Dmitri Alperovitch

Dmitri Alperovitch
Benjamin Applebaum · Public domain · source
Name	Dmitri Alperovitch
Birth date	1980
Birth place	Baku, Azerbaijan SSR
Occupation	Cybersecurity executive, entrepreneur, researcher
Known for	CrowdStrike, Silverado Policy Accelerator, cyber threat attribution

Dmitri Alperovitch is a cybersecurity entrepreneur, researcher, and public intellectual known for co-founding CrowdStrike, leading cyber threat investigations, and advocating for resilient cyber policy. He has worked at the intersection of technology, national security, and public policy, engaging with actors across Silicon Valley, Washington, D.C., and international forums. His career spans private sector startups, federal advisory roles, and nonprofit policy initiatives addressing threats from state and non‑state actors.

Early life and education

Born in Baku in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, he emigrated to the United States where he pursued academic training in computer science and information security. He attended institutions and programs associated with applied research communities in Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, and technology hubs in Atlanta and San Francisco. His formative exposure included collaborations with practitioners linked to National Security Agency, Department of Defense, and private research labs, shaping an early focus on intrusion analysis, malware reverse engineering, and intelligence tradecraft.

Career

He began professional work in cybersecurity roles at established firms and startups connected to digital forensics and incident response, including positions that intersected with McAfee, SecureWorks, and adversary emulation initiatives. In 2011 he co‑founded CrowdStrike with partners from incident response and investment communities, building a platform combining endpoint protection, threat intelligence, and cloud analytics. As CrowdStrike's chief technology officer and later chief technology officer emeritus, he led teams that engaged with clients across Fortune 500 companies, Department of Homeland Security, and international ministries in NATO and the European Union. After leaving CrowdStrike, he founded the policy think tank The Silverado Policy Accelerator and has advised nonprofit organizations, venture funds, and government entities including task forces linked to Office of the Director of National Intelligence and legislative committees in United States Congress.

Notable cybersecurity contributions

He directed high‑profile investigations attributing complex intrusions and campaigns to state‑linked actors, producing technical reports that combined malware analysis, infrastructure mapping, and attribution narratives used by officials in United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and allied agencies in United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. His teams exposed operations tied to actors associated with Advanced Persistent Threat 29, operations impacting Sony Pictures Entertainment, and campaigns affecting Ukrainian institutions prior to the 2016 United States elections. He championed scalable endpoint telemetry and cloud‑native detection combining approaches found in machine learning research from Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon University while integrating indicators from repositories maintained by VirusTotal and industry groups like Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center and FireEye (now Mandiant). His public analyses influenced sanctions and policy actions coordinated through mechanisms such as Magnitsky Act‑linked measures and multilateral responses in NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.

Public positions and advocacy

He has publicly advocated for stronger public‑private partnerships involving technology firms, financial institutions like JPMorgan Chase, and telecommunications providers such as AT&T to bolster resilience against state‑sponsored cyber operations. He testified or provided briefings that informed deliberations in panels convened by United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and allied parliamentary committees in United Kingdom Parliament and European Parliament. He has called for strategic deterrence involving sanctions, indictments, and defensive cyber capabilities aligned with doctrines discussed at NATO Summit meetings and in policy white papers from Brookings Institution and Council on Foreign Relations. His commentary has appeared in outlets associated with The New York Times, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and broadcast forums including CNBC and BBC World Service.

Awards and recognition

His work earned recognition from industry and government bodies, including listings in technology and security rankings compiled by Forbes, Time, and MIT Technology Review. He has been invited to speak at conferences such as RSA Conference, Black Hat, and DEF CON, and received honors from professional organizations connected to ISACA and SANS Institute. His analyses have been cited in enforcement actions by Department of Justice and in policy reports from RAND Corporation and Atlantic Council.

Category:Living people Category:Cybersecurity experts Category:American businesspeople