Outstanding Contributions in Mathematics, Public Policy and Industry Honored
at Annual RSA Security Conference
SAN JOSE, Calif., RSA CONFERENCE 2000, Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- RSA
Security Inc. (Nasdaq: RSAS), the most trusted name in e-security, today
announced that Ralph Merkle, a noted mathematician and cryptographer; Ed
Gillespie and Jack Quinn, Executive Director and Co-Chairman of Americans for
Computer Privacy; and Check Point Software Technologies, Ltd. were named
winners of the 2000 RSA Award. The prizes were awarded today to the three
recipients by Jim Bidzos, vice chairman of RSA Security, at the opening
session of the RSA Conference 2000 in San Jose, Calif.
Instituted in 1998, RSA Security's annual award recognizes individuals and
organizations that have made significant, ongoing contributions to security
issues and cryptography in the areas of mathematics, public policy and
industry.
"The awards recognize the significant contributions these recipients have
made to advance the field, constructively further the debate over policy and
impact the marketplace," said Jim Bidzos, vice chairman of RSA Security.
"Through their innovation, work and commitment, the RSA Award recipients for
2000 have made the Internet a safer place."
The RSA 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.
The RSA Award in Public Policy is presented to the individual or
organization that has contributed most significantly to the application of
cryptographic technologies towards the advancement of personal privacy, civil
justice and basic human rights.
The RSA Award in Industry goes to an individual or organization that has
most facilitated the widespread use or application of advanced cryptographic
technologies in the marketplace.
The award winners were selected by a committee with members from industry,
the academic community and the public sector.
Ralph Merkle
Ralph Merkle co-invented public-key cryptography, winning the Paris
Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award for this achievement from the ACM in 1997
along with Leonard Adleman, Whitfield Diffie, Martin Hellman, Ronald Rivest
and Adi Shamir. Merkle helped conceive the idea of a public-key cryptosystem
in 1976, a major conceptual breakthrough without which today's electronic
commerce would be impossible. Today, Merkle is a leading proponent of the
developing field of molecular manufacturing, also known as nanotechnology.
This past fall, Merkle joined this fledgling industry's first nanotechnology
development company, Zyvex LLC, as their Principal Fellow, and he has
published a number of important papers on nanotechnology. Merkle is executive
editor of the journal Nanotechnology and an advisor to the Foresight
Institute. In 1998, Merkle won the prestigious Feynman Prize in
Nanotechnology for theory.
Ed Gillespie and Jack Quinn
As Executive Director and Co-Chairman of Americans for Computer Privacy, a
coalition of over 40 associations, 100 companies and over 6,000 individual
members, Ed Gillespie and Jack Quinn have provided the strategic backbone to
the lobbying effort on Capitol Hill and in the Administration which helped
lead to the most sweeping policy announcement to date providing relief for the
export of encryption products. The two coalition leaders made a significant
contribution to changing the public policy debate on encryption, educating
members of Congress, the Administration and the American public about the
importance of strong encryption. Their leadership directly affected public
policy decisions that will provide for greater security as the United States
makes the transition from the industrial to the information age.
Check Point Software Technologies
Check Point Software's pioneering efforts have helped transform network
security for enterprises, taking security out of the back rooms and into the
mainstream. Check Point has also proven that key ingredients for success in
the security industry are creating best-of-breed products and establishing
strategic partnerships with other companies. Its VPN-1/FireWall-1 is widely
regarded as the leading product of its kind in the industry, and consistently
receives industry awards. With over 35,000 installations, Check Point's VPN-1
family of virtual private network products has revolutionized the way
organizations communicate, making VPN technology approachable for the first
time. Check Point's initiative to promote its Open Platform for Security
(OPSEC) demonstrates its relentless drive to establish security standards.
Check Point has also developed many innovative security technologies,
including its patented Stateful Inspection, a leading standard in network
security technology, and its Secure Virtual Network (SVN) architecture for
extending comprehensive security across the Internet, intranets and extranets.
About the RSA Conference 2000
The RSA Conference 2000, which opened in San Jose, Monday, January 17,
with keynote sessions from noted industry leaders, cryptographers and
government policy makers, will continue though Thursday, January 20 with more
than 120 scheduled panels, conference sessions and classes, plus product and
technology exhibits from more than 175 leading security, cryptography and
electronic commerce vendors. RSA Security anticipates that this year's event
will break attendance records with more than 8,000 decision-makers and
influencers from a range of sectors, including consumer, education, financial,
government, computer networking, telecommunications and the media. The
four-day conference presents an opportunity to get up-to-the-minute
information on the latest commercial, regulatory and technical issues
affecting this dynamic field. The conference program is organized along
multiple tracks designed for mathematicians, scientists and academics,
developers, programmers, lawmakers, marketing executives, and others who need
to stay abreast of the latest in technical, regulatory and market issues
related to cryptography and security. For additional information about the
conference, visit http://www.rsasecurity.com.
About RSA Security Inc.
RSA Security Inc., The Most Trusted Name in e-Security(TM) helps
organizations build secure, trusted foundations for e-businesses through its
RSA SecurID(R) two-factor authentication, RSA BSAFE(R) encryption and RSA
Keon(TM) public key management systems. With nearly a half billion RSA BSAFE-
enabled applications in use worldwide, more than six million RSA SecurID 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 new, online economy. RSA Security can be
reached at http://www.rsasecurity.com.
NOTE: BSAFE and SecurID are registered trademarks, and Keon, RSA and The
Most Trusted Name in e-Security are trademarks of RSA Security Inc. All other
products and services mentioned are trademarks of their respective companies.
SOURCE RSA Security Inc.
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.rsa.com
CONTACT:
Patrick Corman of Corman Communications,
650-326-9648, or patrick@cormancom.com, for RSA Security Inc.; or
Richard Mack of RSA Security Inc., 781-301-5344, or
rhmack@rsasecurity.com
|
