“Hello, I’m Bob Abbott, and I understand you’re running this mess.”
It was early 1991, and I was a lowly program manager at the NSA. And I was in shock. For I’d done my homework and knew that the venerable Robert P. Abbott was one of the pioneers of computer science in general, and computer security in particular, and this guy was… ulp, of color? I must have had a stricken look on my face, for he laughed, and then said something that to this day rings in my ears – “We are destined to be good friends, you know. For I suspect that the only thing rarer in this security industry than a black man is an Oriental woman from the deep South!”
And so began one of the most important relationships of my life, on both professional and personal fronts. Bob, as he had done so many times before in his career, marched in, saw that there was work to be done in order for progress to occur, and pitched in. In doing this for my community of security technologists, he won the hearts of an entire generation. Because he had done it all (and his list of accomplishments support this assertion) Abbott understood the full complement of often arcane points that would come into play as we in security forged a path forward.
But Bob brought something extra to the community. He was, above all, gifted with the ability to put everyone around the table at ease, from the power brokers of Washington to the lowliest of graduate students even as he informed the discussions and debates that raged around him.
Few technologists can even claim to approach Bob’s status as an industry pioneer. His work, over a 50 year career, was of indisputable quality and it tackled major issues of the day. Bob took on building supercomputer operating systems when I was still in diapers, did the earliest studies of health care computing, security vulnerabilities in computer software, and audit processes overseeing business processes that were automated. He and his commercial security practice even served as a model for a popular movie that remains a cult classic for security practitioners!
Finally, at an age when many would have rested on well-earned laurels, Bob continued to contribute to the information security mission. The capstone of his career, the landmark 2008 study of security vulnerabilities of computerized voting machines, significantly influenced how California and much of the country decided to deal with voting technology, both now and in the future. Throughout his life’s work, Abbott made significant contributions to the industry, the nation, and the world.
In November, Bob Abbott died. As news of his departure reached the different contingents of the security and computing communities, the response has been widespread and heartfelt. A wide variety of community members, from students to senior executives have come forward to express gratitude that they had the privilege to know Bob and to work with him. This comes with a profound sense of loss – it will be a different community without him.
As for me, Bob was a friend, a mentor – a security godfather of the finest sort. He and his lovely wife, Alfreda enabled me to take on Silicon Valley in a way I wouldn’t have dared without their support. We did become good friends, true to his word, and I bless that day I met him twenty years ago. As I wrote in the dedication of my first book – “may we someday get this right.” Bob and his security pioneer cohorts deserve nothing less.
