Bethesda, Md. – SANS Institute, the global leader in cyber security training, today announced Michael J. Assante is the recipient of the RSA Conference Award for Excellence in the field of Information Security. Assante, a world-renowned security expert and the Industrial Control System (ICS) Curriculum Lead at SANS, was honored for his contributions to the field.
A pioneer in ICS Cyber Security, Assante has made exceptional contributions to the long-term security of ICS on an international scale. He has provided valuable guidance to government, intelligence, military and industrial organizations to help protect large-scale power and other business systems from malicious intrusions perpetrated by criminals, terrorists and nation states.
Assante worked with SANS Institute to establish the SANS ICS and SCADA Security Summit which is now in its 13th year. Previously Assante served as Vice President and CSO at American Electric Power, engaged in research to include the Idaho National Laboratory vulnerability of electric generators to destruction through remote cyber attack, and served as the first CSO at NERC. Government, intelligence, and military organizations have also relied on his leadership and counsel for more than 20 years. He has testified before the US Senate and House and was an initial member of the Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th Presidency. Earlier this month Assante was named the recipient of the SANS Industrial Control System (ICS) Lifetime Achievement Award.
The RSA Conference Award for Excellence in Information Security recognizes outstanding achievement in the industry. The judging committee seeks to recognize a security practitioner for their security program or initiative.
About SANS Institute
The SANS Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization. Today, SANS is the most trusted and, by far, the largest provider of cyber security training and certification to professionals in government and commercial institutions world-wide. Renowned SANS instructors teach more than 60 courses at in-person and virtual cyber security training events and on demand. GIAC, an affiliate of the SANS Institute, validates practitioner skills through more than 35 hands-on, technical certifications in cyber security. The SANS Technology Institute, a regionally accredited independent subsidiary, offers a master’s degree, graduate certificates, and an undergraduate certificate in cyber security. SANS Security Awareness, a division of SANS, provides organizations with a complete and comprehensive security awareness solution, enabling them to easily and effectively manage their ‘human’ cybersecurity risk. SANS also delivers a wide variety of free resources to the InfoSec community including consensus projects, research reports, webcasts, podcasts, and newsletters; it also operates the Internet's early warning system–the Internet Storm Center. At the heart of SANS are the many security practitioners, representing varied global organizations from corporations to universities, working together to support and educate the global information security community. (https://www.sans.org)