Dug Song is an American computer scientist, security researcher, and entrepreneur. He co-founded Duo Security in 2010 with Jon Oberheide and led the company as chief executive until its acquisition by Cisco in August 2018 for $2.35 billion, the largest exit in Michigan technology history at the time.[1][2] Before Duo Security, Song co-founded Arbor Networks, a network security firm that protected a majority of the world’s internet service providers.[3] He is also the author of dsniff, a widely used suite of network auditing and penetration-testing tools.[4]
Song studied computer science at the University of Michigan, graduating in 1997. Following the Cisco acquisition, he became Chief Strategy Officer of Cisco Security and is co-founder and chair of the Michigan Founders Fund, an organization that supports technology entrepreneurship across Michigan.[5]
Education and early work
Song studied computer science at the University of Michigan, where he also served as a systems research programmer and security administrator managing security for what was then described as the world’s largest production Kerberos environment.[3][5] He graduated in 1997.
After leaving Michigan, Song joined Anzen Computing as a security architect, where he designed and built the first commercial network behavior anomaly detection system. That product was subsequently acquired by Check Point.[3][5]
Security research
While at the University of Michigan, Song developed dsniff, a suite of open-source tools for network auditing and penetration testing released around 2000. The toolkit included utilities for passive credential capture across multiple protocols, as well as tools such as arpspoof, dnsspoof, and sshmitm for demonstrating active man-in-the-middle attacks on switched networks and SSL/SSH sessions.[6] Song described the suite’s purpose as “to audit my own network, and to demonstrate the insecurity of most network application protocols.”[6] dsniff influenced a generation of network security practitioners and appears on the SecTools list of top network security tools.[4]
Song also developed libdnet, a portable low-level networking library, and contributed to the OpenBSD project, including work on the initial security audit of OpenSSH when it was created from the OSSH codebase in 1999.[7][5]
Arbor Networks
In 2000 Song co-founded Arbor Networks in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a spinoff from the University of Michigan with four colleagues. The company raised $33 million in venture capital and developed technology to detect and mitigate distributed denial-of-service attacks and network anomalies; by the time the company was sold, Arbor’s software was used by approximately 80 percent of the world’s internet service providers.[3][8] Song served as founding Chief Security Architect for seven years. Arbor Networks was acquired by Tektronix Communications in 2010.[3]
Duo Security
Founding
Following the Arbor acquisition, Song co-founded Duo Security in 2010 with Jon Oberheide, basing the company in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[2] Duo developed a multi-factor authentication and zero-trust access platform aimed at verifying user identity and device health before granting access to applications. The company’s product linked authentication to the physical possession of a trusted device, using a mobile application to deliver push-based approval prompts.[2]
Growth
Duo grew rapidly through the 2010s, expanding from Ann Arbor to offices across the United States and in the United Kingdom. Between 2016 and 2018 the company roughly tripled in size.[8] Song served as chief executive throughout this period. In 2014 he was named Innovator of the Year by Lawrence Technological University and WWJ Newsradio.[9]
Cisco acquisition
On 2 August 2018, Cisco announced its intent to acquire Duo Security for $2.35 billion in cash and assumed equity awards.[1] The transaction was the largest acquisition of a Michigan-based technology company on record at the time.[8] Following the close of the acquisition, Song became Chief Strategy Officer of Cisco Security.[5]
Michigan Founders Fund
Song is co-founder and chair of the Michigan Founders Fund, an organization that supports technology entrepreneurship across the state of Michigan, with a focus on retaining talent and growing venture-backed companies in the region.[5]
See also
References
- ^ a b “Cisco Announces Intent to Acquire Duo Security” (Press release). Cisco. August 2, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c “How hackers Dug Song and Jono Oberhide teamed up to start Duo Security”. CNBC. April 19, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c d e “Profile Interview: Dug Song”. Infosecurity Magazine. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b “dsniff”. SecTools. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c d e f “Dug Song”. MichAuto. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Song, Dug (2000). “dsniff”. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ “OpenSSH: Project History and Credits”. OpenBSD Project. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c “The Co-founder of Duo on Building His Business in Michigan”. Hour Detroit. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ “Duo Security’s CEO Dug Song Named Innovator of the Year” (Press release). Business Wire. May 19, 2014. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)