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| RSA Announces Winners of First Annual Awards for Outstanding Contributions in Mathematics, Industry and Public Policy |
MIT Professor Goldwasser, Congressman Bob Goodlatte and Netscape Honored at
1998 RSA Data Security Conference
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- RSA DATA SECURITY CONFERENCE -- RSA
Data Security, Inc. today announced that Shafrira Goldwasser of MIT's
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Congressman Bob
Goodlatte (R-VA), and Netscape Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: NSCP) were
named winners of the 1998 RSA Award. The prize was awarded today to Professor
Goldwasser, Congressman Goodlatte and Taher ElGamal, chief scientist of
Netscape, by Jim Bidzos, president and chief executive officer of RSA, during
the opening session of the 1998 RSA Data Security Conference in San Francisco.
Instituted this year, RSA's award recognizes individuals and organizations
that have made significant contributions to security issues and cryptography
in the areas of mathematics, public policy and industry. 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 Industry goes to
an individual or organization who has most facilitated the widespread use or
application of advanced cryptographic technologies in the marketplace. 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 award will continue annually with winners to be selected by a
committee with members from industry, the academic community, and the public
sector.
"The RSA Award Program focuses on outstanding individuals and
organizations that are making tremendous contributions to the advancement of
Internet security and digital communications as well as creating the necessary
legislative and public awareness for its long-term growth," said Bidzos. "We
are proud to sponsor this program and to recognize the achievements of this
select group of individuals and companies."
Dr. Goldwasser, winner of the RSA Award in Mathematics, is a recognized
world leader in complexity theory, number theory and cryptography. Her major
contributions to the field of computer science resulted in her receiving --
along with MIT Computer Science Professor Silvio Micali and others -- the
first Godel prize, one of the most prestigious awards in the field of
theoretical computer science. In 1996, Dr. Goldwasser also received MIT's
Grace Murray Hopper Award which is given to the "outstanding young computer
professional of the year." Dr. Goldwasser was named to the first RSA
Professorship at MIT earlier this year.
Congressman Goodlatte is the chief sponsor of H.R. 695, the Security And
Freedom through Encryption (SAFE) Act of 1997, a bill that removes many of the
restrictions prohibiting American companies from exporting encryption
technology. An outspoken proponent of the availability of strong encryption
for all Americans, Goodlatte was elected to Virginia's Sixth Congressional
District in 1992. He serves on the House's Judiciary and Agricultural
committees, as well as the Republican Policy Committee.
Founded in 1994, Netscape Communications Corporation is a leading provider
of open software for linking people and information over intranets, extranets
and the Internet, and is widely recognized as a leader in the development of
security-enabled software products. Netscape designed the Secure Sockets
Layer (SSL) protocol, an open security protocol for protecting data
communications across public networks, and was among the first to leverage
public key/private key encryption from RSA Data Security in messaging
software.
"Netscape is proud to be recognized as a leader in the development of
Internet security technologies that are so essential for communications and
electronic commerce over intranets, extranets and the Internet," said Taher
ElGamal, chief scientist at Netscape. "Strong encryption software provides
the enhanced protection companies need to expand their intranets out to
customers and business partners on extranets."
About the 1998 RSA Data Security Conference
The 1998 RSA Data Security Conference, which opened in San Francisco
today, Tuesday, January 13, with keynote sessions from noted industry leaders,
cryptographers and government policy makers, will continue though Friday,
January 16 with more than 100 scheduled panels, conference sessions and
classes, plus product and technology exhibits from nearly 70 leading security,
cryptography and electronic commerce vendors. 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.rsa.com.
About RSA Data Security, Inc.
RSA Data Security, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Security Dynamics
Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: SDTI), is a leading supplier of software
components that secure electronic data, with more than 300 million of copies
of RSA encryption and authentication technologies installed worldwide. RSA
technologies are part of existing and proposed standards for the Internet and
World Wide Web, ISO, ITU-T, ANSI, IEEE, and business, financial and electronic
commerce networks around the globe. RSA develops and markets platform-
independent security components and related developer kits and provides
comprehensive cryptographic consulting services. RSA can be reached at
http://www.rsa.com.
SOURCE RSA Data Security, Inc.
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Patrick Corman, Corman Communications,
650-326-9648, corman@cerfnet.com
