Eva Galperin is the Director of

Cybersecurity Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, t ...

at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and

technical advisor In film production, a technical advisor is someone who advises the director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a ...

for the

Freedom of the Press Foundation Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) is a non-profit organization founded in 2012 to fund and support free speech and freedom of the press. The organization originally managed crowd-funding campaigns for independent journalistic organizations, ...

. She is noted for her extensive work in protecting global privacy and free speech and for her research on malware and nation-state spyware.

Biography

Galperin became interested in computers at an early age through her father, who was a computer security specialist. When she was 12, he created a desktop for her on his

Unix Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, an ...

/ Solaris computer and she became active in

Usenet Usenet () is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979, and it wa ...

discussion areas about science fiction novels and playing interactive text games, and she later became active in web development. She attended college at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...

for political science and international relations while working as a Unix

system administrator A system administrator, or sysadmin, or admin is a person who is responsible for the upkeep, configuration, and reliable operation of computer systems, especially multi-user computers, such as servers. The system administrator seeks to en ...

at various companies in

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Coun ...

. Galperin joined the EFF in 2007. Prior to EFF, she worked at the Center for US–China policy studies, where she helped to organize conferences and researched Chinese energy policy. At EFF, she led the Threat Lab project before she was promoted as the EFF's Director of Cybersecurity in 2017. Since 2018, she focused on the eradication of the " stalkerware"

spyware Spyware (a portmanteau for spying software) is software with malicious behaviour that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send it to another entity in a way that harms the user—for example, by violating their priva ...

used for

domestic abuse Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for '' intimate partne ...

industry, working with victims of stalkerwares. These malicious applications, which are being marketed to abusive spouses, overbearing parents, and stalkers, can be installed secretly on mobile devices, allowing their owners to monitor their targets' activities. In April 2019, she convinced

anti-virus Antivirus software (abbreviated to AV software), also known as anti-malware, is a computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware. Antivirus software was originally developed to detect and remove computer viruses, hence the name. ...

provider

Kaspersky Lab Kaspersky Lab (; Russian: Лаборатория Касперского, tr. ''Laboratoriya Kasperskogo'') is a Russian multinational cybersecurity and anti-virus provider headquartered in Moscow, Russia, and operated by a holding company in th ...

to begin explicitly alerting users of security threats upon detection of stalkerware on the company's Android product. She also asked

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

to allow antivirus applications in its marketplace and, like Kaspersky, to alert its users if their mobile devices have been jailbroken or rooted. Galperin stated that due to competition, more

cybersecurity Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, t ...

companies will be prompted to follow suit to meet this heightened standard. She has also called on U.S. state and federal officials to arrest and prosecute executives of companies that are developing and selling stalkerwares on charges of hacking.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galperin, Eva Computer security specialists Cypherpunks Electronic Frontier Foundation people Internet activists Living people Privacy activists San Francisco State University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)