Awards recognize major contributions in Mathematics, Public Policy and Industry
RSA® CONFERENCE, SAN JOSE, Calif. RSA Security Inc. (NASDAQ: RSAS), the most trusted name in e-security®, today announced the recipients of its fifth annual RSA Security Awards in the areas of mathematics, public policy and industry. The three recipients were: mathematics, Dr. Don Coppersmith, a noted cryptographer and IBM researcher; public policy, Congressman Tom Davis (R-VA); and industry, Symantec Corp., a leading Internet security company. The honors were presented today at the opening session of RSA® Conference 2002 in San Jose, Calif.
Instituted in 1998, RSA Security's annual award winners are chosen by a committee based upon significant, ongoing contributions to security issues and cryptography.
"The RSA Security Awards recognize those who are making a tangible and profound difference in the security marketplace," said Art Coviello, CEO and president at RSA Security. "Now more than ever we need these experts to share their knowledge with the industry, and we're proud to be able to recognize their contributions."
Mathematics Winner: Dr. Don Coppersmith
The RSA Security Award in mathematics is presented to an individual or organization that has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of cryptographic sciences in the field of mathematics and its application.
Dr. Don Coppersmith has made remarkable contributions to the design of specific cryptographic algorithms. Coppersmith's work in the area of block cipher cryptology led to the Data Encryption Standard (DES), which has served as the cryptographic standard for the past 25 years and enables secure communications and commerce. Coppersmith has conducted research in the area of cryptography and computational complexity at IBM Research's Department of Mathematical Sciences since 1977. His work includes leadership of the design team for DES, algorithms for computing discrete logarithms (with cryptographic applications), methods for cryptanalyzing low-exponent RSA encryption, and algorithms for rapid matrix multiplication and for sparse matrices over finite fields, and he is routinely consulted for the analysis of new algorithms. He received his Ph.D. in mathematics from Harvard University in 1977.
Public Policy Winner: Congressman Tom Davis (R-VA)
The RSA Security Award in public policy is presented to an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution to the application of cryptographic technologies towards the advancement of personal privacy, civil justice and basic human rights.
Congressman Tom Davis is a member of the House of Representatives' Internet working group and introduced the Cyber Security Information Act of 2000, legislation aimed at encouraging the secure disclosure and exchange of information about cyber security problems and solutions. He was also co-chair of the 1999 Congressional IT Working Group that sponsored H.R. 775, known as the Y2K Act. Davis is chairman of the newly formed Government Reform Subcommittee on Technology and Procurement Policy and has reclaimed his seat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, with a spot on the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. In October 2000, Davis passed legislation that nearly doubled federal Information Technology research from 2000 to 2005. Davis also co-sponsored Title II of H.R. 4940 containing the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act, which refocuses federal IT resources toward fundamental basic research and established the National Science Foundation (NSF) as the lead agency for federal civilian IT programs.
Industry Winner: Symantec
The RSA Security Award in industry goes to an individual or organization that has greatly facilitated the widespread use or application of advanced cryptographic technologies in the marketplace.
Symantec Corp., a world leader in Internet security technology, has been chosen as the industry winner award recipient for continued innovation in the development of anti-virus software, a critical element in assuring the security of e-business applications. The company is a leading provider of virus protection, firewall and virtual private network, vulnerability assessment, intrusion prevention, Internet content and e-mail filtering, and remote management technologies. Symantec's Norton brand of consumer security products is a leader in worldwide retail sales and the company is headquartered in Cupertino, Calif.
Past winners of the RSA Security Awards include:
Mathematics
Professor Scott Vanstone, chief cryptographer and founder of Certicom Corp. (2001)
Ralph Merkle, co-inventor of public-key cryptography (2000)
John M. Pollard, mathematician, number theorist (1999)
Dr. Shafrira Goldwasser, world-leader in complexity theory, number theory and cryptography (1998)
Public Policy
NIST's AES Selection Committee (2001)
Ed Gillespie and Jack Quinn, executive director and co-chairman of Americans for Computer Privacy (2000)
John Gilmore, Electronic Frontier Foundation (1999)
Congressman Bob Goodlatte, chief sponsor of H.R. 695, the Security and Freedom through Encryption (SAFE) Act of 1997 (1998)
Industry
Gemplus (2001)
Check Point Software Technologies (2000)
Atalla Security Products Group of Compaq (1999)
Netscape Communications Corporation (1998)
About RSA Security Inc.
RSA Security Inc., the most trusted name in e-security, helps organizations build secure, trusted foundations for e-business through its RSA SecurID® two-factor authentication, RSA ClearTrust® Web access management, RSA BSAFE® encryption and RSA Keon® digital certificate management product families. With approximately one billion RSA BSAFE-enabled applications in use worldwide, more than ten million RSA SecurID authentication users and almost 20 years of industry experience, RSA Security has the proven leadership and innovative technology to address the changing security needs of e-business and bring trust to the online economy. RSA Security can be reached at www.rsasecurity.com.


