Keren Elazari

Keren Elazari was born in 1981 in Tel Aviv

Elazari was born in 1981 and grew up in Tel Aviv. Her father, Ami Elazari, served in Unit 8200 and later headed an electric company. She learned English and hacking in online chat rooms, and the 1995 film Hackers inspired her to become a white-hat hacker.

She served in the IDF as a cybersecurity officer in the intelligence arm, in regular and reserve service. She earned a BA in history and philosophy of science and ideas and an MA in security studies at Tel Aviv University. In 2007 she received the CISSP certification.

In 2004 she co-organized Y2hack4, the second Israeli hackers conference, with Neora Shem-Shaul. She later taught at Singularity University in California, worked with Gigaom Research and advised the company Epiphyte. Her research covers cyberwarfare and politics, and she runs BSides Tel Aviv and a meetup for women in cybersecurity.

In 2014 she gave the TED talk "Hackers: The Internet's Immune System", the first TED talk by an Israeli woman. That year she also spoke at DEF CON 22. She has written for Scientific American and Wired, and in 2017 Forbes named her among 50 influential women in Israel.