Thomas Ristenpart

Thomas Ristenpart is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Cornell University, affiliated with the College of Arts and Sciences. He also directs the Clarke Program in East Asian Law and Culture. His work bridges cybersecurity, cryptography, and social sciences, focusing on digital safety, privacy, and authentication systems.

Research interests include mitigating cybersecurity threats in intimate partner violence, encryption protocols, and ethical machine learning applications. He leads projects funded by NSF and international collaborations, addressing challenges like authenticated encryption and abuse prevention in encrypted communications.

Notable projects include developing trauma-informed computing frameworks, analyzing creepware tactics, and designing systems like Might I Get Pwned for breach alerts. His work emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches to safeguard users, especially vulnerable populations, through secure infrastructure and ethical research practices.

• Grants: NSF-BSF projects on authenticated encryption and abuse prevention
• Labs/Teams: Clarke Program in East Asian Law and Culture