Advancing Cyber Origin Stories: Steve Lipner – Software Security Pioneer
Thu Nov 13 2025
We live in a world of vibe-coding and AI security, but how we got here is a longer story. With over 50 years in software and security, Steve Lipner lived through and drove many of the origins of our industry’s early efforts in software security and he is our featured guest on Advancing Cyber’s Origin Stories series with our host, Cristin Flynn Goodwin.
Steve is the former head of the Microsoft Security Response Center, co-author of the Security Development Lifecycle, and current Executive Director of SAFECode and Chair of NIST'sInternet Security and Privacy Advisory Board. He was elected to the Information Systems Security Hall of Fame in 2010, the National Cybersecurity Hall of Fame in 2015, and a Fellow of (ISC)2 and the National Academy of Engineering in 2017. Steve holds an appointment as adjunct professor of computer science at the Institute for Software Research, School of Computer Science of Carnegie Mellon University, and is named as an inventor on twelve US patents.
This Origin Story conversation spans some of the highlights of Steve’s career that parallel the evolution of software security in our industry. This is essential listening to understand how our security models evolved – from MIT in the early 70s to the US Government’s Orange Book, to Common Criteria turning 25 – and reflect early decisions about software and security that impacted decades of computing. We dive into Steve’spivotal role in the Trustworthy Computing initiative at Microsoft and hear his perspectives on 50 years of software development on the future of vibe-coding and the threat of quantum computing to encryption in the software ecosystem.
It’s the ultimate origin story on software development and security, and Advancing Cyber is grateful that Steve Lipner is here to share it with us.
#AdvancingCyber #OriginStories #software #security #softwaresecurity #engineering #softwarehistory #cybersecurity #AdvancedCyberLaw
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We live in a world of vibe-coding and AI security, but how we got here is a longer story. With over 50 years in software and security, Steve Lipner lived through and drove many of the origins of our industry’s early efforts in software security and he is our featured guest on Advancing Cyber’s Origin Stories series with our host, Cristin Flynn Goodwin. Steve is the former head of the Microsoft Security Response Center, co-author of the Security Development Lifecycle, and current Executive Director of SAFECode and Chair of NIST'sInternet Security and Privacy Advisory Board. He was elected to the Information Systems Security Hall of Fame in 2010, the National Cybersecurity Hall of Fame in 2015, and a Fellow of (ISC)2 and the National Academy of Engineering in 2017. Steve holds an appointment as adjunct professor of computer science at the Institute for Software Research, School of Computer Science of Carnegie Mellon University, and is named as an inventor on twelve US patents. This Origin Story conversation spans some of the highlights of Steve’s career that parallel the evolution of software security in our industry. This is essential listening to understand how our security models evolved – from MIT in the early 70s to the US Government’s Orange Book, to Common Criteria turning 25 – and reflect early decisions about software and security that impacted decades of computing. We dive into Steve’spivotal role in the Trustworthy Computing initiative at Microsoft and hear his perspectives on 50 years of software development on the future of vibe-coding and the threat of quantum computing to encryption in the software ecosystem. It’s the ultimate origin story on software development and security, and Advancing Cyber is grateful that Steve Lipner is here to share it with us. #AdvancingCyber #OriginStories #software #security #softwaresecurity #engineering #softwarehistory #cybersecurity #AdvancedCyberLaw