Thomas Rid
Professor of Strategic Studies
About
Rid brings to Johns Hopkins more than a decade of experience in international security and intelligence studies, previously serving as a Professor of Security Studies in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, where he developed a Cyber Security module that bridged the gap between technological and political debates.
Rid has recently shared his expertise on information security through testimony before the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, as well as insights on intelligence with the German Bundestag and the UK Parliament.
Rid closely tracked the election interference in 2016, and was one of the first named sources to call out the hack-and-leak as a Russian intelligence operation, only one day after details became public.
He has held positions at the RAND Corporation in Washington, the Institut Français des Relations Internationales in Paris, and served as a visiting scholar at Hebrew University and Shalem Center in Jerusalem. From 2007 to 2008, Rid served as a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins SAIS. He holds a PhD and MA in Social Science from Humboldt University in Berlin.
Books:
Rid, T. (2016). Rise of the machines: A cybernetic history. New York: W. W. Norton et Company.
Rid, T. (2013). Cyber war will not take place. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
In the News
Cyber attack warning: Countries are gearing up to steal COVID-19 research.
Thomas Rid cited in Daily Express, 7/17
Hitting the Books: The media's role in history's most damaging data dump.
Thomas Rid’s book excerpt included in Engadget, 6/27
Operations of secret services around the world and the misinformation campaigns that shape international competition.
Thomas Rid interviewed by Yascha Mounk on The Good Fight podcast, 6/19
Elite CIA unit that developed hacking tools failed to secure its own systems, allowing massive leak, an internal report found.
Thomas Rid quoted in The Washington Post, 6/16
The dark arts of disinformation through a historical lens.
Thomas Rid’s book reviewed for Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs’ Russia Matters project, 5/20
Active measures and digital disinformation.
Thomas Rid cited in Brookings Institution’s TechStream, 5/18
Recognizing disinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic
Thomas Rid interviewed in Johns Hopkins Hub, 5/8
‘Active Measures’ review: How Trump gave Russia its richest target yet
Thomas Rid’s book reviewed in The Guardian, 5/2
The Russians manipulated our elections. We helped.
Thomas Rid’s book reviewed in The Washington Post, 4/24
Poland implicates Russia in cyberattack, information operation aimed at undercutting U.S. relations.
Thomas Rid quoted in CyberScoop, 4/24
Russia’s online disinformation has a 100-year history
Thomas Rid interviewed on The Cyberlaw podcast, 4/21
Stay inside with the 10 best books of April
Thomas Rid’s book cited in The Christian Science Monitor, 4/17
Active measures: The secret history of disinformation and political warfare
Thomas Rid’s book reviewed in Foreign Affairs, 4/14
Google scrubs coronavirus misinformation on search, YouTube.
Thomas Rid quoted in BNN Bloomberg, 3/10
Report: Russian social accounts sow election discord - again.
Thomas Rid quoted in Associated Press, 3/5
Internal docs show why the U.S. military publishes North Korean and Russian malware.
Thomas Rid quoted in Vice, 2/25
The coronavirus is causing an outbreak in America—of anti-Asian racism.
Thomas Rid cited in The Hill, 1/30
Impeachment trials and conspiracy theories: A match made in hell.
Thomas Rid quoted in Foreign Policy, 1/24
Investigators: Saudis hacked Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' phone.
Thomas Rid cited in BankInfoSecurity, 1/22
Why didn’t Trump tell Congress there was evidence Russia hacked Burisma?
Thomas Rid quoted in Mother Jones, 1/14
As trial nears, Trump keeps discredited Ukraine theory alive.
Thomas Rid quoted in Associated Press, 1/12
Why Trump's Senate GOP allies are pushing accusations of Ukraine election meddling.
Thomas Rid quoted in USA Today, 12/14
Wall can’t take DoD funds; Taliban kill at U.S. airfield; Saudi pilots grounded; Hacker tools, for rent; and a bit more.
Thomas Rid cited in Defense One, 12/11
Standing alongside Pompeo, Russia’s foreign minister denies election interference.
Thomas Rid quoted in Mother Jones, 12/10
Who’s really to blame for the ‘Ukraine did it’ conspiracy theory?
Thomas Rid wrote in The Atlantic, 12/5
How Russian President Vladimir Putin emerged as a winner in President Donald Trump's impeachment hearings.
Thomas Rid cited in Time Magazine, 11/26
The Fact Checker’s guide to impeachment hearing spin.
Thomas Rid cited in The Washington Post, 11/12
President Trump’s alternate reality on Ukraine.
Professor of Strategic Studies Thomas Rid cited in The Washington Post, 10/29
GOP representatives push conspiracy theories defending Trump.
Thomas Rid quoted in Mother Jones, 10/23
Why Trump asked Ukraine’s president about ‘Crowdstrike’.
Thomas Rid quoted in Associated Press, 10/17
The Cybersecurity 202: Trump’s embrace of conspiracy theories could endanger 2020.
Thomas Rid quoted in The Washington Post, 10/1
The Cybersecurity 202: Trump’s CrowdStrike conspiracy theory shows he still doubts Russian election interference.
Thomas Rid cited in The Washington Post, 9/26
Why Trump asked Ukraine’s president about ‘CrowdStrike’.
Thomas Rid quoted in Associated Press, 9/27
The Cybersecurity 202: Trump’s CrowdStrike conspiracy theory shows he still doubts Russian election interference.
Thomas Rid cited in The Intercept, 9/26
What you need to know about Trump’s Crowdstrike conspiracy theory.
Thomas Rid cited in Rolling Stone, 9/25
The Cybersecurity 202: Huawei uncertainty continues with three-month ban extension.
Thomas Rid cited in The Washington Post, 8/20
Twitter and Facebook suspend hundreds of accounts linked to China spreading 'disinformation' about Hong Kong protests.
Thomas Rid cited in Computing, 8/20
Attorney General Barr fires up the encryption debate.
Thomas Rid cited in The Washington Post The Cybersecurity 202, 7/24
As feds struggle, states create their own anti-election propaganda programs.
Thomas Rid quoted on CNN, 7/11
Russia warns of “cyberwar” following report the U.S. attacked its power grid.
Thomas Rid cited in Ars Technica, 6/17
Alphabet-owned jigsaw bought a Russian troll campaign as an experiment.
Thomas Rid cited in WIRED, 6/12
EternalBlue comes home to roost, in Baltimore: Will we learn from our mistakes?
Thomas Rid cited in Security Boulevard, 6/10
Facebook deletes fake accounts used in pro-Iranian influence campaign.
Thomas Rid quoted on CNN, 5/28
Troll watch: City infrastructures targeted with stolen NSA hacking tools.
Thomas Rid interviewed on NPR All Things Considered, 5/26
In Baltimore and beyond, a stolen NSA tool wreaks havoc.
Thomas Rid quoted in The New York Times, 5/25
After Mueller revelations, how to protect election integrity in 2020.
Thomas Rid interviewed on PBS NewsHour, 4/24
Mueller report props up reporting, Sanders’s ‘slip of the tongue,’ and more.
Thomas Rid cited in Columbia Journalism Review, 4/18
The U.S. pledges a harder line in cyberspace — and drops some hints.
Thomas Rid interviewed on NPR Morning Edition, 3/26
Russian spies buy congressional directories to hunt down targets.
Thomas Rid quoted in Yahoo News, 3/12
Our elections are still vulnerable to Russian interference.
Thomas Rid cited in The Washington Post, 3/6
U.S. Cyber Command operation disrupted internet access of Russian troll factory on day of 2018 midterms.
Thomas Rid quoted in The Washington Post, 2/27
Before elections, U.S. cut Russian trolls' internet access.
Thomas Rid cited in Healthcare Info Security, 2/27
House Democrats, Republicans cross swords over election security bill today.
Thomas Rid quoted in Politico Morning Security, 2/13
Jennifer Buscemi is the deepfake that should seriously frighten you.
Thomas Rid quoted in The Daily Dot, 1/30