Bio

I also have a bio slideset available.

I also have a collection of photos available that you can use for publication purposes.

(50 word bio)

Simson Garfinkel is a Senior Computer Scientist at the US Census Bureau. He has written extensively on computer security, privacy, and digital forensics. A fellow of both the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Garfinkel holds a Ph.D. and three Bachelor of Science degrees and a from MIT, and a Master's of Science in Journalism from Columbia University.

Please use this for a "short" biosketch (150 words)

Simson Garfinkel is the Senior Computer Scientist for Confidentiality and Data Access at the US Census Bureau. He holds seven US patents and has published more than 70 research articles in computer security and digital forensics. He is a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and a member of the National Association of Science Writers. His most recent book is The Computer Book, which features 250 chronologically arranged milestones in the history of computing. As a journalist, he has written about science, technology, and technology policy in the popular press since 1983, and has won several national journalism awards.

Garfinkel received three Bachelor of Science degrees from MIT in 1987, a Master's of Science in Journalism from Columbia University in 1988, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from MIT in 2005.

Please use this bio for print publications

Simson L. Garfinkel is the Senior Computer Scientist for Confidentiality and Data Access at the US Census Bureau. His current research interests include privacy in big data, cybersecurity and usability. He holds seven US patents and has published dozens of research articles in computer security and digital forensics. He is a fellow of both the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and a member of the National Association of Science Writers.

Garfinkel is the author or co-author of fifteen books on computing. His most recent book is The Computer Book, which features 250 chronologically arranged milestones in the history of computing from the ancient Abacus (c. 2500BCE) to the limits of computation far in the future. He is also known for his Database Nation, which explored privacy issues, and Practical UNIX and Internet Security, which sold more than 250,000 copies.

Garfinkel is also a journalist and has written more than a thousand articles about science, technology, and technology policy in the popular press since 1983. He has won several national journalism awards, including the Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award. Today he mostly writes for MIT's Technology Review Magazine and the technologyreview.com website.

As an entrepreneur, Garfinkel founded five companies between 1989 and 2000, including Vineyard.NET, which provided Internet service on Martha's Vineyard to more than a thousand customers from 1995 through 2005, and Sandstorm Enterprises, an early developer of computer forensic tools.

Garfinkel received three Bachelor of Science degrees from MIT in 1987, a Master's of Science in Journalism from Columbia University in 1988, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from MIT in 2005.

Please use this bio for verbal introductions when I am representing the US Government

Simson L. Garfinkel is the Senior Computer Scientist for Confidentiality and Data Access at the US Census Bureau. He has published research articles in the areas of computer security, digital forensics and privacy. He is a fellow of both the Association for Computing Machinery and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and was awarded a PhD in Computer Science from MIT in 2005. He was previously an Associate Professor at the Naval Postgraduate School and a Computer Scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Please use this bio for verbal introductions when I am NOT representing the US Government

Simson L. Garfinkel has published articles in both the academic and popular press for many years in the areas of computer security, digital forensics and privacy. He is a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, holds a PhD in Computer Science from MIT, and teaches as a part-time faculty member at George Washington University and as an adjunct faculty member at the George Mason University.

Here is an extended academic bio for academic publications

Simson Garfinkel received undergraduate degrees in Chemistry, Political Science, and the Science, Technology and Society program from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987; a MS in Journalism from Columbia University in 1988; and a PhD in Computer Science from MIT in 2005. He has over 30 years of research and development experience with over 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals and conferences. His research interests include digital forensics, usable security, and technology transfer. In 2017 Garfinkel was appointed the Senior Computer Scientist for Confidentiality and Data Access at the US Census Bureau; he was previously a Senior Advisor at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, and an Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department at the Naval Postgraduate School. He is a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, holds a PhD in Computer Science from MIT, and teaches as an adjunct faculty member at the George Mason University in Vienna, Virginia, and at George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Garfinkel shared the 2017 NIST Information Technology Laboratory Outstanding Standards Document Award for NIST SP 800-188, Trustworthy Email, and the 2011 Department of Defense Value Engineering Achievement Award for his leadership in the Bulk Extractor Program. He has received three Best Paper awards at the DFRWS digital forensics research symposium, as well as multiple national awards for his work in technology journalism.

Garfinkel is the author or co-author of fifteen books on computing. His most recent book is The Computer Book, which features 250 chronologically arranged milestones in the history of computing from the ancient Abacus (c. 2500BCE) to the limits of computation far in the future. He is also known for Database Nation, which explored privacy issues, and Practical UNIX and Internet Security, which sold more than 250,000 copies.