How one hacker's push to secure the internet became a crucial part of Mac, Linux, and Windows operating systems
Jason A. Donenfeld is relentlessly curious about everything, from ancient cities to cutting edge cryptography. When he's not developing WireGuard, known as the most secure VPN protocol in the world, the security researcher enjoys exploring the vast network of centuries-old limestone tunnels beneath Paris.
Donenfeld, who is 32, originally came to Paris in 2010, after landing a summer gig writing shape packing algorithms, and then moved to the city fully in 2012, working as a vulnerability researcher.
His work finding vulnerabilities for companies led him to doubt the security of popular VPN protocols. He thought the dizzying complexity, bloated implementations, and often outdated cryptography made for a worrisome attack surface. In 2015, he started developing WireGuard.
WireGuard is an open-source VPN protocol that's been lauded for its high-level security. In the few short years that Donenfeld has developed it, WireGuard has been adopted by the major operating system Linux, and integrated into Mac and Windows, as well as iOS, Android, and others.
