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Grace Murray Hopper Award
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Verification Advance Greatly Enhances Security of Internet Browsers New York, March 26, 2002...The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has recognized Professor George Necula for his work in creating a technique for mechanically verifying the safety of computer programs. Known as Proof-Carrying Code (PCC), this technique allows host systems to determine with certainty that they can safely execute a given piece of software code without fear of corruption. By assuring the safe, secure execution of computer codes and making them more reliable, PCC has greatly enhanced the security of Internet browsers among many other applications. Professor Necula will receive the Grace Murray Hopper Award, which carries a $5,000 prize. The citation accompanying the award noted that the key behind PCC is that an untested software program can be quickly verified to be safe to execute if it is accompanied by a formal proof of compliance with a predetermined safety policy. "This puts the burden of proving safety on the code producer and enables the code receiver or host server to enforce safety with a simple and fast proof-checking infrastructure," said John R. White, executive director and CEO of ACM. "With PCC, Professor Necula has made a fundamental contribution that enhances the security of the Internet for a variety of applications," he said. Professor Necula earned a Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon University, where he was a member of the Fox Project, which focuses on advancing the art of programming-language design and implementation. ACM will present this award to Professor Necula at its annual ACM Awards Banquet on April 27, 2002, at the University of Toronto. The Grace Murray Hopper Award honors the outstanding young computer professional of the year, selected on the basis of a single recent major technical or service contribution. The candidate must have been 35 years of age or less at the time the qualifying contribution was made. Financial support for the award is provided by Unisys. About ACM The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a major force in advancing the skills of information technology professionals and students. ACM serves its global membership by delivering cutting edge technical information and transferring ideas from theory to practice. ACM hosts the computing industry's leading Portal to Computing Literature. With its world-class journals and magazines, dynamic special interest groups, numerous conferences, workshops and electronic forums, ACM is a primary resource to the information technology field. For additional information about ACM and the ACM Portal, see www.acm.org.
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