(ISC)² announced the list of honorees for its 2020 (ISC)² Global Achievement Awards, which recognize and celebrate the most outstanding annual and lifetime achievements in the field of cybersecurity. Recipients will be highlighted during the association’s 2020 Security Congress, which will take place virtually in November.

“While we won’t have the opportunity to honor them in person this year at our (ISC)² Security Congress, we would like to recognize and celebrate the outstanding work that these professionals from around the world have done to inspire a safe and secure cyber world,” said Wesley Simpson, COO, (ISC)². “The Global Achievement Awards shine a spotlight on a wide range of public and private sector cybersecurity practitioners who have achieved greatness in our field and give us an example worth following.”

The (ISC)² Senior Professional Award recognizes individuals who have significantly contributed to the enhancement of the information security workforce by demonstrating a leadership role in an information security workforce improvement initiative, program or project. This year there are three recipients of the award globally:

  1. From North America: Jack Freund, CISSP, CISSP-ISSMP, head of cyber risk methodology at Cyber Assessments, Inc., for his work with the NIST Applied Cybersecurity Division on behalf of the nonprofit FAIR Institute to map together the NIST CSF Risk Assessment and the Risk Management Strategy domains to the OpenGroup’s FAIR risk taxonomy and risk analysis standards.
  2. From Asia-Pacific: Troy Hunt, founder, Have I Been Pwned, for adding new APIs to his website, which allows internet users to check whether their personal data has been compromised by data. The site has nearly three million active email subscribers and contains records of almost eight billion accounts.
  3. From EMEA: Dr. Katalin Szenes, CISSP, security and audit consultant, is the EMEA recipient for her work in setting up the Security specialization at Obuda University in Hungary, and for educating IT professionals in that country on cybersecurity.
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The (ISC)² Mid-Career Professional Award recognizes individuals who are at the mid-career stage and have demonstrated commitment and achievement in managing or implementing a vital component of a cyber, information, software, infrastructure program/project. This year’s two recipients are:

  1. From North America: Lieutenant Kim Do, CISSP, information systems and communications officer for the U.S. Navy, who collaborated with Naval Surface Forces Pacific and Navy Information Warfare Pacific on a groundbreaking initiative for network scanning aboard surface ships that resulted in measurable improvements to her ship’s vulnerability management program which senior officers believe could be scaled to the entire fleet.
  2. From Asia-Pacific: Dongyoung Roh, senior researcher at The Affiliated Institute of Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, for development and standardization of cryptographic algorithms, a key technology for data security in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
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The (ISC)² Rising Star Professional Award recognizes the accomplishments and contributions of an up and coming professional who has made a significant impact in the information security industry early in their career.

This year’s recipient is Katia Dean, system engineer, Anavation LLC and founder, Katia’s Cylife, from North America. Dean created a website to help people understand the field of cybersecurity and provide educational content, while also connecting them with job opportunities in the profession.

The (ISC)² Government Professional Award recognizes government information security leaders whose commitment to excellence has helped to improve government information security and to advance an in-demand workforce. This year’s two recipients are:

  1. From North America: Darcy Saint-Amant, CISSP, Colonel, U.S. Army, who helped to create a collaborative, U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)-wide community of interest and drafted a DoD Zero Trust Cybersecurity Strategy while building consensus to shift from a network-centric to a data-centric paradigm.
  2. From Asia-Pacific: Yuval Segev, director audit & methodology, Israel National Cyber Directorate, who implemented a national IT system that enables organizations in the Israeli economic market to anonymously review the state of their information security and controls.

(ISC)² Board Awards

The Board Awards recognize outstanding contributions and achievements in the field of cybersecurity over the course of a career. The following award recipients were hand-selected by the (ISC)² Board of Directors.

  • The (ISC)² Harold F. Tipton Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded to Yves Le Roux, CISSP, from France. Le Roux is a security and privacy expert who has spent five decades in information and network security, standardization, privacy, compliance and risk. The Tipton Award is presented by the (ISC)² Board of Directors as the highest tribute bestowed in the information security industry. Named after Harold F. Tipton, CISSP, known as the “George Washington of information security,” the award honors his memory and the tradition of passionately promoting and enhancing the information security profession by serving over the long term with excellence and distinction.
  • The Fellow of (ISC)² Award was established to honor and distinguish an elite information security professional who has made outstanding contributions throughout their career to the information security profession. This year’s recipient is Bonnie Butlin, co-founder and executive director of the Security Partners’ Forum (SPF), who resides in Canada. Under the SPF banner, Butlin created the Women in Security and Resilience Alliance (WISECRA – which engages a growing network of women in security and resilience associations/groups globally), and also serves as an Expert Network Member in Cybersecurity with the World Economic Forum.
  • The James R. Wade Service Award is awarded by the (ISC)² Board of Directors to acknowledge the involvement of those volunteers who merit special distinction for their sustained and valuable service to (ISC)². This year’s honoree is Hymavathi Pandyaram, an identity management specialist with Nulli – Identity Management in Canada and an active member of the (ISC)² Alberta Chapter in the Edmonton community, who shares her knowledge of cybersecurity and makes an extensive effort to educate seniors, children and their parents, as well as small firms about safe internet practices.
  • The (ISC)² Diversity Award, which honors an individual who represents the core values of (ISC)² through significant contributions in driving a more diverse workforce in the cybersecurity community, is presented to Kristin Paget, who currently resides in the U.S. Ms. Paget is a transgender woman who has continually promoted and represented diversity through her positions as “Hacker Princess” in the security departments of several leading technology companies, including Apple, Tesla, Lyft and currently, Intel.

(ISC)² CEO Award

The (ISC)² CEO Award recognizes members who have made a significant impact on the cybersecurity community through dedicated and exceptional volunteer efforts. Nominations are made solely by (ISC)² Board members and executive staff. As selected by outgoing CEO David Shearer, this year’s recipients are:

  • Yves Le Roux, CISSP, security and privacy expert, for his deep dedication to helping grow (ISC)² across the EMEA region.
  • James Packer, CISSP, CCSP, head of cyber security, EF Education First, for his volunteerism and support of the cybersecurity industry, including as a member of the (ISC)² London Chapter and as the current Chair of the (ISC)² Chapter Advisory Council.

(ISC)² Chapter Recognition Awards

The Regional (ISC)² Chapter Recognition Awards are presented to official chapters of (ISC)² within each region that best promote the vision of (ISC)² by inspiring a safe and secure cyber world. Each chapter has demonstrated a well-rounded offering of activities and services designed to benefit its members and affiliates, while making a significant contribution to the profession and its local community through the core focus areas of the (ISC)² Chapter Program of Connect, Educate, Inspire and Secure. This year’s recipients in each region are:

  • North America – Northern Virginia Chapter - the chapter has leveraged their geographical region throughout 2019 to build strong relationships with organizations, universities and programs to educate the local community on cybersecurity, including partnering with the Center for Cyber Safety and Education to promote online safety to over 100 local children through the Garfield’s Cyber Safety Adventures program at local schools.
  • Asia-Pacific – Chennai, India Chapter – as one of (ISC)²’s longest-standing chapters, it held several joint-programming events in 2019 with other security professional organizations to create visibility amongst targeted interest groups, with the goal of encouraging others to take a proactive role in inspiring a more safe and secure cyber world through education, certification and networking.
  • EMEA – Nigeria Chapter – the group not only hosted regular educational meetings, it also celebrated Cyber Security Awareness Month (Be Cyber Conscious), by hosting weekly webinars and hosting a National Conference just three months after it’s official formation, which consisted of speaker presentations and panel discussions.
  • LATAM – Peru Chapter – with 76 percent of its members without certification, the chapter has the unique opportunity to engage security professionals and showcase the importance of gaining their certification and hosts an average of 11 meetings per year.

For more information on the Global Achievement Awards program, including descriptions of each award category and eligibility details, please visit: https://www.isc2.org/About/Award-Programs