Largest global industry association working against online exploitation presents Dr. Hoepers, general manager of Brazil’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT.br), with annual award for research and training to reduce Internet abuse

SAN FRANCISCO, February 18, 2020—The Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG), the largest global industry consortium developing collaborative approaches to combat online abuse, today announced it has awarded Cristine Hoepers, Ph.D., the general manager of CERT.br, the Brazilian national Computer Emergency Response Team, with the annual Mary Litynski Award. The award, now in its tenth year, honors the memory of the woman who helped shape M3AAWG into the leading organization dedicated to fighting online abuse such as malware, DDoS attacks, election security attacks, and more.

M3AAWG presented Dr. Hoepers with the award during its 48th General Meeting, held this week in San Francisco. The meeting brings together representatives of more than 200 member organizations from around the world, including AT&T, Comcast, Google, Microsoft, Orange, Twitter, and Verizon, in a four-day series of working sessions and educational panels.

Dr. Hoepers has been general manager of CERT.br, which is maintained by the non-profit Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br) since 1999. Her work in incident management, Internet best practices development, and information security training has reduced online abuse in Brazil and across Latin America, and increased Internet resilience. From 2005 to 2013, she led the technical coordination of anti-spam efforts in Brazil, with a focus on minimizing the abuse of open proxies and open relays, as well as reducing direct delivery via botnets. Dr. Hoepers also researches the use of honeypot technology to better understand attackers’ tools and behavior. She earned her Ph.D. in applied computing at the National Institute for Space Research in São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil.

“A lesson learned from more than 20 years of fighting email spam globally is that the industries have to recognize and own the problem, as any new technology or service has the potential to be abused,” said Dr. Hoepers. “We are already seeing several forms of abuse starting in other platforms and services, and those industries should be proactive—only the criminals gain if one tries to deny there is a problem. M3AAWG is a key player, with not only the technical expertise of its members, but with the ability to reach these industries and engage them in the fight.”

"M3AAWG is honored to recognize Dr. Hoepers for her wide-ranging contributions to fighting Internet abuse in Brazil and beyond,” said Amy Cadagin, executive director of M3AAWG. "Her dedication to research, best practices, and educating users—from government entities, to major corporations, to the public—has helped make the online environment safer for all."

Past winners of the Mary Litynski Award include the following cybersecurity experts and advocates:

• Dave Piscitello, a central figure in developing the ICANN Domain Abuse Activity Reporting system
• Dave Rand, co-founder of the first reputation-based anti-spam company
• Michael Moran, assistant director of INTERPOL’s Vulnerable Communities Unit for his work on behalf of Internet-based child abuse victims
• Rodney Joffe, an influential cybersecurity advocate, for anti-spam, anti-bot, and DDoS work
• Jayne A. Hitchcock for her advocacy on behalf of cyberbullying and cyberstalking victims

About the Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG)

The Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG) is where the industry comes together to work against bots, malware, spam, viruses, denial-of-service attacks and other online exploitation. M3AAWG (www.m3aawg.org) members represent more than one billion mailboxes from some of the largest network operators worldwide. It leverages the depth and experience of its global membership to tackle abuse on existing networks and new emerging services through technology, collaboration and public policy. It also works to educate global policy makers on the technical and operational issues related to online abuse and messaging. Headquartered in San Francisco, Calif., M3AAWG is driven by market needs and supported by major network operators and messaging providers.

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