McNulty’s family received the award on his behalf from presenter Jim Bidzos, founder, chairman and CEO of Verisign. The ceremony took place during a keynote address at the RSA Conference in San Francisco this week, in the presence of RSA officials, industry VIPs and thousands of RSA attendees.
McNulty was considered a scion of government information security, having served in a number of critical and high-profile capacities, including as associate director for computer security at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), as the first information systems security director at the US State Department and as director of government affairs for RSA.
“Lynn McNulty’s life made a significant mark on how we now navigate and attempt to advance the very complex world of cybersecurity,” said W. Hord Tipton, executive director of (ISC)², in a statement. “With this award, Lynn will forever be recognized for his tireless efforts to build a professional government information security workforce and to mentor those who are today in some of the highest positions in government. We stand indebted to a man whose dedication to his profession has strengthened the security posture of our country’s information resources and infrastructure.”
McNulty spent his post-government career working in key roles within (ISC)² including as a member of the (ISC)² Board of Directors, (ISC)² director of government affairs and founding co-chair of the (ISC)² US Government Advisory Board for Cybersecurity. His achievements have been recognized with various designations, such as the exclusive Fellow of (ISC)², the ISSA Hall of Fame Award, the Cybersecurity Hall of Fame, the Fed 100 Award and as one of Federal Computer Week’s top 25 federal IT influencers.
“Created in 2004, the RSA Lifetime Achievement Award is only presented when there is a deserving recipient in the technology field,” said Bidzos, the first recipient of the award. “There are few as richly deserving as Lynn. Everyone who knew him appreciated the special person that he was – a courageous dedicated lifelong public servant, veteran, patriot, colleague – and the impact his life had on advancing our nation’s security. It's truly an honor and privilege to recognize this very special computer security pioneer."