Acknowledgments

I would like to thank many people who contributed to the writing and publishing of this book.

To Heather and all of the staff at Syngress, thank you for your patience as this first-time author shifted the delivery dates of his book all over the calendar. Your help and guidance have been truly monumental. I have learned so much from all of you throughout this process.

To Dr. Ron Ross and the staff of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Joint Transformation Task Force, and the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS), thank you for providing such extensive documentation on this subject. Your publications provided the foundation for this book, and in many instances I have quoted from them. Your devotion to information security and information assurance is remarkable.

To Steven Rodrigo, thank you for all the knowledge you have shared with me. Short conversations over coffee and in the hallways have enlightened and informed me more than you will ever know. Your insights on the topics in this book are remarkable. Keep up the good fight.

To those in my past who set me on the path I am on today, thank you all. Of special note are Charles Parker, an Army executive officer who took a young combat arms NCO off the line and put him in front of a computer, and Derrol Trippet, Deputy Director for Information Management, who set me on a full-time information assurance/security career. Thank you both for giving me a chance.

Thank you to the CAT team. You know who you are, and I could not think of a better group to work with.