Alumni Winter Study 2025: "Law, Cybersecurity, and Society" with Rich Ward '89 and John Massaro '89

Return to the (virtual) classroom for one-hour versions of Williams Winter Study courses, designed and taught by fellow alums!

The lawyer and the cyber security expert should be friends. 

Rich Ward ’89, former Technical Fellow at Microsoft Corp, and John Massaro ’89, Partner in the Washington, DC office of Arnold & Porter, explore whether "the law" helps, hurts, or misses the boat entirely when it comes to cybersecurity challenges posed by emerging technologies and hacking. From the Morris hack in 1988, which is often identified as the first "worm," to the problems posed by state-sponsored international hacking incidents, the efforts of society to use the law to regulate behavior in the cyber world tell a story that informs our understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the law and the excitement of the ongoing chess match between hackers and cybersecurity professionals. 

Richard Ward '89 is a former technical fellow at Microsoft Corp, where he was the head of security assurance for platform products. He worked at Microsoft for 35 years across numerous projects. John Massaro '89 is a partner in the Washington, DC office of Arnold & Porter, where he has practiced since completing a clerkship on the First Circuit in 1993. John is also an adjunct professor at George Mason Law School, teaching federal courts every year since 2010.