Internet Pioneer is both Optimistic & Cautious about New Cyber Developments

Dr. Steve Crocker was there for the birth of the Internet. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was part of the group that developed the protocols for the ARPANET. That was the foundation for today's Internet. It was originally designed to share data and scientific research; however, it quickly morphed into a system used by millions of people for both productive and nefarious reasons. He helped formulate the Network Working Group, the forerunner of the modern Internet Engineering Task Force. He also helped initiate the Requests for Comment (RFC) through which protocol designs are shared and changes made to systems for upgrades. Dr. Crocker still remains optimistic about the thousands of positive uses of the Internet. He doesn’t think that we have even come close to maximizing the use of the Internet. However, he also cautions that security breaches remain a problem the need to be addressed with some urgency. He, most recently, has been the CEO and co-founder of Shinkuro, Inc., a start-up company focused on dynamic sharing of information across the Internet and the deployment of improved security protocols. Dr. Crocker also is extremely optimistic about the uses of Artificial Intelligence to enhance our way of living – especially in medical fields. He, however, does not want us to turn our lives over to being totally dominated by algorithms of someone else. For his lifetime work, Dr. Crocker has been admitted to the Internet Hall of Fame.