Nominations Now Open for the SANS 2017 Difference Maker Awards

BETHESDA, Md., Oct. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- SANS Institute, the global leader in information security training, today announced that the call for nominations for the SANS 2017 Difference Makers Awards is now open. Individuals, teams and groups from within the SANS community are invited to submit a nomination detailing their successful implementation of security processes or technology in 2017 that resulted in meaningful and measurable advances in security.

According to John Pescatore, SANS Director of Emerging Security Trends, "SANS is proud to help recognize the unsung heroes of cyber security. Previous winners ranged from middle and high school teachers of STEM programs, to the Hack the Pentagon team, to SOC analysts, community college lab managers, and military personnel."

The SANS Difference Makers Awards were created to honor security professionals that are quietly succeeding and making breakthroughs in advancing security. The goal is to raise awareness of what works so that others can achieve similar cyber security success. 

Submissions are due October 20, 2017. Nominations will be evaluated by a team from SANS, security industry analysts and thought leaders. Awards categories include:

• Enhancing the Security Workforce
• Implementing the Critical Security Controls
• Meaningful Security Metrics
• Mitigating Advanced Threats
• Securing the Human
• Vertical Industry Difference Makers: ICS, Healthcare, Government, etc.

Winners of SANS' fifth annual People Who Made a Difference in Security award program will be honored at the SANS Cyber Defense Initiative training event in Washington D.C. in December. For additional details on the SANS Difference Makers Awards, including the nomination criteria and how to submit nominations, please visit: www.sans.org/u/wXI

About SANS Institute
The SANS Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization. SANS is the most trusted and, by far, the largest provider of cybersecurity training and certification to professionals at governments and commercial institutions world-wide. Renowned SANS instructors teach over 50 different courses at more than 200 live cybersecurity training events as well as online. GIAC, an affiliate of the SANS Institute, validates employee qualifications via 30 hands-on, technical certifications in information security. The SANS Technology Institute, a regionally accredited independent subsidiary, offers master's degrees in cyber security. SANS offers a myriad of free resources to the InfoSec community including consensus projects, research reports, and newsletters; it also operates the Internet's early warning system--the Internet Storm Center. At the heart of SANS are the many security practitioners, representing varied global organizations from corporations to universities, working together to help the entire information security community. (www.SANS.org)

SOURCE SANS Institute