Scienceיהודה אפק

Yehuda Afek

Yehuda Afek is an Israeli computer scientist at Tel Aviv University, known for his work on network cyber security and fault tolerant distributed computing.

born 1952Founding Riverhead NetworksNetwork cyber security researchFault tolerant distributed computing

Occupation: computer scientist, university teacher, mathematician
Education: Hebrew Reali School, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, University of California, Los Angeles

Yehuda Afek was born in 1952 in Haifa

Afek was born in Haifa in 1952. His parents, Miriam and Menachem Pinkhof, were Holocaust survivors and among the founders of the Westerweel Group, a Dutch underground that saved over 300 Jewish youths. Both received the Jewish rescuer medal.

He studied at the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa. In 1970 he joined the IDF and served as a fighter in Sayeret Matkal, taking part in the Yom Kippur War.

He earned a bachelor's degree at the Technion in 1978. From 1978 to 1980 he worked as an IDF civilian engineer on the avionics of an Israeli Air Force UAV. He then completed an MSc and a PhD in computer science at UCLA, and from 1985 to 1988 he was a researcher at Bell Laboratories.

In 1988 he joined the computer science faculty at Tel Aviv University, and he headed its School of Computer Science from 2014 to 2016. In 2000 he was the lead founder of Riverhead Networks, which built a defense against distributed denial of service attacks. Cisco Systems bought the company in 2004, and Afek stayed at Cisco Israel as CTO until May 2009.

Tel Aviv University sued him over Riverhead patents, and the sides settled in 2007. In 2022 he was among the petitioners in a High Court case that led to the disqualification of Aryeh Deri's appointment as a minister.

Milestones in Yehuda Afek's life

1952
Born in Haifa.
1970
Enlisted in the IDF and served in Sayeret Matkal.
1978
Earned a bachelor's degree at the Technion.
1988
Joined the faculty of Tel Aviv University.
2000
Founded Riverhead Networks.
2004
Riverhead was acquired by Cisco Systems.
2014
Became head of the School of Computer Science at Tel Aviv University.
2021
Won a GEANT innovation research grant.
2022
Joined a High Court petition against Deri's appointment as minister.

Yehuda Afek served in the military

Afek enlisted in 1970 and served as a fighter in Sayeret Matkal, and his service was extended due to the Yom Kippur War. From 1978 to 1980 he worked as an IDF civilian engineer developing UAV avionics.