Dr. Sarah Lewis Cortes FIPCIPP/E (GDPR), CISSP, CIPT, CISM, CISA, CRISChas more than 20 years of global-scale technology experience in domains including information security, privacy, and data management. As a Privacy Engineer in Information Security at Netflix, she is responsible for implementing comprehensive privacy programs. She earned her degrees at Harvard University, studied Forensic Sciences at Boston University Medical School, and holds a PhD in Computer Science, Cybersecurity from Northeastern University, specializing in the darknet, anonymous network communications, privacy and privacy law as well as information security, topics on which she has published extensively.
She conducts training and research with the FBI, Interpol, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Digital Forensics Crime Lab, and other LEAs. Prior to undertaking her PhD, Sarah was Sr VP, Security, IT Audit/DR at Putnam Investments, a $1 trillion investment management firm. Before that, Sarah was Sr. VP, Data Center/Security Operations, BNY Mellon/American Express, a $1.6 trillion global investments company.
Sarah has published and lectured extensively on privacy, the darknet, and security, including LISA USENIX and other keynotes. She has implemented numerous computer applications. Together with Department Chair, Boston University School of Medicine, Biomedical Forensic Sciences Dept. and former Cellmark lab director Dr. Robin Cotton et al., Sarah designed and implemented NIST DNA Mixtures Online, with a grant from the US Department of Justice. DNA Mixtures was highlighted in the recent Executive Office of the President, President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), Report to the President: Forensic Science in Criminal Courts: Ensuring Scientific Validity of Feature-Comparison Methods.
Long Bio
Dr. Sarah Lewis Cortes CIPP/E (GDPR), CISA, CRISC is in Privacy Engineering and Assurance at Netflix, responsible for implementing comprehensive privacy programs, including partner privacy. She earned her undergraduate degree at Harvard University, studied Forensic Sciences at Boston University Medical School, and holds a PhD in Computer Science, Cybersecurity from Northeastern University, specializing in the darknet, anonymity and anonymous network communications, privacy and privacy law as well as information security, topics on which she has published extensively. Sarah helped draft the first-ever US data breach law, 2008 in Massachusetts, and testified before the legislature on Data Breach Laws, and Massachusetts General Law (MGL) Chapter 93H. She also testified before the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs & Business Regulation (OCABR) on its privacy regulations, 201 CMR 17.00.
As part of the NIST Privacy and Security Working Group from 2009-2016, she co-authored the NIST 7628, Smart Grid Security, Privacy Standards in 2010, and the 2014 revision. She conducts training and research with the FBI, Interpol, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Digital Forensics Crime Lab, and other LEAs. She has implemented and overseen major security and privacy programs and operations in regulated industries, achieving compliance in SOC2, SOX, PCI and GDPR, and other laws and regulation and IT control frameworks.
Prior to undertaking her PhD, Sarah was Sr VP, Security, IT Audit/DR at Putnam Investments, an investment management firm with over $400 billion in assets under management. She oversaw Putnam’s recovery on 9/11 when then-parent company Marsh & McLennan’s World Trade Center 99th floor data center was destroyed. She also supervised over and 65 compliance and IT audits per year as well as incident investigations. As a senior executive and later consultant for Putnam and other Fortune 500 firms, Sarah also had responsibility for major applications development, data center and other operations, with over 100+ staff and $50m budgets. Before that, Sarah was a Sr. VP, Data Center/Security Operations/Compliance with BNY Mellon Bank/American Express. Sarah has published extensively on computer security, privacy, mutual criminal legal assistance treaties (MLATs), and the darknet, including MLAT.is World Treaty Cartel Internet Overlay for Darknet and Digital Traffic Analytics for MLAT.is, featured in the 2017 IEEE International Symposium on Technologies for Homeland Security (HST17). She regularly serves as a referee for Computers & Security Journal.
A former analyst for the US Department of Energy, she led the National Institute for Science and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Working Group sub-team, as co-author of the 2014 NIST: Guidelines for Smart Grid Cyber Security: Vol. 2, Privacy and the Smart Grid, as well as the 2010 volume, that created the security and privacy laws section of the report. She served on the privacy use cases team for two years and the NIST cybersecurity working group (CSWG) on Smart Grid privacy for seven years. She has co-led Northeastern University Law School Legal Skills in Social Context (LSSC) clinics on surveillance law and online privacy tools and technology, as well as an MIT Co-Design Studio class at MIT Media Lab. She has helped draft data breach laws, and testified before the Massachusetts legislature and regulatory agencies. In addition to her work on various industry standards bodies, Sarah serves on the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) P1912 Privacy and Security Architecture for Consumer Wireless Devices Working Group. Sarah serves as a postdoctoral researcher in Digital & Multimedia evidence at the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab in Digital and Multimedia Evidence, and trains law enforcement in forensic techniques. In her work to help end cyberstalking and abuse through technology, Sarah serves on the Boards of Emerge, the first Abuser Intervention Program (BIP), and Each One Teach One, dedicated to training for technology employment.