Kevin Poulsen

Kevin Poulsen is an award-winning journalist with a background in cybersecurity, stemming from his days as a former hacker. In 1991, Poulsen was prosecuted for manipulating telephone company systems to win radio station contests. He transitioned to journalism after serving over five years in prison for computer fraud, with his first feature appearing in WIRED in 1998. Poulsen later became the editorial director of SecurityFocus in 2000 before joining Wired.com in 2005.

During his tenure at WIRED, Poulsen conducted significant investigations, including one into the presence of sex offenders on social networking sites, which influenced federal legislation. He also broke the news about the secret arrest of Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. Additionally, Poulsen co-developed SecureDrop, an open-source software for secure communication between journalists and their sources, which is now utilized by major news organizations like the New Yorker and the Washington Post. His investigative work earned him a place in MIN’s Digital Hall of Fame in 2009 and he was recognized as a “Top Cyber Security Journalist” by the SANS Institute in 2010.

Poulsen’s literary work includes "Kingpin: How One Hacker Took Over the Billion Dollar Cyber Crime Underground," which provides an insider’s view of the cybercrime industry. He has also worked as a technical consultant for the 2015 film "Blackhat." Currently, Poulsen is a contributing editor at Wired magazine and the founding editor of Wired’s Threat Level blog, which has been honored with the 2008 Knight-Batten Award for Innovation in Journalism and the 2010 MIN award for best blog. He resides in San Francisco with his wife and two children.