Susan Landau

Susan Landau is a Professor of Cyber Security and Policy in the Department of Computer Science at Tufts University, where she serves as Senior Fellow at The Fletcher School. She previously held academic roles at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Wesleyan University, and held senior industry positions at Google and Sun Microsystems.

• Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1983
• M.S., Cornell University, 1979
• B.A., Princeton University, 1976

Her research focuses on the intersection of privacy, cybersecurity, surveillance, and law, with recent work analyzing IoT device privacy, communications metadata regulation, and the societal implications of encryption policies. She has testified before U.S. Congress and advised policymakers in the U.S. and Europe.

Her scientific contributions include the 2024 Journal of Cybersecurity analysis of client-side scanning risks, the 2014 IEEE Security and Privacy study on lawful hacking, and foundational books like Listening In: Cybersecurity in an Insecure Age (2017) and Privacy on the Line (2007).

Awards:

• McGannon Book Award (for Privacy on the Line)
• Surveillance Studies Book Prize (for Surveillance or Security?)
• USENIX Lifetime Achievement Award (2018)
• AMS Bertrand Russell Prize (2015)
• Anita Borg Women of Vision Social Impact Award (2008)
• ACM Athena Lectureship co-creator
• Inductee: Cybersecurity and Information Systems Security Halls of Fame

Landau actively promotes diversity in STEM, serving on Spelman College’s cyber security advisory board and co-creating initiatives like GREPSEC workshops for underrepresented groups.