Dmitri Alperovitch

Dmitri Alperovitch – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Dive into the life of Dmitri Alperovitch, the Russian-born cybersecurity pioneer, cofounder of CrowdStrike, and geopolitical thinker. Learn about his journey from Moscow to America, his landmark cyber investigations, his ideas on statecraft, and his most memorable quotes.

Introduction

Dmitri Alperovitch (born 1980) is a leading figure in cybersecurity, geopolitics, and public policy. Though born in the Soviet Union, he immigrated to the U.S. in his teens and rose to cofound CrowdStrike, one of the foremost cybersecurity firms globally, serving as its Chief Technology Officer.

Over time, his role broadened: from technical executive to author, commentator, and founder of the Silverado Policy Accelerator, a think tank focused on great power competition and cyber strategy. His career spans investigative cyber operations, public policy, and strategic commentary—making him a unique bridge between the tech and national security worlds.

In this article, we trace his early life, major achievements, ideas, and enduring influence.

Early Life and Family

Dmitri Alperovitch was born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, in 1980.

In 1994, when Dmitri was about 13 years old, his family left Russia. His father obtained a visa to Canada first, and soon after, the family relocated to Chattanooga, Tennessee in the United States.

His father, Michael Alperovitch, was a nuclear physicist by training. Fascinatingly, when Dmitri was still in high school, he and his father co-founded an encryption-technology business—foreshadowing his future in cybersecurity.

This immigrant background and early exposure to technical work shaped his trajectory: understanding that he would need to forge new identity, skill, and influence in a new country—and to do so in a rapidly evolving field.

Youth and Education

After arriving in the U.S., Dmitri continued his education:

• He completed secondary schooling in Tennessee.

• He enrolled in Georgia Institute of Technology, earning a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science in 2001.

• He went on to receive a Master of Science in Information Security in 2003, from the same institution.

Notably, his master’s degree was part of the first graduate program in information security at Georgia Tech—a pioneer move in what was still a nascent discipline structurally in academia.

These educational foundations gave him the technical rigor and credibility to lead in highly complex cyber fields.

Career and Achievements

Early Cyber and Research Work

Dmitri’s early professional path included work in cybersecurity startups and research roles:

• He worked at CipherTrust, an email security company, where he contributed to the development of the TrustedSource reputation system.

• In 2006, CipherTrust was acquired by Secure Computing, and Dmitri moved into leading research and SaaS business lines.

• After Secure Computing, he joined McAfee (following an acquisition), rising to the role of Vice President of Threat Research.

In those roles, he spearheaded investigations into large-scale cyber intrusions attributed to state actors:

• Operation Aurora (2010): a Chinese attack on Google and other firms. Dmitri led the investigation.

• Night Dragon: Investigations into espionage targeting oil & gas companies.

• Operation Shady RAT: published in 2011, documenting suspected Chinese intrusions across dozens of organizations.

These investigations forged his reputation for combining technical depth, attribution capability, and public reporting.

Founding and Scaling CrowdStrike

In late 2011, Dmitri co-founded CrowdStrike along with George Kurtz and Gregg Marston, and became its Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

Under his technical leadership, CrowdStrike specialized in endpoint security, threat intelligence, and incident response—serving both private and public sector clients.

CrowdStrike’s growth trajectory was impressive:

• In 2015, the firm attracted investment from CapitalG (formerly Google Capital).

• By May 2017, CrowdStrike had raised over $256 million from investors such as Warburg Pincus and Accel.

• The company went public in June 2019, achieving a multi-billion-dollar valuation.

During this period, Dmitri left his executive operational role (around 2020) to focus on policy, thought leadership, and public strategic work.

Silverado & Policy Leadership

In February 2020, Dmitri departed CrowdStrike to launch Silverado Policy Accelerator, a nonprofit think tank centered on policy challenges tied to great power competition, cybersecurity, and industrial strategy.

Silverado officially launched in March 2021, with Alperovitch as executive chairman.

He also founded the Alperovitch Institute for Cybersecurity Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS, which provides graduate and executive education in cybersecurity policy.

In the public sphere, he hosts the podcast Geopolitics Decanted, where he dialogues with experts about pressing global security issues.

Dmitri also serves in advisory and governmental roles:

• He is a member of the Cyber Safety Review Board, an entity created by executive order to investigate major cybersecurity incidents.

• He sits on the Homeland Security Advisory Council.

• He has acted as a Special Advisor to the U.S. Department of Defense.

These roles reflect his evolving identity: from technical founder to public intellectual and policy strategist.

Historical Milestones & Context

• Immigrant origin to U.S. cybersecurity leadership: His journey from a Russian émigré to cofounding a marquee American security company underscores both generational mobility and the technological imperative in the 21st century.

• Attribution breakthroughs: The investigations he led (Aurora, Shady RAT) helped catalyze a new era of public attribution in cyber espionage, shifting norms about accountability in cyberspace.

• Public awareness & political resonance: The CrowdStrike name became central in debates over election integrity and state-level cyber warfare, particularly regarding the 2016 U.S. election.

• Think tank pivot: His shift into policy and commentary mirrors the growing intersection of technology, geopolitics, and domestic society in an era of great power competition.

• Forecasting the Ukraine conflict: In late 2021, Dmitri publicly predicted that Russia would invade Ukraine—an assessment later validated.

• Sanctions and pushback: In November 2022, Russia personally sanctioned him and banned his entry—signifying that his critiques and influence had real geopolitical impact.

Legacy and Influence

Dmitri Alperovitch’s legacy can be viewed across multiple domains:

1. Cyber norms & attribution
   His work helped shift the paradigm: nations and firms can be named, held to account, and publicly exposed for cyber acts—inviting new norms in global governance.

2. Bridging tech and policy
   He exemplifies a new breed of leaders fluent in code, law, strategy, diplomacy, and public communication.

3. Thought leadership in strategy
   Through Silverado, his writings, and his institute, he helps shape how decision makers conceptualize cyber conflict, deterrence, and geopolitical competition.

4. Mentorship and networks
   As board advisor, angel investor, and commentator, he invests in the next generation of security technologists and policymakers.

5. Public intellectual visibility
   His presence in major media, congressional hearings, and policy forums helps elevate cybersecurity from niche domain to core strategic issue.

Though still active and evolving, his influence already resonates in how states, corporations, and institutions think about digital power, control, and security.

Personality and Talents

Dmitri Alperovitch is often described as:

• Technically fearless: He dives into highly complex and opaque problems (e.g. nation-state hacks) when others stay at safer edges.

• Analytical and ambitious: His instincts pair deep technical knowledge with strategic imagination—anticipating not just current threats but future vectors.

• Communicative and persuasive: He writes and speaks fluently across technical, policy, and public media spheres.

• Bold in attribution: He is willing to name state actors and hold them publicly accountable—even at risk of pushback or retaliation.

• Ethically driven: His transition into policy and institution-building indicates a desire to translate insights into systemic change, not only commercial success.

His multidimensional talents help him navigate boardrooms, war rooms, academic panels, and public debates.

Famous Quotes of Dmitri Alperovitch

Here are several statements attributed to him that reflect his worldview on cybersecurity and strategy:

“There are only two types of companies — those that know they’ve been hacked, and those that don’t yet know they’ve been hacked.”

“Chinese hacking is the biggest transfer of wealth in history.”

“For Putin, it’s really not about whether he can capture a village and keep it occupied. His determination from day one has been to control Ukraine, to prevent Ukraine from being part of the Western alliance.”

“If you want to deter adversaries in cyberspace, you need credible attribution, resilience, and the capacity to respond.” (paraphrased from his commentaries)

These quotes reveal his commitment to clarity, accountability, and strategic posture in digital domains.

Lessons from Dmitri Alperovitch

1. Technical mastery enables influence
   Authority in policy comes from deep competence; it’s hard to lead on cyber issues without grasping code, systems, and threat logic.

2. Public attribution matters
   Naming adversaries publicly changes the cost calculus of aggression—and helps rally coalition, norms, and deterrence.

3. Bridge domains early
   He didn’t wait until late career to mix security, policy, media, and strategy; he built the bridge architecture as he went.

4. Don’t silo your impact
   Transitioning from business to public policy can multiply one’s influence on structural issues, not just product or profit.

5. Forecasting is a habit
   His accurate read on the Ukraine conflict shows the value of vigilance, pattern recognition, and connecting dots beyond immediate events.

6. Institutionalize your ideas
   Building think tanks and educational arms helps ideas endure beyond a single person’s capacity to speak or write.

Conclusion

Dmitri Alperovitch’s story is a compelling example of how the modern frontier of power lies at the intersection of bits and states. From his émigré origins, through deep technical work, to thought leadership in geopolitics, he has become a key voice in how the world grapples with cyber conflict and great power competition.

His career underscores that defense in the digital age is not just about technology, but about norms, attribution, strategy, and institutions. As he continues to speak, write, and build, his influence on global security, policy, and the meaning of cyber power will likely deepen.