Cybersecurity Policy Fellow". New America. September 2017.
- "Start with Security". United States Federal Trade Commission. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
- "'The next 9/11 will be a cyberattack, security expert warns". CNBC. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- "KRACK Wi-Fi Flaw: What You Should Know". Teen Vogue. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
- "After Massive Data Breach, Equifax Directed Customers To Fake Site". NPR. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
- Wheeler, Tarah (2018). "In Cyberwar, There Are No Rules. Why the world desperately needs digital Geneva Conventions". Foreign Policy. 12. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
- http://www.wsop.com/players/profile/?playerID=250182
- "About". Tarah Wheeler. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
- Wheeler, Tarah (2016). Women in Tech : <take your career to the next level> : with practical advice and inspiring stories. Seattle: Sasquatch Books. p. 184. ISBN 9781632170668. OCLC 1048420078.