Professional Affiliation

Senior Faculty Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) Assistant Teaching Professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service Former Postdoctoral fellow at the Belfer Center's Cyber Security Project, John F. Kennedy School Government, Harvard University

Expert Bio

Ben Buchanan is a Senior Faculty Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), where he directs the Cybersecurity and AI Project, and an Assistant Teaching Professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where he conducts research on the intersection of cybersecurity and statecraft. He is the author of The Hacker and the State (Harvard University Press, 2020) and The Cybersecurity Dilemma (Oxford University Press 2017). In addition, he has written journal articles and peer-reviewed papers on artificial intelligence, attributing cyber attacks, deterrence in cyber operations, cryptography, election cybersecurity, and the spread of malicious code between nations and non-state actors. He is also a regular contributor to War on the Rocks and Lawfare, and has published op-eds in the Washington Post and other outlets. Ben received his Ph.D. in War Studies from King’s College London, where he was a Marshall Scholar. He earned masters and undergraduate degrees from Georgetown University.

Wilson Center Project

Cybersecurity

Project Summary

Ben Buchanan's research examines the intersection of modern statecraft and cybersecurity. He considers questions of wide debate, such as the relationship of cryptography to sovereignty and the dangers of the spread of cyber weapons. In addition, he examines important subjects less commonly discussed, such as how the speed of cyber operations affects national strategy.

Major Publications

• "The Cybersecurity Dilemma: Hacking, Trust and Fear Between Nations" 
• "The Life Cycles of Cyber Threats"
• "Attributing Cyber Attacks"
• "Cyber Deterrence Isn't MAD, It's Mosaic"