Hal Tipton passed away last week.  Some called him the father of the CISSP certification, as he was the main author of the (ISC)² CBK.  

In 2001, (ISC)² has given out the the Harold F. Tipton Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is given annually to those who share Hal’s tradition of passionately promoting and enhancing the information security profession.  He was the first recipient of the award. 

I first met Hal about 15 years ago at a Computer Security Institute conference and from the outset was impressed by his character. 

Tipton was best known as the editor of numerous information security reference guides and CISSP study guides, including the Official (ISC)2 Guide to the ISSMP CBK, Information Security Management Handbook and others. 

While Hal was a major influence and inspiration to many people, a lot of people nonetheless didn’t know him.  Part of the reason was that he was very much a behind the scenes type of person. 

He used his talents and influence always in a positive way, and gave many people numerous opportunities to contribute to the information security community. 

Hal’s experience goes all the way back to the early days of information security, many decades ago.  

Hal was a great listener, full of good advice, humble, and just a very nice and kind person. 

The world is a better place because of Hal, and he will be sorely missed.