Unsung hero of the Internet

[Geoff]

In the early 90s Netscape, under contract from the Department of Defense, developed the Secure Sockets Layer Protocol (SSL).  SSL gave the world a way to securely transmit information over unsecure data lines.  Today, the majority of all commerce transactions are transferred at some point over public telecommunication networks.  The scale and scope of this development cannot be over-stated.

On Christmas Eve, I learned that my dad was the Government program manager for the development of SSL.  It was his input that ensured SSL would be available for all users of the Internet, not just for Government communications.  Many voices at the Pentagon believed that “the public” should not have access to such as secure form of data transmission.

My dad has stage 4 cancer and does not have long to live.  The next time you buy something online or check your bank account from your phone, I ask that you give a silent thank you to a man who made that technology possible.
-Geoff

[t3hfr3ak]

I almost marked this as spam... but I don't see any spam here. Welcome to the forum Geoff. I see you registered almost 2 years ago! Well a late welcome is better than no welcome

That's a great little tidbit of PC history! And I would definately like to Thank him

[RedWolf]

Geoff is an old regular in VC&G post comments.  It makes me wonder if you read my posts anymore, th3fr3ak.

Like I said in the comments, it's cool that Geoff's father was so instrumental in the creation of SSL.  I hope he can thank him on behalf of all of us for bringing that innovation to the public.

[t3hfr3ak]

Geoff is an old regular in VC&G post comments.  It makes me wonder if you read my posts anymore, th3fr3ak.

I definitely read the posts Gives me something to do with the downtime at work. I just don't pay too much attention to the usernames posted in the comments lol