Two MC2 Faculty Members Receive IEEE Cybersecurity Awards

Two faculty members in the Maryland Cybersecurity Center (MC2) have been named inaugural recipients of cybersecurity awards from IEEE, the world’s largest technical organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity.

Dave Levin, an assistant professor of computer science, received the IEEE Cybersecurity Award for Innovation, which recognizes a significant theoretical advancement in cybersecurity. Sandor Boyson, a research professor in the Robert H. Smith School of Business, will receive the IEEE Cybersecurity Award for Practice, which recognizes a significant practical advancement in cybersecurity.

The competitive IEEE cybersecurity awards—launched this year with support from the MITRE corporation—recognize individuals who have generated transformative cybersecurity capabilities and concepts.

"These awards highlight the cutting-edge cybersecurity work being done at the University of Maryland," says Jonathan Katz, professor of computer science and director of MC2. "Receiving awards for both theoretical and practical contributions, in quite different areas of cybersecurity, also demonstrates the amazing breadth of research going on here."

Levin was honored for his collaborative work on developing a new software system called CRLite, which enables web browsers to download revocation information seamlessly and compactly—a feat that has so far eluded the security community. Levin worked on the project with researchers from Northeastern University, Duke University, and Akamai Technologies.

Both Levin and Katz also have appointments in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS).

Boyson, who is co-director of the Smith School’s Supply Chain Management Center, is being honored by the IEEE for his contributions to developing the Cyber Risk Portal. The portal allows businesses to anonymously upload data to compare their cybersecurity capabilities to existing standards, as well as to their peers and competitors.

Levin and Boyson will receive their awards at the 2017 IEEE Secure Development Conference, which will be held Sept. 24–26 in Boston, Massachusetts.

—Story by Melissa Brachfeld

About MC2: The Maryland Cybersecurity Center is jointly supported by the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences and the A. James Clark School of Engineering. It is one of a number of labs and centers in UMIACS.