Herb Lin

Herbert Lin

  • Senior Research Scholar at the Center for International Security and Cooperation
  • Hank J. Holland Fellow in Cyber Policy and Security, Hoover Institution

CISAC
Stanford University
Encina Hall, C236
Stanford, CA 94305-6165

650-497-8600 (voice)

Biography

Dr. Herb Lin is senior research scholar for cyber policy and security at the Center for International Security and Cooperation and Hank J. Holland Fellow in Cyber Policy and Security at the Hoover Institution, both at Stanford University.  His research interests relate broadly to policy-related dimensions of cybersecurity and cyberspace, and he is particularly interested in the use of offensive operations in cyberspace as instruments of national policy and in the security dimensions of information warfare and influence operations on national security.  In addition to his positions at Stanford University, he is Chief Scientist, Emeritus for the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies, where he served from 1990 through 2014 as study director of major projects on public policy and information technology, and Adjunct Senior Research Scholar and Senior Fellow in Cybersecurity (not in residence) at the Saltzman Institute for War and Peace Studies in the School for International and Public Affairs at Columbia University; and a member of the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. In 2016, he served on President Obama’s Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity.  Prior to his NRC service, he was a professional staff member and staff scientist for the House Armed Services Committee (1986-1990), where his portfolio included defense policy and arms control issues. He received his doctorate in physics from MIT.

Avocationally, he is a longtime folk and swing dancer and a lousy magician. Apart from his work on cyberspace and cybersecurity, he is published in cognitive science, science education, biophysics, and arms control and defense policy. He also consults on K-12 math and science education.

publications

Working Papers
April 2020

A Research Agenda for Cyber Risk and Cyber Insurance

Author(s)
cover link A Research Agenda for Cyber Risk and Cyber Insurance
Working Papers
September 2016

Attribution of Malicious Cyber Incidents: From Soup to Nuts

Author(s)
cover link Attribution of Malicious Cyber Incidents: From Soup to Nuts

In The News

Cyber Threats and Nuclear Weapons
Q&As

Herbert Lin On Cyber Threats And Nuclear Weapons

In this Q&A, Lin discusses his recently released book Cyber Threats and Nuclear Weapons. He explains that until this publication, the literature about cyber technology’s impact on the nuclear enterprise has been relatively sparse.
cover link Herbert Lin On Cyber Threats And Nuclear Weapons
A US Air Force commander simulates launching a nuclear weapon during a test.
Q&As

Interview: Stanford’s Herbert Lin on “Cyber Threats and Nuclear Weapons”

Much of the technology now controlling US nuclear weapons was produced before the rise of the Internet. Newer technology will improve aspects of command, control, and communications related to the US nuclear arsenal. But if not carefully planned, the updating of nuclear technology could also increase risk in distinct ways that Herbert Lin explains in the following interview.
cover link Interview: Stanford’s Herbert Lin on “Cyber Threats and Nuclear Weapons”