Herb Lin: Stanford will be hub of cyber policy and security

Herb Lin has a long agenda crafted from big ideas.

As CISAC’s inaugural senior research scholar for cyber policy and security, Lin intends to make Stanford the premier hub for academic research and public policy in an effort to protect the world’s computer networks against cyber attacks.

“When I was recruited, Stanford told me to think big. So I’m thinking big,” says Lin, who comes to Stanford from the National Research Council of the National Academies in Washington, D.C., where he was chief scientist at the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board.

“Part of my job is also to find a way to build cyber connections to other parts of the campus – law, medicine, the business school, engineering – so there are a variety of interesting possibilities that I’d like to tackle.”

Even before taking up his new role at Stanford last month, Lin worked with CISAC co-director Amy Zegart to convene a three-day boot camp that brought together Silicon Valley heavyweights and congressional staffers working on critical cyber legislation.

Lin wants to launch a policy journal devoted to research about cybersecurity. He hopes to construct the university’s first undergraduate courses about the foreign policy and economic implications of cybersecurity, as well as the risk analysis of cyberspace. He will represent Stanford's efforts in public commentaries, such as the one he wrote for The Wall Street Journal about how companies can ward off hackers.

And Lin was instrumental in facilitating the Feb. 12-13 White House Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection at Stanford University. President Barack Obama addressed the summit, the first time a sitting U.S. president conducted business on the Stanford campus in 40 years.

“Obviously the president has a great bully pulpit here, and is highlighting the importance of cybersecurity on the national policy agenda,” said Lin. “We are particularly delighted that he’s come to Stanford – which is recognition of our role in advancing the cybersecurity interests of the nation.”

Lin, who took up his new role at CISAC in January and is also a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, plans to reach across campus to help the university establish a cohesive strategy for the intersection of cyber policy and international security.

“Cyber touches many facets of life,” said Lin, who has a Ph.D. in physics from MIT. “Some of us are interested in the implications of cyber for international security and foreign relations. Others focus on how protect the nation’s critical infrastructure. Still others are trying to develop tools that can be used to make better decisions about consumer protections. I’d like to bring all of that under one coherent theme.”

Lin also helped organize the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology workshop at Stanford on Feb. 12. The roundtable, which was in coordination with the White House summit, brought together chief technology and security executives to discuss the challenges of implementing consumer protection technologies in real-world conditions.

Lin moderated a panel at that workshop about academic research that has applications for consumer protections against cyber threats. Michael Daniel, special assistant to the president and cybersecurity coordinator at the White House, gave the keynote at the workshop.

Cybersecurity has become a priority for the Obama administration. The White House in October launched the BuySecure initiative, which includes reforms such as securing payment systems and preventing identity theft. Obama also spoke about cybersecurity in his State of the Union address on Jan. 20.

“No foreign nation, no hacker, should be able to shut down our networks, steal our trade secrets or invade the privacy of American families, especially our kids,’ Obama said.

Track II Diplomacy

Just as CISAC scholars have for decades been involved in Track II diplomacy in foreign policy, nuclear arms control, and counterinsurgency, Lin would like to see Stanford build on that by facilitating dialogue with other nations about ways to protect and defend their digital networks against cyber attacks and breaches.

“CISAC, as you know, has a long tradition of having nuclear dialogue with China and Russia, even during the coldest periods of the Cold War,” said Lin. “I’d like there to be a Track II diplomacy effort for cyber based here at Stanford, which many Chinese regard as the world’s No. 1 university.  That’s a very attractive platform from which a cyber dialog can be started and sustained.”

CISAC Senior Research Scholar for Cyber Policy and Security, and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, says to understand cybersecurity you must first understand the basic components of locks and keys.

Finally, Lin intends to work with academics and scientists at Columbia University and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to establish a boot camp for scholars of international relations and political science who want to work on cyber issues.

Last August, Lin worked with Zegart – who is also a senior fellow and associate director for academic affairs at Hoover – to bring in two dozen senior congressional staffers for a rigorous boot camp that paired them with military, academic and technology experts working at the highest levels of cybersecurity.

The three-day camp drew such names at Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and Facebook’s Chief Information Officer Joe Sullivan. Many of the congressional staffers said it was the first time they’d had the chance to closely interact with the very tech executives for whom they are working on protections and legislation.

Stanford announced in November it had launched the Stanford Cyber Initiative with the support of a Hewlett Foundation grant of $15 million. The initiative will take an interdisciplinary approach to address the challenges raised by cyber technologies.

Michael McFaul, director of CISAC’s parent organization, the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, said Stanford is poised to lead in the cyber arena.

“We have a tradition and an ability to do things in an interdisciplinary way,” said McFaul, a professor of political science and a senior fellow at Hoover.

“I think we’re uniquely qualified and uniquely placed to tackle all those here at Stanford, especially because we sit at the heart of Silicon Valley,” said McFaul, who was the U.S. ambassador to Russia for President Obama before returning to Stanford last year. “I expect to see Stanford become the leading institution in the world for addressing cybersecurity issues.”

Readers can learn more about Stanford University’s push into cybersecurity here.