The Zeek software, co-developed by Dr. Robin Sommer in a leading role, is giving cyber criminals a hard time. One of the reasons it is so efficient is that, as a so-called open source software, it is continuously being improved by the contributions of the worldwide Zeek community. At ZeekWeek 2018 in Arlington, Virginia, Robin Sommer exchanged views with the community's expert audience on the latest developments in network security (Image: private).
New Input
Already at Saarland University as a doctoral student, Robin Sommer was able to make remarkable contributions to the framework of programming. When his doctoral supervisor, Professor Dr. Anja Feldmann, was called to TUM in Munich in 2002, he did not hesitate and followed her. “TUM is internationally very visible”, he says about his decision. “Whoever does research here is quickly being noticed.”
TUM is internationally very visible. Whoever does research here is quickly being noticed.
Unusual Perspective
As soon as Robin Sommer had successfully completed his doctorate, he was invited to join Vern Paxson’s research group at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley. In order to make the software, which had previously only been available to specialists, available to a broader user group in the US research and education sector, the National Science Foundation had contributed seven million US dollars. Robin Sommer led the team driving this effort, and managed to quickly transform the software from a pure research platform to a standard tool for protecting academic networks.
Starting a company was never on Robin Sommer’s mind at that time, as he was very pleased to be able to do research and programming on his exciting long-term project in California. However, it was only a matter of time before the groundbreaking potential of the software would attract governmental organisations and large corporations. The demand for a commercial product grew. And so the logical next step was the founding of his own start-up in 2013. The passionate scientist was now an entrepreneur and supplied a number of Fortune 50 companies with the security software. “Having my research being practically applied like this now is a great reward”, Robin Sommer says. “But deep down in my heart, I’m a scientist.”
New Task
Meanwhile Robin Sommer and his family have returned to Munich. Here, too, he continues to develop his company in an area that is particularly close to his heart. He now heads the company’s Open Source Team, focussing on further developing the free software, which remains the heart of all Corelight products. He encourages programmers around the world to contribute ideas and code to Zeek and share their knowledge at community events and workshops. In this way, the software can continue to evolve and improve its ability to prevent criminal activity in cyberspace.
Robin Sommer (Image: private).
Doctorate Informatics 2005
In 2001 Robin Sommer graduated in Informatics and Mathematics from Paderborn University. He was a research assistant at Saarland University from 2001 to 2002. Together with his doctoral supervisor, Professor Dr. Anja Feldmann, he moved to TUM in Munich in 2002 and completed his doctorate on network monitoring in 2005.
Since then, he has continued his research on this highly topical subject at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Together with his mentor Vern Paxson and Seth Hall, Robin created the start-up Corelight in 2013, which is based in San Francisco.
As a proven expert, Robin Sommer has held leading positions and served on programme and steering committees for renowned conferences such as the IEEE Symposium on Security & Privacy or the International Symposium on Research in Attacks, Intrusions and Defenses. Whenever Robin Sommer is not pursuing his favourite hobby – programming, he enjoys spending his free time in the mountains.
