Oral history interview with Thomas A. Berson by Rebecca Slayton

Abstract

This interview with computer security pioneer Tom Berson discusses his early interest in computers, formal training in physics and computer science, and career in computer and network security industry. Berson earned a bachelor’s degree in physics before going to IBM Yorktown Heights in the late 1960s. He worked as a consultant while earning a Ph.D. in computer science from University College London, which he completed in 1977. After completing the Ph.D. he went to work for Ford Aerospace and Communications Corporation in California, where he worked on the Kernelized Secure Operating System (KSOS). In 1979 he and five others from Ford started a computer networking company, Sytek, where Berson was involved in several innovations related to network security. In 1986 he founded a new start-up, Anagram. Berson also discusses his involvement in IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, the International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR), the influence of the Orange Book, and the future of the field of computer security.

This interview is part of a project conducted by Rebecca Slayton and funded by an ACM History Committee fellowship on “Measuring Security: ACM and the History of Computer Security Metrics.”