previous person view top 100 next person header-link

Dan Boneh #100

Professor of cryptography and computer science at Stanford University

Dan Boneh & Professor of cryptography and computer science at Stanford University
Age	51
Place of birth	Israel
Place of residence	U.S.
Category	Education, Technology
Alma mater	Princeton University
Known for	Teaching cybersecurity / applied cryptography at Stanford

“Cryptography protects very critical personal and private business data. Obviously, governments rely on cryptography heavily too. The way it works is through protocols built on hard problems — like trying to factor a thousand-digit number. So, if [your] problem isn’t hard, your data isn’t secure. This is why the world cares about cryptography and the hard problems that underlie cryptography.”

News.Stanford

Biography:

Dan Boneh is a cryptographer who teaches security-focused courses at Stanford University. He is one of the principal contributors to the development of pairing-based cryptography. In June 2018, he introduced the concept of verifiable delay functions, explaining that they are a way to “slow things down verifiably.” In addition, Boneh is leading Stanford’s center for blockchain research and was just announced as an instructor for Andreessen Horowitz’s new crypto school. Boneh was born in Israel and received a Ph.D. in computer science from Princeton University.

Dan Boneh's 2019:

In July, Boneh was revealed as one of several Stanford academics advising the development of Findora, a new blockchain platform bringing together state-of-the-art cryptographic technologies such as zero-knowledge proofs to create more secure and open financial applications. In August, he presented a paper with colleagues on the security of exposed web credentials, citing anonymous data of 670,000 users collected via Google's Password Checkup plugin.

In September, he helped launch a new online course at Stanford called "Foundations of Information Security" with the goal of cultivating much-needed talent in the severely understaffed cybersecurity field. At the end of the year, Boneh was announced as one of the instructors at Andreessen Horowitz's free crypto school. The goal of the seven-week startup program is to educate and guide the minds that will carry the blockchain industry forward.

What Cointelegraph expects for 2020:

For a strong start in 2020, Boneh's blockchain curriculum for A16z's crypto school will be in full swing starting in February. This year will also see further R&D efforts for the Findora blockchain platform. While it is unclear if the network will be live in some capacity in 2020, we expect more innovations and breakthroughs in cryptographic privacy and other solutions as the team designs the platform. Blockchain or otherwise, Boneh will continue to educate the minds that will build and maintain secure online experiences for us all.

view top 100