Sarah Gordon is a computer security researcher, responsible for early scientific and academic work on virus writers, hackers, and social issues in computing.IFIP Technical Committee 11. 1994. Technologically Enabled Crime: Shifting Paradigms for the Year 2000. Curacao, Netherlands Antilles Stucker, H. 1997. Wired. Among the Virus Thugs Jackson, 1999. Profiler Analyst. Government Computer News Hattori, J. 2001 CNN. Hacking into the minds of virus writers USA Today. 2002. Tech Savage, M. 2001. Delving into the online underworld Slade, R. 2003. Collecting Evidence from the Scene of a Digital Crime. p. 23. McGraw Hill She was among the first computer scientists to propose a multidisciplinary approach to computer security. Known primarily for early work on the relationship between people and computers, much of her original technical research was published or presented between the late 1980s and mid-1990s. She continues to publish in the field of Artificial Intelligence, with current work focusing on the ethical implications of AI technologies, testing and evaluation of AI systems, and the risks of emotional mimicry in human–AI interaction. Her recent publications include the book Built to Be Believed (Leanpub, 2024) and the article "Built to Be Believed" (Virus Bulletin, August 2025).
Two of the first "concept viruses" for Microsoft products were discovered by Gordon, refuting the common belief that it was impossible to contract a virus via email and demonstrating the vulnerability of Microsoft Word to macro viruses in 1995. She also wrote the first report on Linux viruses in the wild.Gordon, S. 1998. The Worm Has Turned. Virus Bulletin. August issue. pp10-12. She is known for inventing the term "vX" to refer to Virus Exchange.Risks Digest, Volume 16: Issue 91 Tuesday 14 March 1995 citing Slade, R. Viral Morality; Gordon, S. 1993. Virus Exchange BBS: A Legal Crime? Legal, Ethical and Technical Aspects of Computer and Network Use and Abuse. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Irvine, California Gordon has always been fascinated with linguistics, and has introduced several other terms into the computer lexicon, including "trigger foot" and "meaningfulness".Santa Fe Institute Keynote, Examination of Cybercentric Role Models in Film and Media, 2007
Gordon was appointed to the computer science graduate faculty of the Florida Institute of Technology Florida Institute of Technology Department of Computer Science in 2004. Although she has worked for several computer security companies, including Dr. Solomon's Software, Command Software, IBM Research, and Symantec Corporation, her work has continued to be primarily academic. Gordon is an alumnus of Indiana University South Bend, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in 1997. She has a master's degree in Human Behaviour and Professional Counseling, and a Ph.D in Computer Science from Middlesex University.
External links Sarah Gordon's personal website "Forbidden Fruit: When the AI Says Apple" (Medium, August 2025) "When the Machine Cannot Hold You" (Medium, August 2025) "Ghosts in the Machine: Why We Should Take Tech Folklore Seriously" (Medium, August 2025) "Symbolic Contagion" (Medium, August 2025) "Guardrail Fail" (Medium, 2025)
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