Tarah Wheeler

Early Life and Education

Tarah Marie Wheeler was born on February 12, 1979. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carroll College in 2001, followed by a Master of Science degree from Portland State University in 2004.

Career

Wheeler built her early career in technical roles, including a position as a systems architect at Silent Circle, a mobile encryption firm. She later served as Website Cybersecurity Czar at Symantec, a role that was eliminated in August 2017.

In 2016, Wheeler was named a Cybersecurity Passcode Influencer by the Christian Science Monitor and addressed the Federal Trade Commission on information security issues affecting tech startups. That same year, she published Women in Tech: Take Your Career to the Next Level with Practical Advice and Inspiring Stories, a book produced following a successful Kickstarter campaign. The book featured contributions from notable figures including Esther Dyson and Brianna Wu and was aimed at helping women navigate and advance in technology careers.

In August 2017, Wheeler and her husband Deviant Ollam assisted cybersecurity researcher Marcus Hutchins with bail and provided housing in Los Angeles during his arraignment period while he was under FBI investigation on charges related to the Kronos rootkit. Hutchins later pleaded guilty to two of ten charges.

Policy and Research Work

Wheeler has held a number of prominent research and policy fellowships. She was a Cyber Project Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School and an International Security Fellow at New America. In 2021, she became a Fulbright Scholar in Cybersecurity at the University of Oxford.

Wheeler currently serves as CEO of Red Queen Dynamics and as a Senior Fellow of Global Cyber Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is also a member of the advisory board of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Her policy engagement has included testifying on Right to Repair legislation before the Washington State Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee in January 2020, and appearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in January 2024 to address the importance of a Cyber Safety Review Board. She has been cited in national media on topics including cyberterrorism, malware, data breaches, and cyberwar policy.

Other Interests

Wheeler has competed in the World Series of Poker, accumulating $4,722 in lifetime cashes. In Women in Tech, she draws a parallel between poker and business acumen, noting that strategic games can develop skills applicable to professional environments.