Stanford crypto expert Dan Boneh wins $175K computer science award

Stanford University computer science professor Dan Boneh has been named as the recipient of the 2014 ACM-Infosys Foundation Award in Computing Sciences for his work in cryptography.

Bob Brown (Network World) on 31 March, 2015 23:57

Stanford University computer science professor Dan Boneh has been named as the recipient of the 2014 ACM-Infosys Foundation Award in Computing Sciences for his work in cryptography.

The Association for Computing Machinery/Infosys Foundation award, which includes a $175,000 prize, recognizes relatively recent contributions by young scientists and systems developers. Boneh, who leads the applied cryptography group at Stanford, was born in 1969 in Israel.

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The award citation formally acknowledges Boneh "For ground-breaking contributions to the development of pairing-based cryptography and its application in identity-based encryption."

Pairing-based cryptography has flourished over the past decade, making security mechanisms easier to use and roll out.

ACM President Alexander L. Wolf said in a statement, "Boneh's work on pairing functions and their application to identity-based encryption has revolutionized cryptography. He has added greatly to our understanding of important problems underlying modern cryptography systems. Boneh has produced new directions and given the field a fresh start."

Boneh's work has been formalized in such industry standards as IEEE P1363.3 and several IETF RFCs. The holder of nine patents, Boneh also co-founded Voltage Security to commercialize identity-based encryption. HP bought Voltage earlier this year for an undisclosed amount.

You can see and hear Boneh discuss computer security in the Stanford video below. And if you're really interested in his take on things, you can sign up for his online Coursera courses this year on computer security and cryptography.

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Stanford crypto expert Dan Boneh wins $175K computer science award