Radia Perlman
Architect of Resilient Networks
Spanning tree, and routing that survives a malicious node
Rating
91Impact score
Domains
Network protocolsPKISecure deletion
Scouting report
Invented the spanning-tree protocol that made large bridged Ethernets possible, and did the early work on routing protocols designed to keep functioning when a participating node is actively hostile rather than merely broken. Co-wrote Network Security: Private Communication in a Public World, and designed the “ephemerizer” approach to making data reliably expire.
Curator’s note
Designed for the assumption that some of the network is lying to you.
Portrait
Painted from a photograph of Radia Perlman by Scientist-100 at English Wikipedia, licensed Public domain.
Sources
- 01Radia Perlman en.wikipedia.org
- 02Internet Hall of Fame profile internethalloffame.org