Harold F. Tipton , currently an independent consultant, was a past president of the International Information System Security Certification Consortium and a director of computer security for Rockwell International Corporation for about 15 years. He initiated the Rockwell computer and data security program in 1977 and then continued to administer, develop, enhance, and expand the program to accommodate the control needs produced by technological advances until his retirement from Rockwell in 1994.
Tipton has been a member of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) since 1982. He was the president of the Los Angeles chapter in 1984, and the president of the national organization of ISSA (1987–1989). He was added to the ISSA Hall of Fame and the ISSA Honor Role in 2000.
Tipton was a member of the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), the Computer and Telecommunications Security Council, and the National Research Council Secure Systems Study Committee (for the National Academy of Science). He received his BS in engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and his MA in personnel administration from George Washington University; he also received his certificate in computer science from the University of California, Irvine. He is a certified information system security professional (CISSP), ISSAP, & ISSMP.
He has published several papers on information security issues for Auerbach Publications (Handbook of Information Security Management, Data Security Management, and Information Security Journal), National Academy of Sciences (Computers at Risk), Data Pro Reports, Elsevier, and ISSA (Access).
He has been a speaker at all the major information security conferences including the Computer Security Institute, the ISSA Annual Working Conference, the Computer Security Workshop, MIS Conferences, AIS Security for Space Operations, DOE Computer Security Conference, National Computer Security Conference, IIA Security Conference, EDPAA, UCCEL Security & Audit Users Conference, and Industrial Security Awareness Conference.
He has conducted/participated in information security seminars for (ISC)2, Frost & Sullivan, UCI, CSULB, System Exchange Seminars, and the Institute for International Research. He participated in the Ernst & Young video Protecting Information Assets. He is currently serving as the editor of the Handbook of Information Security Management (Auerbach). He chairs the (ISC)2 CBK Committees and the QA Committee. He received the Computer Security Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994, the (ISC)2’s Hal Tipton Award in 2001 and the (ISC)2 Founders Award in 2009.
