C. Matthew Curtin, CISSP

C. Matthew Curtin is a computer scientist and cybersecurity expert. He leads Interhack's professional practice, addressing matters such as data breaches, intellectual property protection, computer crime, and use of data in litigation. Curtin has been engaged in criminal, civil, administrative, and military processes for both those bringing and defending actions, as well as for the court directly. His opinion has been accepted by federal and state courts throughout the country in hearings, trials, and in appeals.

In 1997 he helped to lead the DESCHALL project defeat the U.S. Government Data Encryption Standard (DES) for the first time in open research using exhaustive key search. His book Brute Force: Cracking the Data Encryption Standard (Copernicus Books, 2005) tells the inside story of the effort and how it led to a change in policy regarding strong cryptography.

Curtin was the primary investigator in Interhack's Internet Privacy Project, showing how decisions made in the design and implementation of Internet-connected systems impact the security of computer systems and the privacy of their users. The work has been reported throughout the worldwide media and computer science literature. Curtin's previous book, Developing Trust: Online Privacy and Security (Apress, 2001) discusses these matters in detail.

Curtin has held an academic post as Senior Lecturer at The Ohio State University's Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and has guest lectured for the Privacy Foundation at the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law, Otterbein College, Franklin University, the Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University, and the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University.

He is a Chief Warrant Officer (CW2) in the Ohio Military Reserve, assigned to Headquarters, Ohio State Defense Force Command as the Communications-Electronics (CE) Program Manager. CW2 Curtin developed the CE regulation and program for service members in the Radio Operator-Maintainer military occupational specialty and auxiliary communicator (AUXC) qualification open to civilians. He was ordered to state active duty and deployed as part of Task Force BARBWIRE. His awards and decorations include the COVID-19 Pandemic Campaign Medal (U.S. Public Health Service) and the Ohio Special Service Ribbon.