Keren Elazari

Elazari was born in 1980 or 1981[1] and grew up in Tel Aviv, Israel.[2] Her father is Ami Elazari, the CEO of an electric company and a former member of the Israel Defense Forces intelligence group, Unit 8200. Her mother works for an airline.[4] Internet became available in Tel Aviv when Elazari was eleven or twelve years old, and she says she learned English and learned about hacking in online chat rooms.[2][4] In 1995, when she was 14, she saw the film Hackers.[2][1] She said the story, which portrayed a young group of hackers as heroes, served as inspiration for her to become a white-hat hacker.[2][6][7]

Elazari was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces, where she asked to be placed in a role relating to information security. She ultimately served in the army for a total of ten years, both in the standing army and later in the reserve, and was a cybersecurity officer in the intelligence arm.[4] She attended Tel Aviv University, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in history and philosophy of science and ideas and her Master of Arts in security studies.[4][8] She also has the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification,[8] which she earned in 2007.[4] In 2004, she organized with Neora Shem-Shaul Y2hack4, the second Israeli hackers conference. [9]

Elazari is a senior researcher at the Tel Aviv University's Cyber Research Center.[3][10] She was also a teaching fellow at Singularity University in California from 2012 until at least 2018.[8][4] Her areas of research include cyberwarfare and politics.[6] Outside of academia, Elazari was a white-hat hacker, and continues to work as a security consultant.[7][5] In the past she has worked with various companies and organisations, including as a security specialist and industry analyst with Gigaom Research,[11] and as an adviser to the cryptocurrency technology company Epiphyte.[1]

Elazari runs BSides Tel Aviv, a hacking and cybersecurity research conference in Tel Aviv.[2] She also runs a professional meetup for women in cybersecurity.[4]

Elazari has given several talks about the positive impact of hackers,[12][6] and has spoken and written about the dynamic between hackers, the government, and private companies.[5] In 2014, Elazari gave a popular[12][5] TED talk titled "Hackers: The Internet's Immune System". She spoke about hackers, the ethics of hacking, and the importance of engaging with hackers to improve cybersecurity.[2][13] She was the first Israeli woman to give a TED Talk.[4] She spoke at DEF CON 22 in 2014, delivering a talk titled "Empowering Hackers to Create a Positive Impact",[1] and has spoken at other conferences including the Atlantic Security Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2015.[6] Elazari has written articles in publications including Scientific American[14] and Wired.[15]

• Wheeler, Tarah (2016). Women In Tech: Take Your Career to the Next Level with Practical Advice and Inspiring Stories. Chang, Angie; Cunningham, Katie; Elazari, Keren; Johnson, Miah; Smith, Kristin Toth; Taylor, Kamilah; Wu, Brianna (Contributors). Sasquatch Books.[4]

• "She Hacks, She TED Talks and She's Protecting Us From Big Brother". Haaretz (Interview). Interviewed by Shani, Ayelett. 16 May 2015.
• "Internet access is a basic human right: A Q&A with Keren Elazari" (Interview). Interviewed by Goodman, Nadia. TEDBlog. 2 April 2014.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Keren Elazari.

• Official website
• Keren Elazari at TED