Tarah Wheeler

Tarah Marie Wheeler^[1] (born February 12, 1979) is an American technology and cybersecurity author, public speaker,^[2] computer security professional,^[3][4][5] and executive. She is currently CEO of Red Queen Dynamics^[6][7][8][9] and Senior Fellow of Global Cyber Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations,^[10] and she is the author of Women in Tech.

Tarah Wheeler
Born	Tarah Marie Wheeler (1979-02-12) February 12, 1979 (age 45) Washington, U.S.
Alma mater	Portland State University
Spouses	Dean Van Vlack ​ (m. 2010⁠–⁠2015)​ Deviant Ollam ​ (m. 2017)​

Early life and education

Wheeler received a Master of Science degree from Portland State University.^[11]

Career

Wheeler was a systems architect at mobile encryption firm Silent Circle.^[12]

In 2016, Wheeler was named a Cybersecurity Passcode Influencer by Christian Science Monitor^[13] and spoke to the Federal Trade Commission on information security in tech startups.^[14]

After a Kickstarter campaign,^[15][16] Wheeler published Women in Tech, a book dedicated to teaching women how to succeed in tech careers.^[17][18] The book was published with several contributors, including Esther Dyson and Brianna Wu, one of the targets of the Gamergate controversy.^{[19][20][21][22][23][17][18][24]}

Wheeler served as the Website Cybersecurity Czar at Symantec,^[25] until her position was eliminated in August 2017.^[26][27]

Wheeler and her husband Deviant Ollam helped cybersecurity researcher Marcus Hutchins with his bail in August 2017 and to house him in Los Angeles during his arraignment period while he was investigated by the FBI on charges related to the Kronos rootkit; Hutchins later pleaded guilty to two of ten charges.^[26]

In 2021, Wheeler became a Fulbright Scholar in Cybersecurity at the University of Oxford.^[28][29][30]

Wheeler has been cited in national media on issues relating to cybersecurity such as cyberterrorism, malware and data breaches^[14][31][32] and has written about cyberwar policy.^[33] In 2024, Wheeler appeared before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs regarding the importance of a Cyber Safety Review Board.^[34]

Bibliography

Books

• Tarah Wheeler Van Vlack, Women in Tech: Take Your Career to the Next Level with Practical Advice and Inspiring Stories, 2016, Hardback ISBN 978-1-63217-140-5

Poker

Wheeler has competed in the World Series of Poker^[35] with $4,722 in lifetime cashes.^[36][37] In Women in Tech, Wheeler notes that interests such as poker can be useful in business, the same way golf can be.^[38]

References

1. Wheeler, Tarah Marie (2004). Prospect Theory and the Cyprus Conflict: Analyzing Decisionmaking in the Turkish Cypriot President (MS thesis). Portland State University.
2. "5 questions with HDC keynote Tarah Wheeler Van Vlack". Silicon Prairie News. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
3. Collier, Kevin (August 23, 2022). "Twitter whistleblower alleges major security issues". NBC News. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
4. Ghosh, Shona (August 7, 2017). "Supporters have raised more than $12,000 for arrested security researcher Marcus Hutchins after he couldn't make bail". Business Insider. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
5. Turak, Natasha (June 1, 2018). "The next 9/11 will be a cyberattack, security expert warns". CNBC. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
6. "Analysis | Downed U.S. drone points to cyber vulnerabilities". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
7. Nyce, Caroline Mimbs (April 19, 2023). "Montana's TikTok Ban Won't Work". The Atlantic. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
8. "Twitter whistleblower alleges major security issues and says company misled public". NBC News. August 23, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
9. "WTF Just Happened? Why Your Org Needs a Cybersecurity Incident Review Board". PCMAG. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
10. "Security needs to learn from the aviation biz to avoid crashing". Retrieved February 20, 2023.
11. "Speaker Biography: Tarah Wheeler". www.thelavinagency.com. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
12. "Commentary: To bring 'binders full of women' into tech, we must get on the same page". GeekWire. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
13. "Meet Passcode's Influencers". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
14. "Start with Security". United States Federal Trade Commission. October 30, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
15. Larson, Selena (February 7, 2015). "Meet the woman writing the book on Women in Technology". Daily Dot. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
16. "Women in Tech: The Book". Kickstarter. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
17. Barbara Speed (January 8, 2016). "Against the "pipeline problem": Elissa Shevinsky on getting women and minorities into tech". New Statesman. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
18. Halverson, Matthew (January 23, 2013). "Tarah Wheeler Van Vlack Fights for Women in Tech". Seattle Met. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
19. "A New Kickstarter Funds a Book Aimed at Inspiring Women in Technology". Boston Globe. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
20. "Tarah Wheeler Van Vlack On Doing What You Love". Power To Fly. from the original on August 18, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
21. "Who Knew Helping Women Get Tech Jobs Could Be So Controversial?". Huffington Post. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
22. Iain Thomson (April 26, 2016). "Docker hired private detectives to pursue woman engineer's rape, death threat trolls". The Register. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
23. "Sexism isn't getting better in Silicon Valley, it's getting worse". The Register. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
24. "Book excerpt: Salary negotiating secrets for women in the tech industry". GeekWire. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
25. "Symantec appoints first cybersecurity czar". Retrieved August 17, 2016.
26. Greenberg, Andy (May 12, 2020). "The Confessions of Marcus Hutchins, the Hacker Who Saved the Internet". Wired. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
27. Wheeler, Tarah M. (August 4, 2017). "Some personal news: today is my last day at @Symantec. I learned and incredible amount, was supported in education, and met amazing ppl". @tarah. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
28. "WTF Just Happened? Why Your Org Needs a Cybersecurity Incident Review Board". PCMAG. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
29. Wheeler, Tarah (March 4, 2021). "The danger in calling the SolarWinds breach an 'act of war'". Brookings. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
30. "Tarah Wheeler | Fulbright Scholar Program". fulbrightscholars.org. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
31. "KRACK Wi-Fi Flaw: What You Should Know". Teen Vogue. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
32. "After Massive Data Breach, Equifax Directed Customers To Fake Site". NPR. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
33. Wheeler, Tarah (2018). "In Cyberwar, There Are No Rules. Why the world desperately needs digital Geneva Conventions". Foreign Policy. 12. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
34. "The Cyber Safety Review Board: Expectations, Outcomes, and Enduring Questions". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
35. "WSOP Player Profile Tarah Wheeler". World Series of Poker. WSOP. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
36. "About". Tarah Wheeler. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
37. "Tarah Wheeler's profile on The Hendon Mob". The Hendon Mob Poker Database. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
38. Wheeler, Tarah (2016). Women in Tech : <take your career to the next level> : with practical advice and inspiring stories. Seattle: Sasquatch Books. p. 184. ISBN 9781632170668. OCLC 1048420078.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tarah Wheeler.

• Personal site
• Tarah Wheeler on Twitter