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Press Release | March 4, 2016

NSA Announces 4th Annual Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper Competition

SOS 4th Annual Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper Competition flyer with silver award cup illustration
The National Security Agency is seeking nominations for the 4th Annual Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper Competition, which will center on recent work that made outstanding contributions to cybersecurity science. Papers must have been published between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2015. NSA established the competition in 2012 to promote rigorous scientific research in cybersecurity by identifying and highlighting excellence in the field. Entries will be judged on scientific merit, the strength and significance of the work reported, and the degree to which the papers exemplify how to perform and report scientific research in cybersecurity.

"Working with this annual competition is one of the highlights of my job," said Dr. Deborah Frincke, NSA Director of Research. "The emergence of a science supporting security can be seen in the high quality of the papers that are nominated for our award. And this progress couldn't be timelier. Securing our infrastructure gets harder, and will take the continued focus of government, industry, and academia: all of us, working together, to make progress."

This year's nominations will be reviewed by a distinguished panel of experts:

  • Dr. Whitfield Diffie, Cybersecurity Advisor
  • Dr. Dan Geer, In-Q-Tel
  • Dr. John McLean, Naval Research Laboratory
  • Professor Angela Sasse, University College London
  • Professor Fred Schneider, Cornell University
  • Mr. Phillip Venables, Goldman Sachs
  • Professor David Wagner, University of California at Berkeley
  • Dr. Jeannette Wing, Microsoft Research

The panel will provide individual recommendations to the NSA Research Directorate; Dr. Frincke will make the final decision on awards.

More information about the eligibility criteria, nomination procedures, and criteria for judging is available online at the Science of Security Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper Competition web site. Additionally, the previous winning papers can be viewed online at Science of Security Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper Competition web site.

The NSA Research Directorate brings the power of science to securing the future by creating breakthroughs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. These discoveries help provide the tools and technologies used globally to safeguard cyberspace. The Research Directorate also enables the NSA to achieve and sustain intelligence advances against immediate and emerging threats to U.S. national security.