Salvatore J Stolfo
Also known as Sal Stolfo
Salvatore J Stolfo is a professor of computer science at Columbia University, and he is regarded as creating the area of machine learning applied to computer security. He earned a PhD at NYU's Courant Institute in 1979, and in 1984 he and Daniel Miranker published work on DADO, a parallel processor for expert systems. In 1996 he proposed a DARPA project that applied machine learning to behavioral patterns to detect fraud or intrusion in networks. Two security companies, Allure Security Technology (founded in 2009) and Red Balloon Security (founded in 2011), came out of Columbia's IDS lab. The IEEE named him a Fellow in 2018 for his work on machine learning based cybersecurity, and the ACM elected him a Fellow in 2019.
Timeline
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1979
A PhD from the Courant Institute
NYU's Courant Institute awards him a PhD in 1979, and he stays on the Columbia faculty.
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1984
A parallel processor for expert systems
He and Daniel Miranker publish a paper on DADO, a parallel processor for expert systems, in 1984.
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1996
Machine learning for intrusion detection
In 1996 he proposes a DARPA project that applies machine learning to behavioral patterns to detect fraud or intrusion in networks. He is regarded as creating the area of machine learning applied to computer security.
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2009
Spinning out Allure Security
Allure Security Technology is founded in 2009 on work from Columbia's IDS lab. The lab spins out two companies, Allure and Red Balloon Security.
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2011
Founding Red Balloon Security
Red Balloon Security is founded in 2011 by Stolfo and Ang Cui.
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2018
Elevated to IEEE Fellow
IEEE names him a Fellow in 2018 for his contributions to machine learning based cybersecurity.
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2019
Elected an ACM Fellow
ACM elects him a Fellow in 2019 for contributions to machine-learning-based cybersecurity and parallel hardware for database inference systems.
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As of October 2026
Professor at Columbia
He is a professor of computer science at Columbia University.
Sources and credits
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