Steve Lipner

Steven B. Lipner is the executive director of SAFECode, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing trust in information and communications technology products and services through the advancement of effective software assurance methods. As executive director, Lipner serves as an ex officio member of the SAFECode board. In addition to providing strategic and technical leadership, his responsibilities include representing SAFECode to IT user and development organizations, to policymakers, and to the media.

Lipner is a pioneer in cybersecurity with over forty years’ experience as a general manager, engineering manager, and researcher. He retired in 2015 from Microsoft where he was the creator and long-time leader of Microsoft’s Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) team. While at Microsoft, Lipner also created initiatives to encourage industry adoption of secure development practices and the SDL, and served as a member and chair of the SAFECode board.

Lipner joined Microsoft in 1999 and was initially responsible for the Microsoft Security Response Center. In the aftermath of the major computer “worm” incidents of 2001, Lipner and his team formulated the strategy of “security pushes” that enabled Microsoft to make rapid improvements in the security of its software and to change the corporate culture to emphasize product security. The SDL is the product of these improvements.

At Mitretek Systems, Lipner served as the executive agent for the U.S. Government’s Infosec Research Council (IRC). At Trusted Information Systems (TIS), he led the Gauntlet Firewall business unit whose success was the basis for TIS’ 1996 Initial Public Offering. During his eleven years at Digital Equipment Corporation, Lipner led and made technical contributions to the development of numerous security products and to the operational security of Digital’s networks.

Throughout his career, Lipner has been a contributor to government and industry efforts to improve cybersecurity. Lipner was one of the founding members of the U.S. Government Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board and served a total of over ten years in two terms on the board. He has been a member of nine National Research Council committees and is named as coinventor on twelve U.S. patents. He was elected in 2010 to the Information Systems Security Association Hall of Fame, in 2015 to the National Cybersecurity Hall of Fame and in 2017 to the National Academy of Engineering.

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of Steve Lipner and do not necessarily represent those of IDG Communications, Inc., its parent, subsidiary or affiliated companies.