Computer scientist Sharon Goldberg researches cryptography and cybersecurity, focusing on keeping the internet\u2019s infrastructure secure from bad actors.<\/strong> Over the course of several years, she and Ethan Heilman (GRS\u201922,\u201922), a former graduate student, published several papers on blockchain security that gained attention in the cryptocurrency world. In 2018, the two decided to bring their joint cybersecurity research to the consumer and launched Commonwealth Crypto, a start-up providing digital asset security for cryptocurrency platforms. In 2020, Goldberg and Heilman rebranded the company as BastionZero, pivoting out of the cryptocurrency industry and applying similar security technology to the broader problem of securing access to computer servers and other infrastructure.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cryptocurrency industry was very small at the time\u2014and actually is still pretty small today\u2014and we had been bumping up against that,\u201d says Goldberg, an associate professor of computer science. \u201cWe ultimately wanted the opportunity to build something that any engineer could use.\u201d BastionZero\u2019s product is a zero trust software, designed to protect access to a company\u2019s infrastructure. \u201cIf an adversary gets that administrative access to your infrastructure, they can control the infrastructure, change your code, and cause very bad things to happen to your product or your company,\u201d Goldberg explains. Unlike many data security models, which take a \u201ctrust-but-verify\u201d approach to granting access, zero trust networks put all users through the same stringent verification process.<\/p>\n With $6 million in funding from Dell Technologies Capital, the pair spent four years designing the platform, getting word out, and building a team of more than 10 people.<\/p>\n In 2024, BastionZero was purchased by Cloudflare, a network and security provider, and its technology was integrated into the site\u2019s own zero trust platform. Now, rebranded as Cloudflare\u2019s Access for Infrastructure product, the technology allows server administrators to customize their user authentication process as well as easily audit and control network access. <\/p>\n BastionZero is just one recent example of Arts & Sciences computer scientists spinning their research into business start-ups. In fact, BU was ranked 21st among global universities in digital entrepreneurship by Emerging, a French company that develops tools to improve the employability of graduates. <\/p>\n The BastionZero team continues to work on their platform within Cloudflare. \u201cI\u2019m doing a lot of innovation projects at Cloudflare within their zero trust platform,\u201d Goldberg says. \u201cI\u2019m dealing with things that are very relevant to my research, including cryptography; I started my career in cryptography, so it\u2019s really been fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
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