SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RSA® Conference, the world’s leading information security conferences and expositions, today announced the recipients of its annual awards: Excellence in the Fields of Information Security, Mathematics and Public Policy. This year also marks the addition of the new Award for Excellence in Humanitarian Service.
The recipients of this year’s RSA Conference Awards are:
Award for Excellence in the Field of Humanitarian Service
Tim
Jenkin, The African National Congress
The very first award recipient, Tim Jenkin, is a former political prisoner, prison escapee and communications officer for the African National Congress. His accomplishments in the realm of social justice are unparalleled. Jenkin and his team are revered for the creation of an ingenious communication system that enabled Vula operatives to penetrate South Africa's borders in secret, ultimately smuggling messages to the then imprisoned Nelson Mandela. Due to circumstances at the time, in the mid-1980s, Jenkin and team could not use commercial or open source cryptographic software. As it was too complex to build their own public-key system, they opted for a computerized version of the one-time pad system. This system, along with a way to send messages electronically, was essential in ending South African Apartheid. Jenkin embodies the height of humanitarianism, as he put his life in danger to create a better world for those who were oppressed.
Award for Excellence in the Field of Information Security
Michael
Assante, Security Expert and ICS Curriculum Lead, SANS Institute
Over the past 15 years, Michael Assante, a security expert and curriculum lead at the SANS Institute, has provided valuable guidance to government, intelligence, military and industrial organizations to help protect large-scale power and other business systems from malicious intrusions perpetrated by criminals, terrorists and nation states. He served as CSO of both American Electric Power and The North American Electric Reliability Corporation as well as a strategist at Idaho National Labs, where he led the team that discovered the mechanism by which remote attacks could physically damage equipment used in industrial processes. A member of the U.S. Commission on Cyber Security under Barack Obama, Assante also spearheaded the power systems technical team that assisted the Ukraine in dealing with the aftermath of remote attacks on the country’s power grid. Assante was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award by RSA Conference in 2005 in the practice of security within an organization.
Award for Excellence in the Field of Mathematics
Professor
Ran Canetti, Boston University, and Professor Rafail Ostrovsky, UCLA
This year’s award honors both, Ran Canetti, professor of Computer Science at Boston University and Tel-Aviv University and Rafail Ostrovsky, professor of Computer Science and Mathematics at UCLA for their groundbreaking, influential work on Novel Models and Protocol Notions for Secure Computation Tasks. Their combined experience developing novel problems, models and fundamental notions, opened the door for multiple new directions in cryptography. Jointly, they made essential contributions to proactive security, efficient zero-knowledge protocols, novel signature schemes and encryption schemes with additional properties, including deniable encryption. Professor Canetti made crucial contributions to Universal Composability, limitations of Random Oracle Model and HMAC function. Professor Ostrovsky enhanced encryption in new directions for big data, including Oblivious RAM and its applications, Encryptions with keyword search on cypher texts, Private Information Retrieval for single server and efficient searching and processing of encrypted data in the cloud with strong privacy guarantees.
Award for Excellence in the Field of Public Policy
Admiral
Michael Rogers, United States Navy
Since 2014, Admiral Michael Rogers, of the United States Navy, has served as the Director of the NSA and Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command, where he plays a seminal role in building up the military’s cyber-warfighting unit. During Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, Admiral Rogers managed the intelligence portfolio for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, specializing in computer network attacks. In 2009, he became director of intelligence for that same body of uniformed members of the U.S. Department of Defense and soon became commander of the United States Fleet Cyber Command, overseeing the Navy’s cyberwarfare efforts. Known for his bold, outspoken leadership and his highly decorated 30-year tenure in the Navy, Admiral Rogers is well respected for his vital achievements in protecting the United States from cyber-attacks, both domestic and foreign.
"This year’s RSA Conference Awards winners have shown what it takes to be true leaders and role models in humanitarian service, mathematics, public policy and cyber security," said Linda Gray Martin, Director & General Manager of RSA Conference. "These recipients follow a long line of award winners that include leaders from both the public and private sectors. We look forward to seeing how their collective efforts will shape the future of our industry.”
About RSA Conference
RSA Conference is the premier series of global events where the world talks security and leadership gathers, advances and emerges. Whether attending in the U.S., the EMEA region, or the Asia-Pacific region, RSA Conference events are where the security industry converges to discuss current and future concerns and get access to the people, content and ideas that help enable individuals and companies to win, grow and do their best. It is the ultimate marketplace for the latest technologies and hands-on educational opportunities that help industry professionals discover how to make their companies more secure while showcasing the most enterprising, influential and thought-provoking thinkers and leaders in security today. For information on events, online programming and the most up-to-date news pertaining to the information security industry visit www.rsaconference.com.
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