Herbert Lin

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 at the Center for International Security and Cooperation and Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, both at Stanford University.  His research interests relate broadly to the impact of emerging technologies on national security, especially in the digital domain (cyber, artificial intelligence, information warfare and operations), and has written extensively on the role of offensive operations in cyberspace as instruments of national policy.  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.  From 2016 to 2025, he was 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 and in  2021 on the Aspen Commission on Information Disorder.  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

Blogs
February 2023

Reducing Government Overclassification of National Security Information

Author(s)
Reducing Government Overclassification of National Security Information

In The News

Mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion
Commentary

Making the threat of nuclear war personal: An exercise

These polls give some support to the frequently made observation that nuclear war is far down on the concerns of millennials.
Making the threat of nuclear war personal: An exercise
Biden Cybersecurity
Commentary

Where the New National Cybersecurity Strategy Differs From Past Practice

If there was once a time when it was reasonable to expect end users (people who are not technical wizards) to manage their own cybersecurity, that time has long since passed.
Where the New National Cybersecurity Strategy Differs From Past Practice
National Security Agency Headquarters
Commentary

Reducing Government Overclassification of National Security Information

Recent disclosures that President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump, and former Vice President Mike Pence stored classified documents at home have shined a spotlight on what many people believe to be excessive government classification of information.
Reducing Government Overclassification of National Security Information