DS Cyber Threat Analysis Division Awarded Prestigious Rowlett Trophy

Left to right: National Security Agency Director and Central Security Service Chief Lt. General Keith B. Alexander, Cyber Threat Analysis Division Chief Christopher A. Lukas, Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Ambassador Richard J. Griffin, and National Security Agency Information Assurance Director Daniel G. Wolf.


Bureau of Diplomatic Security
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC

IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 4, 2005

The National Security Agency presented its prestigious Frank B. Rowlett Trophy for Organizational Achievement to the Bureau of Diplomatic Security’s Cyber Threat Analysis Division (CTAD) at a ceremony held on November 3. The Rowlett trophy, named in honor of cryptologic pioneer Frank B. Rowlett, is awarded annually to the U.S. Government organization that is recognized for making the most significant contribution to the improvement of national information systems security, operational information assurance readiness, or the defensive information operations posture of the United States.

This is the first time this honor has been bestowed to a Department of State group and only the fourth time in the award’s 15-year history to be conferred to a non-Department of Defense entity.

CTAD was nominated for its exceptional ingenuity and leadership in helping the Federal law enforcement and intelligence communities carry out the White House National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. CTAD’s staff of intelligence analysts and cyber security experts has an exceptional track record for teamwork, creative thinking, and information sharing.

CTAD, under the Office of Computer Security, is the U.S. Department of State’s focal point for collecting and reporting time-sensitive, cyber threat intelligence, and technical data. These products are distributed throughout the State Department’s domestic bureaus and overseas embassies, as well as throughout the U.S. computer network defense community.

The division uncovered new cyber threats to Federal networks and continues to develop countermeasures to mitigate these threats and provide substantial technical and analytical support to the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, National Security Agency, the Joint Task Force-Global Network Operations, and other agencies.

A key component of the countermeasures developed by the division is a forensic tool to evaluate threats to unclassified and classified networks. Developed over the past two years, “SandStorm” simultaneously collects, correlates, and analyzes data on multiple computer systems and departs, leaving no trace of its activities. The White House is championing this cyber tool and the Department of Homeland Security has selected it as a cornerstone application for a cyber toolkit being made available to all Federal agencies.

[Released by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Public Affairs]