NSA Trailblazer Paul Bartock, 1954-2012

The country lost a cybersecurity visionary last week with the unexpected passing of Pentagon computer scientist Paul Bartock. The senior leader at the National Security Agency recently won an innovation award from the SANS Institute for his work in application whitelisting, a method of protecting computers from malicious software that antivirus programs can't detect.

In a statement, Pentagon officials said Bartock, 57, "will be sorely missed by his family, NSA colleagues and cybersecurity officials in both the public and private sectors. He was a giant in the highly technical field of computer-security mitigations -- a key go-to person for the Defense Department and for military commands, services and agencies that sought NSA's unmatched technical expertise. Paul Bartock was also a warmly regarded volunteer at the Bethesda National Naval Medical Center, where he repaired and re-purposed devices to assist wounded service men and women. Many in national security are saddened by the loss of this patriot."

SANS research director Alan Paller also released a tribute: "Paul Bartock was a Renaissance man. He was a carpenter and a paramedic and he was one of the top cybersecurity engineers in the United States. When you hear people say, 'NSA has the best cybersecurity talent,' they were talking in many, many cases about the groups that Paul led at the National Security Agency. He was at home with generals and equally so with maintenance folks and also with the product development gurus shaping the future of information and networking technology."