Cutting-edge research plays a key role in advancing the security and privacy of users across the Internet. To accelerate the next generation of security and privacy breakthroughs, Google has created the Security and Privacy Research Awards.

In February 2019, Google announced that Matthew Green, cryptographer and assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University’s Information Security Institute, has received the $100, 000 award in recognition of his significant contributions to the field of cybersecurity.

“This kind of work encourages a useful interaction between academia and companies that actually deploy products that keep people secure,” said Green. “It’s important because it allows researchers to do the kind of work that directly benefits end-users, by proving technology to companies that can deploy it in real projects.”

Green was selected for the award via internal Google nominations and voting. While the award program, first launched in 2016, is relatively new, it lays the groundwork for important academic research that will help improve data privacy and security for years to come.

“The Google award will support general research into applied cryptography. Specifically, finding new and efficient techniques to build privacy technologies that can make normal computing more private,” said Green.

Whether they’re finding bugs today or designing new systems that will protect the web in the future, the cybersecurity research community is working together to keep everyone safer online.