RSA Conference Awards
Established in 1998, the RSA Conference Awards are presented to acknowledge the outstanding contributions of individuals and organizations in the field of cryptography, public policy and information security. Congratulations to the Winners of the RSA® Conference 2009 Awards!
Excellence in the Field of Mathematics
The RSA Conference Award for Mathematics recognizes innovation and ongoing contribution to the field of cryptography.
Neal Koblitz
Professor, University of Washington
Victor S. Miller
IDA Center for Communications Research, Princeton
In 1985, Professor Neal Koblitz, a faculty member in mathematics at the University of Washington, and Dr. Victor Miller, then a scientist at IBM, independently proposed a new approach to public-key cryptography based on elliptic curves. Thanks to its mathematical elegance and efficiency, Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) has achieved far-reaching importance in both academic research and commercial cryptographic systems..
Excellence in the Field of Security Practices
The RSA Conference Award for Excellence in the Field of Security Practices recognizes outstanding achievement in the practice of security within an organization.
Robert Lentz
Deputy Secretary of Defense, Department of Defense
Robert Lentz serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Information and Identity Assurance and DoD Chief Information Assurance Officer. During his eight year tenure, Mr. Lentz has greatly enhanced the security posture and business practices of the Department. He has achieved nearly 100% deployment of the Public Key Infrastructure Common Access Cards across the DoD-wide network; initial deployment of Host-based Security Services; and Insider Threat capabilities filling major capability gaps. Since June 2007, Federal, state, and local agencies have purchased in excess of $19 million in DAR products with cost avoidance in excess of $83 million.
Excellence in the Field of Public Policy
The RSA Conference Award for Public Policy is designed to recognize significant contribution and leadership in the field of cyber security public policy.
Keith Mularski
Supervisory Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Keith is assigned to the Cyber Initiative and Resource Fusion Unit (CIRFU), which is part of FBI’s Cyber Division. He is based at the National Cyber Forensics Training Alliance, which is a public/private partnership located in Pittsburgh. Mularski and his colleagues in the U.S. and internationally are nominated because of their work bringing down "Dark Market", an online "carding" forum that was one of the largest of its kind in the cyber underworld. On October 16, 2008, after a two-year undercover operation, the FBI, along with other international law enforcement agencies arrested 56 fraudsters and helped prevent an estimated $70 million in economic losses. From the FBI press release: "Cyber criminals using this forum represented a virtual transnational criminal network spanning numerous countries who were involved with the buying and selling of stolen financial information including credit card data, login credentials (user names and passwords), as well as equipment used in carrying out certain financial crimes. At its peak the Dark Market website had over 2,500 registered members. The FBI conducted this operation with the assistance of multiple domestic and international law enforcement partners, including the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, United Kingdom’s Serious Organised Crime Agency, Turkish National Police – KOM Department, Bundeskriminalamt (German Federal Criminal Police in Wiesbaden), and the Landeskriminalamt Baden – Wuerrtemberg (State Police of Baden Wuerrtemberg)." This coordinated effort demonstrates that jurisdictional issues can be overcome and that global law enforcement agencies can effectively work together to break up Internet fraud forums, thereby contributing substantially to an important public policy objective.
RSA Conference Lifetime Achievement Award
Taher Elgamal
Dr. Taher Elgamal is a tremendously successful and talented cryptographer turned entrepreneur. In 1985, Dr. Elgamal published a paper titled “A Public key Cryptosystem and A Signature Scheme based on discrete Logarithms” in which he proposed the design of the ElGamal discrete log cryptosystem and of the ElGamal signature scheme. The latter scheme became the basis for Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) adopted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as the Digital Signature Standard (DSS). The Elgamal Cryptosystem is used in many commercial products and is the foundation for modern elliptic-curve ciphers. He also participated in the 'SET' credit card payment protocol, plus a number of Internet payment schemes. Elgamal served as chief scientist at Netscape Communications from 1995 to 1998 where he was a driving force behind SSL. Recognized as the inventor of Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology, Dr. Elgamal wrote the patents and promoted SSL as the Internet security standard. Dr. Elgamal holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in computer science from Stanford University and a B.S. in electrical engineering from Cairo University.
Past RSA® Conference Award Winners
RSA® Conference 2008 Awards
- Arjen Lenstra, Professor, Laboratory for Cryptologic Algorithms, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, for Field of Mathematics
- Congressman Jim Langevin, Rhode Island's 2nd Congressional District for Public Policy
- Philip Venables, Managing Director and Chief Information Risk Officer, Goldman Sachs & Co., USA for Security Practices
- Thomas E. Noonan, retired general manager of IBM Internet Security Systems, and former chairman, president and chief executive officer of Internet Security Systems (ISS). Lifetime Achievement award for pioneering intrusion detection technologies and his substantial contributions to the growth of the information security industry.
RSA® Conference 2007 Awards
- Jacques Stern, Professeur d'informatique, Directeur du Département d'Informatique, École Normale Supérieure, for Field of Mathematics
- Deborah Platt Majoras, Chairman, U.S. Federal Trade Commission, for Public Policy
- State Senator Joe Simitian, California State Senate, for Public Policy
- Jeffrey Bardin, CISSP, CISM, CHS, and NSA IAM, for Security Practices
RSA® Conference 2006 Awards
- Oded Goldreich, Professor of Computer Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, for Field of Mathematics
- Ari Schwartz, Deputy Director, Center for Democracy & Technology, for Public Policy
- Jack Jones, ISSP, CISM, CISA, Chief Information Security Officer, CBCInnovis, for Security Practices
RSA® Conference 2005 Awards
- Dan Boneh, Associate Professor, Stanford University, for Field of Mathematics
- Orson Swindle, Federal Trade Commission, for Public Policy
- Michael Assante, American Electric Power, for Best Security Practices
RSA® Conference 2004 Awards
- Professor Silvio Micali, M.I.T., for Field of Mathematics
- U.S. Senator Robert Bennett, for Public Policy
- Eric Guerrino, Bank of New York, for Best Security Practices
- Jim Bidzos, retiring RSA Conference chairman: special RSA Conference Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing him for his contributions to the information security industry and the RSA Conference
RSA® Conference 2003 Awards
- Dr. Mihir Bellare and Dr. Phillip Rogaway, noted cryptographers and researchers, for Field of Mathematics
- U.S. Congressman Sherwood Boehlert, for Public Policy
- Herman Miller Inc., for Best Security Practices
Microsoft Corporation, for Industry Innovation
RSA® Conference 2002 Awards
- Dr. Don Coppersmith, noted cryptographer and IBM researcher, for Field of Mathematics
- U.S. Congressman Tom Davis, for Public Policy
- Symantec Corp., for Industry
RSA® Conference 2001 Awards
- Dr. Scott Vanstone, noted cryptographer and founder of Certicom Corporation, for Field of Mathematics
- The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Encryption Standard Committee, for Public Policy
- Gemplus, for Industry
RSA® Conference 2000 Awards
- Ralph Merkle, noted mathematician and cryptographer, for Field of Mathematics
- Ed Gillespie and Jack Quinn, Executive Director and Co-Chairman of Americans for Computer Privacy, for Public Policy
- Check Point Software Technologies, for Industry
RSA® Conference 1999 Awards
- John M. Pollard, noted mathematician, for Field of Mathematics
- John Gilmore, co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, for Public Policy
- Compaq Computer's Atalla Division, for Industry
RSA® Conference 1998 Awards
- Shafrira Goldwasser, M.I.T. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, for Field of Mathematics
- Congressman Bob Goodlatte, for Public Policy
- Netscape Communications, for Industry