A Tribute to James P. Anderson, Jr.
Despite assertions that the practice of information security constitutes a “folk art,” I have a high regard for this field. One of the things I like the best about information security is that it is based on an abundance of sound, well thought out ideas, concepts, and models.
The pioneers of this field in the late 1960’s through the early 1980’s deserve the preponderance of the credit for coming up with the seminal ideas, concepts and models that have set such a good foundation for information security. It is in this context that I pay tribute to the late James P. Anderson, Jr., who recently passed away.
It is difficult to envision how anyone could have contributed more to the field of information security than James Anderson.
He, for example, contributed substantially to the content of the “Rainbow Series,” particularly the “Orange Book” (Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria) and the “Red Book” (Trusted Network Interpretation). He is widely credited with having created the concept of the “Security Reference Monitor,” a component of a trusted computing system that checks to determine whether or not access attempts are legitimate. He is also widely credited with coming up with the concept of intrusion detection, an area that has grown prolifically over the years.
Just three years after James Anderson’s now legendary report to the US Government in which he coined the term “intrusion detection” and pointed out the need for it, the first intrusion detection system was built and deployed.
James Anderson also worked extensively with the US Government to help establish an agenda and plan for government-funded information security research. Despite all his accomplishments, James Anderson remained a modest, humble person.
The pioneers of the field of information security deserve considerable credit and recognition, and in my mind none deserves more than James Anderson. We can only hope that another generation of bona fide innovators of the caliber of James Anderson will surface and move the field forward to the degree that Richard Anderson did.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
How sad and shocking. Jim was always a part of the highest quality security activities.
Al