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.

Excellence in the Field of Mathematics

The RSA Conference Award for Mathematics recognizes innovation and ongoing contribution to the field of cryptography. The judging committee seeks to acknowledge those nominees who are pioneers in their field, and whose work has applied lasting value. Nominees are affiliated with universities or research labs.

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. The judging committee seeks to reward nominees who hold elected or appointed office, are associated with public interest organizations or are associated with an organization that has significantly contributed to the development or application of current information security and/or privacy policy.

Excellence in Information Security

The RSA Conference Award for Excellence in Information Security recognizes outstanding achievement in the industry. The judging committee seeks to recognize a security practitioner for their outstanding security program or initiative.

2013 Winners

Excellence in Information Security

Award Recipient:

RSAC 2013 Awards

Financial Services Information Sharing & Analysis Center (FS-ISAC)

Accepting on organization’s behalf, Bill Nelson, President and CEO, FS-ISAC

Launched in 1999, FS-ISAC was established by the financial services sector in response to 1998’s Presidential Directive 63. That directive - later updated by 2003’s Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7 - mandated that the public and private sectors share information about physical and cyber security threats and vulnerabilities to help protect the U.S. critical infrastructure. The FS-ISAC is uniquely positioned to quickly disseminate threat alerts and other critical information to organizations within the financial services sector. By sharing information about malicious attacks and threats, they have been able to thwart both physical and cyber attacks.

Mr. Nelson developed the ACH Network into one of the largest electronic payment systems in the world and administered NACHA’s rule-making, marketing, rules enforcement, education and government relations programs. In addition, FS-ISAC’s work with the U.S. Treasury, FDIC, Department of Homeland Security, and other government agencies has allowed the FS-ISAC to become an operating arm for disaster response and planning for responding to both cyber and physical attacks.

Excellence in Mathematics

Award Recipients

RSAC 2013 Awards

Prof. Jean-Jacques Quisquater, Belgium

Prof. Dr. Claus Schnorr, Germany

Citation: For their pioneering work in efficient zero-knowledge authentication schemes. The GQ and Schnorr identification and signature schemes represent a seminal translation of cryptographic theory into practice, and had a major impact on the early development of the smartcard industry.

Past RSA Conference Award Winners

RSA Conference 2012 Awards

  • Eli Biham, Professor, Dr. Mitsuru Matsui, in the Field of Mathematics
  • Congressman Mac Thornberry (R-TX), in the Field of Public Policy
  • Phil Agcaoili, in the Field of Security Practices
  • Martin E. Hellman, in Lifetime Achievement Award

RSA Conference 2011 Awards

  • Charles W. Rackoff,  University of Toronto, for Field of Mathematics
  • C. Ryan Brewer, Chief Information Security Officer and Director, Office of the CISO Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, for Security Practices
  • William J. Lynn, III, Deputy Secretary of Defense, for Public Policy
  • Ronald Rivest, Adi Shamir, Leonard Adleman, RSA Conference Lifetime Achievement Award

RSA Conference 2010 Awards

  • Dr. David Chaum for Field of Mathematics.
  • Malcolm Harkins, CISO and General Manager of Enterprise Capabilities, Controls, and Compliance, Intel Corporation for Security Practices.
  • The CSIS Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency for Public Policy.
    • Commission Director: James Andrew Lewis, Director and Senior Fellow, Technology and Public Policy Program, Center for Strategic & International Studies
    • Commission Co-Chairs: Representative James R. Langevin, Chairman of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, Representative Michael T. McCaul, Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cyber Security and Science and Technology, Scott Charney, Corporate Vice President for Trustworthy Computing, Microsoft Corporation, and Harry D. Raduege, Jr., Chairman, The Deloitte Center for Cyber Innovation, Deloitte & Touche LLP.
  • Whitfield Diffie, Lifetime Achievement award for his pioneering work in public-key cryptography.

RSA Conference 2009 Awards

  • Neal Koblitz, Professor, University of Washington, and Victor S. Miller, IDA Center for Communications Research, Princeton, for Field of Mathematics
  • Keith Mularski, Supervisory Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation, for Public Policy
  • Robert Lentz, Deputy Secretary of Defense, Department of Defense, for Security Practices
  • Taher Elgamal, Lifetime Achievement award for his pioneering work in cryptography, digital signatures and Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology.

RSA Conference 2008 Awards

  • Arjen Lenstra, Professor, Laboratory for Cryptologic Algorithms, Ecole Polytechnique Federale 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 Departement d'Informatique, Ecole Normale Superieure, 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

About