Steven M. Bellovin, a pioneer researcher on network security, will be presented with the 2007 National Information Systems Security Award by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Security Agency (NSA) in a ceremony during the 22nd Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC) in Miami Beach, Fla., on Dec. 11-15, 2006.
Bellovin, currently a professor of computer science at Columbia University, was one of the originators of USENET as a graduate student at the University of North Carolina in the late 1970s. During more than 20 years of research at Bell Labs and AT&T Labs Research, Bellovin was one of the first researchers to recognize the importance of firewalls to network security, explore protocol failures, discuss routing security and utilize encrypted key exchange protocols. Bellovin has served on numerous National Research Council computer security committees, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Advisory Board. He is the co-author of Firewalls and Internet Security: Repelling the Wily Hacker, and holds several patents on cryptographic and network protocols.
The award recognizes individuals for scientific or technological breakthroughs, outstanding leadership, highly distinguished authorship or significant long-term contributions in the computer security field.
For more about Bellovin, go to his Web site at www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb. For information on past National Information Systems Security Award winners as well the upcoming ACSAC conference, see www.acsac.org.