BlackRidge Technology Advisor Whitfield Diffie Elected to Join The Royal Society

PRESS RELEASE

Reno, NV – Thursday, July 20, 2017 – BlackRidge Technology International, Inc. (OTCQB: BRTI), a leader in cyber defense, is pleased to congratulate Dr. Whitfield Diffie, BlackRidge Advisor known for discovering the concept of public key cryptography, which underlies the security of internet commerce and all modern secure communication systems, for his election into The Royal Society.

Diffie has been a member of the BlackRidge Technical Advisory Board since 2012, actively advising the company on the practical use of cryptography in representing large identity populations, and on the important problem of establishing trust and accountability in corporate networks and cloud environments. He was also recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and Diffie previously received the 2015 ACM A.M. Turing Award for Critical Contributions to Modern Cryptography. 

The Royal Society is a Fellowship of many of the world's most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence. The Society’s fundamental purpose, reflected in its founding Charters of the 1660s, is to recognize, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity.

 “I am honored to be elected to The Royal Society with such a distinguished group of scientists,” said Dr. Whitfield Diffie. “My passion in applying the principles of cryptography to securing internet computing remains as strong through my active role with BlackRidge Technology.  Blackridge Transport Access Control rejects unwanted TCP connections quickly and cheaply, This providing a new level of cyber defense. This not only avoids wasting computer cycles on trying to detect intruders, it prevents them from acquiring information to launch attacks in the first place.''

Dr Whitfield Diffie is best known for discovering the concept of public key cryptography, which underlies the security of internet commerce and all modern secure communication systems. He is a Consulting Scholar in the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford and a Visiting Professor at Royal Holloway College of the University of London. After leaving Stanford University in the late 1970s, he became Manager of Secure Systems Research for Bell-Northern Research, the laboratory of the Canadian telephone system.  In 1991, he moved to Sun Microsystems, rising to be Vice-President, Sun Fellow, and Chief Security Officer until 2009.  Since leaving Sun, he has worked primarily as an advisor to innovative startups in the security field.  Diffie received the 2015 Turing Award and in 2017 was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Since 1993, much of Diffie's attention has been focused on public policy, in the areas of cryptography, security, and privacy. His position --- in opposition to limitations on the business and personal use of cryptography --- has been the subject of articles in the New York Times Magazine, Wired, and Discover and programs on CNN, the Discovery Channel, and Equinox TV.

“Diffie's contributions as one of the world's foremost cryptographers continue to be invaluable to BlackRidge's vision of establishing trust across networks and cloud services,” said John Hayes, Chief Technology Officer of BlackRidge Technology. “We really enjoy working with Whit and appreciate his active contributions to our identity-based approach to cyber defense.”