(Why the organization or Federal community benefitted from activities of the individual)

The effects of Louis' computer security education efforts extend far beyond his agency and the Washington Metropolitan Area and will benefit federal and civilian communities for years to come.

Louis believes in what he teaches, a more ethical professional would be hard to find. His conviction, dedication, creativity, and his leading by example have made a positive impact on people of all ages, from grade school children to senior citizens.

His initial goal was to convince potential hackers to change their ways before they violated laws and caused damage.  His presentations on "Ethics in the Information Age" to youngsters 10-15 years old became so popular that he was soon was speaking to third graders, high schools, social groups, senior citizens, and as a keynote speaker at the 1997 National Veterans' Health Administration Information Security Officer Conference.  He expended much personal time to these educational activities.

His presentations include information on hackers, viruses, copyright abuse, slamming, scams, spam, chip theft, privacy, and the year 2000.  His presentations often use multiple media, including virus demonstrations on computer and videotape, such as an interview with a "reformed' hacker.  Some examples of the audiences:
 

• In-service training for 120 Montgomery County teachers at Gaithersburg High School
• 300 Computer Security Professionals multi-agency and nation-wide (VHA conference 1997)
• Masonic and military-based social organizations
• Holiday Park and Schweinhaut/Forest Glen Senior Citizen Centers
• Asbury Methodist Senior's Facility
• Oakland Terrace Elementary School (third grade classes)
• Albert Einstein, Gaithersburg, and Meade High Schools (10th through 12 grades)
• 40-Army Judge Advocate General enlisted personnel Newport Naval School of Justice, RI
• Numerous sessions to NRC and GSA employees all over the country (e.g.: Arlington, TX; Chicago, IL; Walnut Creek, CA; King of Prussia, PA; Atlanta, GA; and Chattanooga, TN, etc.)
• Multiple hours with mixed-age classes at The Girls Yeshiva
Specifics:
• For Ridgeview Middle School, Louis gave presentations to six classes and then challenged students to write essays on Computer Ethics. Four classes accepted the challenge. Louis constituted a panel of judges made up of five NRC employee volunteers to review the essays and select the best ones. After comparing the judges' results, Louis determined the winners and runners-up for each submitting class.  Next, in concert with NRC's Art Department, he created certificates for the selected students as well as teachers and the judges.  With aid of the lead teacher, a date was selected for one student (either winner or runner-up) from each class to visit the NRC Headquarters.  Arriving at 8:45am, they went through a badging process and then met with the NRC Chief Information Officer, Mr. Tony Galante, who presented them with their certificates in front of an agency camera. Next, the students met with the judge's panel en route to the Technology Center where they received hands-on opportunities to work with computers on nuclear exercises. From there, they were given a guided tour of the Computer Room and then saw the HELP Desk and hardware technicians in action. The Emergency Operations Center proved very interesting to the students.  A walking tour of the agency's training center was followed by lunch in the main cafeteria, for which Louis personally paid. Shortly after noon, they turned in their badges and departed with NRC Mouse Pads and cups from NRC's recreation association.  Copies of the photos, both on film and as digital files, were provided to the teachers and students, and also used in a feature article in the NRC's "News, Reviews, and Comments" magazine.  Copies of the magazine were also sent to the school.
• At Oakland Terrace Elementary School, Louis presented to 75 third graders (three classes) while on annual leave from work.  In addition to his own discussion and illustrations, he used the "Chip and Friends" computer puppet video (original concept by Gale Warshawsky, a previous FISSEA Educator of the Year award winner). As an activity, Louis asked the students to create computer ethics posters.  Working with the school's Media Specialist, he picked up the submissions and will use them at NRC Headquarters during observance of International Computer Security Awareness Day '99.  Employees will judge submissions and select the best posters. Winners will receive certificates and mouse pads.  Louis has been invited to return and do this sort of activity on a semi-annual basis and has offered to do a similar presentation for the PTA where parents, teachers, and students could be present and learn about computer ethics at the same time.
• Edison Technical High School is a technical school where students learn the inner workings of hardware and software. As a result of his presentations to several classes last year, Louis was invited back to provide computer ethics message to this year's students.  At these sessions about 80 youngsters and teachers were present. Edison is also planning a PTA gathering on the subject.
• Wootton High School heard about Louis' work over the past several years with Gaithersburg High, and invited him to provide training for their students.  It is presently scheduled for the 17th of February. Throughout the morning, Louis expects to deal with more than 100 students.
• Gaithersburg High has again invited Louis to speak.  Because this school is large, he usually schedules the presentations on his personal days. At Gaithersburg, Louis also presented computer ethics training to 120 teachers and administrators as an "in service day."
• Louis was invited to presented his computer ethics talk to the computer club at Asbury Methodist Senior Center. This presentation was later written up, with photo, in The Asbury Newsletter.
• Louis created a special presentation, "Y2K and its possible effects on YOU," for delivery at a several social and fraternal organization meetings.  Using flip charts and PC-based examples, he explained in detail the nature of the problem and then answered questions.  Several days after he spoke at the Sojourner's meeting, an attendee phoned Louis to say that he had taken his car to the dealer to verify if its computer would be affected by Y2K - he was thankful and pleased to report that it would not.  Getting the call gave Louis the feeling that he had made a difference - that his message or method of delivery had found a concerned ear and maybe helped put some fear to rest. He has been invited to give this talk again in April at a Masonic Lodge meeting.
• International Computer Security Awareness Day '99 will be observed at the NRC in late January or early February, this year. On this day, Louis plans to construct a booth near the entrance to NRC Headquarters' (' funded and further developed in collaboration with the Atterbury Foundation.) cafeteria.  At the booth, employees will be able to pick up copies of anti-virus software, licensed for home use, as well as a magnetic "Things To Do" list which has computer security information emblazoned on it's holder.  This year's theme  is taken from the movie "A Bugs Life" and will relate to viruses. Louis has arranged for a lab coat for his co-worker and hospital scrubs for himself to wear.  A computer will appear to be "infirmed," wrapped in sheets on a Gurney, with a blood pressure cuff around its keyboard, and its mouse in a splint.  Its screen will be demonstrating several benign but illustrative viruses.  The face of each To Do pad will have a cover reading "Prescription Pad" and the envelope housing the anti-virus diskettes will read something like "... take these and call us in the morning"  followed by phone numbers for the HELP Desk and computer security personnel.  Encircling the booth will be the 3rd grader posters noted above.  Employees visiting the booth will be asked to select the best posters and mark them on a slip of paper which will then be deposited in a drop box for later free drawing to present two employees with donated acrylic quartz clocks which display a computer security message.  The posters will all be individually numbered for identification and the numbers will be on a bug sticker.  Scattered around the booth will be other large cardboard bugs whose names will be virus related.  This is one of the awareness activities planned for Headquarters this year. An article will be written about these events in an agency publication distributed to all employees a month or so later.
• During two weeks in December 1998 Louis presented annual computer security awareness training to more than 1,400 Headquarters employees and contractors.  Make-up sessions are scheduled in January and February, 1999.  A videotape of the training will be offered to home-bound employees and special groups.  Also, Louis has taken this presentation to several Regional offices: King of Prussia, PA; Chicago, Il; Arlington, TX, and is scheduled to offer it in Chattanooga, TN in February 1999. Louis has presented via TeleVideo conference to a small group at NRC's Atlanta office. The talk runs about an hour and 15-minutes, and is a montage of video tape vignettes created by the CIA/FAA, actual visual virus and Trojan horse examples, some show and tell demonstrations, slides, and discussion. In addition to these sessions, Louis has also been invited to provide training to select audiences on the care of classified data/systems.
• Interagency-wise, Louis has served on the FISSEA Executive Board.  This year Louis has worked to re-energize the FISSEA Newsletter as an information source for computer security educators.  Also, Louis serves on the ETA Working Group of the NSTISSC SISS subcommittee.  His Disaster Recovery Planning work has caused him to be invited to FDIC, GAO, and the Mid Atlantic Disaster Recovery Association to present NRC's methods.  He continues to offer himself to other agencies which are seeking employee computer security awareness presentations.  Finally, he is an active Steering Committee member of the Forum of Computer Security Program Managers.

As seen above, the impact is far beyond his on-going training sessions for new NCR employees and annual refreshers for agency personnel and contractors at NRC Headquarters and regional office facilities.  The requests  for his presentations has taken him beyond NRC's Public Affairs Office community outreach program plan and he has ‘volunteered' across the country and to multiple governmental agencies.  His popularity is easy to understand and is well deserved.  FISSEA acknowledging him as Educator of the Year, in a way, would be recognizing FISSEA's effectiveness because Louis got his inspiration (or rally cry) during a luncheon at the 1994 FISSEA Conference when he heard Dr. Peter Tippit speak on the need for instilling ethical values in young computer users.

The primary compensation that Louis receives for his activities is the knowledge that he has reached his audiences, touching the minds and hearts of youth and adults. A secondary compensation is the audience response: Louis has received standing ovations for his presentations, which were mostly created on personal time and provided in evenings, on days off from work, and on weekends. He has taken personal leave to give security awareness presentations, and he has paid for related expenses (for example, the lunches for the children who won the essay contest) from his own resources, with no reimbursement.

This January, Louis received a United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Performance Award, signed by NRC's Chief Information Officer, Mr. Tony Galante, presented in the from of an employee audience "in recognition of sustained high level performance which resulted in a significant contribution to the work of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission."  Louis' supervisor, Ms. Francine Goldberg, cited five specific items which  lead to his award in this time of constricted award budgets. Two of the points directly related to Louis' computer security awareness efforts: the schools program, especially noting non-work hours donated outside of work time; and the creation of this year's annual computer security awareness employee refresher training presentation.

Congratulations Louis M. Numkin!