It is announced at the annual RSA Conference in recognition of innovations and contributions in the field of cryptography.
Nominees are often affiliated with universities or involved with research and development in the information technology industry.
While the field of modern cryptography started to be an active research area in the 1970s, it has already contributed heavily to Information technology and has served as a critical component in advancing the world of computing: the Internet, Cellular networks, and Cloud computing, Information privacy, Privacy engineering, Anonymity, Storage security, and Information security, to mention just a few sectors and areas.
Research in Cryptography as a scientific field involves the disciplines of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Engineering.
In addition to the Award for Excellence in Mathematics which recognizes lifetime achievement in the specific area of Cryptographic research, the RSA conference has also presented a separate lifetime achievement awards in the more general field of information security.