Federal 100 winner: Alan Paller

Alan Paller
Director of research
SANS Institute

Paller played a significant role this past year in framing the government’s Trusted Internet Connections efforts. The initiative was designed to reduce more than 4,000 federal government gateways to the Internet to fewer than 100 as a way of reducing security risks. Paller, working through the CIO Council, helped develop the overall strategy and individual workshops to implement it.

“Alan assisted us with what would work and how to make it work,” said Karen Evans, former administrator for information technology and e-government at the Office of Management and Budget. “And with him there, it gave confidence to the security professionals that this was the right initiative with the right direction.”

Paller founded the SANS Institute in 1989 to provide graduate-level education to cybersecurity professionals.