Rodney Joffe : Senior Vice President, Security CTO and Fellow at Neustar , Washington D.C. Metro Area

• Rodney Joffe's [...] accomplishments include founding the first commercial Internet hosting company, [Genuity Incorporated], as well as the first outsourced and cloud-based Domain Name System (DNS) company, UltraDNS, where he invented Anycast Technology for DNS.

• Joffe has served on a number of the U.S. government’s cybersecurity intelligence panels and was the leader of the groundbreaking Conficker Working Group.

• He is one of the first civilians to receive the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director’s Award due in no small part to his role in uncovering and taking down the Butterfly Botnet.

• He has also been honored with the Mary Litynski Lifetime Achievement Award from M3AAWG, the global Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group, and was most recently publicly recognized for his years of work and dedication in helping protect against cybercrime, winning The Computing Security Award for his contribution to Cyber Security in 2018.

• Joffe is also the chairman of the Neustar International Security Council (NISC), which is comprised of an elite group of cybersecurity leaders across industries and companies who meet regularly to discuss the latest cyberattack trends.

Rodney Joffe is the Chairman, Founder and Chief Technology Officer of UltraDNS Corporation. His operational responsibilities include defining and guiding the development of all technical initiatives within the company, as well as interaction with the standards bodies and working groups in the IETF, telecommunications, and network world.

Mr Joffe has been involved in the IT world since 1973 when he trained as a systems analyst and programmer in the Pensions Actuarial group of the Old Mutual Life Insurance Company in Cape Town, South Africa. After co-founding Printronic Corporation of America (UK) Pty. LTD. in London, England, in 1977, he opened American Computer Group (ACG) - the first of his US based companies - in Los Angeles in 1983. He is still very involved in ACG as both the Chairman and acting CEO. ACG is one of the leading Data Processing Service Bureaus in the Direct Response advertising and marketing industry.

In the early 1990's, following the NSF disgorgement of commercial Internet traffic from the NSFNet, he launched [Internet Media Network Incorporated] as the Internet division of ACG. In March of 1994, he established the first web-based online presence of a traditional mail-order company, Robert Redford's Sundance Catalog. In 1996 in partnership with Bechtel Enterprises, [Internet Media Network Incorporated] was renamed [Genuity Incorporated], which then went on to became one of the largest ISP Data Center Operators in the world. The company was driven by Hopscotch™, invented and patented by Mr Joffe, and the very first formal content distribution and load balancing technology. He remained as the Chief Technical Officer of Genuity until the end of 1997 when [Genuity Incorporated] was acquired by [GTE Corporation]. He was then appointed Vice-President, Strategic Technologies, and Chief Technology Officer of the Business Services division of GTE Internetworking.

Following his retirement from GTE Internetworking in 1999, he returned to Phoenix, Arizona, where he founded CenterGate Research Group, a technology think-tank that became the birthplace of UltraDNS, Catbird Networks, and a number of community focused services including GeekTools and the whois-servers.net project.

Mr. Joffe sits on the boards of a number of other technology companies, including Scientific Monitoring, an aerospace software company, and Plasmanet, one of the largest Internet database marketing networks.

In addition to his corporate activities, Mr. Joffe is a member of the Faculty Advisory Board of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering in Los Angeles, and the Advisory Board of the Postel Center at USC/ISI. He also serves on the ICANN SSAC (Security and Stability Advisory Committee) and is a member of the 2005 ICANN Nominating Committee.

Mr. Joffe is actively engaged in a number of Internet working groups and committees, including the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force), OARC (Operations, Analysis, and Research Center), NANOG (North American Network Operators’ Group), and ARIN (American Registry for Internet Numbers). He is involved in a number of initiatives to ensure the future of the Internet and is highly visible in the ongoing fight against spam, and similar attacks on Internet infrastructure and personal privacy. [...]

CenterGate^® Research is a group of entrepreneurial developers and engineers working on creating products and solutions designed to improve infrastructure performance for distributed computing.

CenterGate exists to improve the world of distributed computing.

The scope of CenterGate is as broad as the interests of its talented team. CenterGate funds and fosters the creative ideas of its founder, Rodney Joffe pairing his genius for technological innovation with the precise programming skills of some of the best minds in networking, systems engineering and software development.

CenterGate management pairs Rodney's strengths with the entrepreneurial vision and experience of angel investor Ron Lachman who brings his own zeal and enthusiasm to the business of marketing technology solutions. A developer himself, Ron mentors the CenterGate scientists in the product development process and oversees CenterGate business initiatives.

From enhancing fundamental Internet architecture services, such as the CenterGate UltraDNS system, to improving the desktop productivity of the individual user through the eFridge^® online calendar, CenterGate is doing what others dream of, developing the solutions we all want and need.

Our latest adventure is Catbird Networks, a whole new breed of monitoring and measuring system for distributed computing.

• Rodney Joffe is Senior Vice-President and Senior Technologist of Neustar, Inc (NYSE:NSR). He assumed this role after the acquisition in 2006 of UltraDNS Corporation, a directory services company he founded in 1999. His responsibilities include defining and guiding the technical direction of the company's Internet Infrastructure Services Group as well as heading the company’s cybersecurity initiatives.
• Rodney is frequently called upon to assist Federal Authorities with regards to investigating and protecting against cyber-crime and cyber-terrorist activities where he is a recognized expert. He regularly briefs the White House and House/Senate groups on the subject, and has testified before congress as an expert. In addition to publishing a number of confidential papers in the field, he participated as a “Designated Trusted Agent” on the planning committee for the DHSs CyberStorm II International Cyber-Terrorism exercise in March 2008. He is participating in CyberStorm III as a lead on the core scenario design team.
• Besides these operational activities, Rodney is also active in Internet governance bodies, serving currently on the ICANN SSAC (Security and Stability Advisory Committee) and previously on both the ICANN RSTEP (Registry Services Technical Evaluation Panel) the ICANN NOMCOM (Nominating Committee) where he served three terms. He is a founding member of the Advisory Board of the Postel Center at USC/ISI, and is engaged in several Internet engineering organizations including OARC (Operations, Analysis, and Research Center), NANOG (North American Network Operators' Group), ARIN (American Registry for Internet Numbers), and the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). He holds a number of issued and pending patents in the network security field.

• Oversee all cyber security practices for the company
• Developer of Neustar technologies including UltraDNS Managed Services, DNS Shield, and the Cache Defender Cache Poisoning solution
• Responsible for design and architecture for DNS resolution
• Manage DDoS mitigation initiatives

• Designed and developed the patented UltraDNS domain resolution system.
• Led development team from inception through sale of the company to Neustar in 2006.

• Founded one of the largest Internet Service and Hosting providers in the world
• Designed and developed the patented “Hopscotch” technology for DNS routing
• Served GTE Internetworking as CTO of GTE Internetworking Business Services when it acquired [Genuity Incorporated]

• Designed computer programs that migrated direct marketing database processes from main frame computers to desktop environments
• Invented the “add-a-name” file processing technology

• White House Advisor, CyberSecurity Issues: April 2010 – present
• DHS, FBI - March 2007 - ongoing advisory relationship
• Head of the Conficker Working Group - March 2009 – ongoing
• Congressional Testimony May 1, 2009 - House Committee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet on CyberSecurity issues
• Numerous Conferences and Symposia, Keynotes and technical presentations
• Cyberstorm III – Lead on the Core Scenario Design Team 2010
• Cyberstorm II - Planning and Exercise for DNS/Cybersecurity Scenario 2008

• 2004-Present - ICANN SSAC (Security and Stability Advisory Committee)
• 2006-2008 - ICANN RSTEP (Registry Services Technical Evaluation Panel)
• 2005, 2006, and 2009 - ICANN NOMCOM (Nominating Committee)
• 2004 –Present - OARC (Operations, Analysis and Research Center)
• 1993 – Present - NANOG (North American Network Operators’ Group)
• 1997-Present - ARIN (American Registry for Internet Numbers)
• 1998 – Present - IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force)

• Multi-tenant Unit - U.S. Pat. No. 6,144,638 issued November 7, 2000 [ NOTE : This patent is shared with Thomas Johannes Obenhuber (born 1955) , and Obenhuber may have been the significant contributor ]
• “Hopscotch” - U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,619 issued February 6, 2001
• Domain name resolution system and method - Pending - App No 20040039798
• Suspect Traffic Redirection - Pending - App No 20070097976

• Keynote speeches at leading industry conferences – Cloud Connect 2010
• Presenter/Session leader for key Cybersecurity and DNS Conferences – RSA 2009
• Radio, Webinar expert interviews in the areas of Cybersecurity and DNS

Rodney Joffe is Senior Vice-President and Senior Technologist at NeuStar, Inc. He assumed this role after the acquisition in 2006 of UltraDNS Corporation, a directory services company he founded in 1999. His responsibilities include defining and guiding the technical direction of the company's Internet Infrastructure Services Group, as well as leadership with Internet and telecommunications standards bodies and organizations, and the Federal Government's Cyberterrorism and Cybercrime task forces.

Mr. Joffe serves as a director on the boards of other technology companies, including Scientific Monitoring, an aerospace software company, and as a founding director on the Advisory Board of the Postel Center at USC/ISI (http://www.postel.org). He has served as a member of the ICANN SSAC since 2004, and has served as the SSAC representative on the ICANN Nominating Committee for three terms since 2004.

Mr Joffe has been involved in the IT world since 1973 when he trained as a systems analyst and programmer in the Pensions Actuarial group of the Old Mutual Life Insurance Company in Cape Town, South Africa. After co-founding Printronic Corporation of America (UK) Pty. LTD. in London, England in 1977, he opened American Computer Group (ACG) - the first of his US based companies - in Los Angeles in 1983. In 1995 he spun off ACG's Internet Services Division to form Genuity, Inc., one of the largest Hosting ISPs in the world, which was then acquired by GTE in 1997. He served as Vice-President, Strategic Technologies, and Chief Technology Officer of the Business Services division of GTE Internetworking until his retirement in 1999.

Statement of Interest: NeuStar, Inc is the ICANN appointed operator of the .biz registry, and operates the .us TLD under contract with the US Department of Commerce

Iowa’s attorney general said Friday that his office impounded about $800,000 from a Beverly Hills company selling overpriced grandfather clocks.

Atty. Gen. Tom Miller said more than 10,000 consumers sent checks and money orders to a Clinton, Iowa, address after receiving a post card saying they had won a “world-famous Bentley IX Grandfather clock.” Consumers were asked to send $69.19 for shipping.

The clocks are worth far less than the shipping fee, Miller said, and it was just a scheme to sell the cheap clocks at an inflated price.

“We believe the card was deceptive because it created the impression that the consumer had won the grandfather clock,” Miller said. “The card also seriously overstates the quality of the clock, which is battery powered, pressed wood and plastic.”

Miller said his office filed suit and a consent judgment against Prize Redemption Warehouse of Beverly Hills and a related corporation set up in Iowa, Merchandisers Warehouse Inc., and that no consumer will lose any money.

ASHINGTON -- Internet activists and direct marketers, who have been fighting for years over whether and how states and the federal government should regulate the growing use of unsolicited commercial e-mail, said on Monday that they had reached an agreement that they hope will produce consensus legislation and industry rules governing the contentious issue of Internet marketing.

The agreement was hailed as significant by all sides in the debate over unsolicited commercial e-mail, or spam. Those who participated in the meeting, which was held on Friday, included the head of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), representatives of the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (CAUCE) and an executive from Microsoft Corp.. They came away with a consensus that both "opt-in" and "opt-out" mechanisms, for accepting or declining to receive marketing messages, need to be put in place.

Anti-spammers have historically pushed for "opt-in" systems, where marketers can only send their pitches to people who have signed up to receive so-called junk e-mail. The Direct Marketing Association, on the other hand, has pushed for the "opt-out" alternative, which would only require marketers to honor the requests of Internet users who have specifically asked not to receive e-mail advertisements.

Both sides also pledged to support legislation which, at a minimum, would prohibits false identification of the sender of commercial e-mail messages.

And both sides have agreed to work toward creation of a nonprofit global "opt-out" list, supported by marketers and free to consumers, which would allow both business entities and individuals to perform a one-time global choice to reject receiving unsolicited commercial bulk e-mail. That system would allow entire domains to "opt out," meaning companies that own their own Internet addresses and e-mail systems could ask to keep their entire systems free of junk e-mail.

Rodney Jaffe, an Arizona businessman who organized the meeting between the president of the Direct Marketing Association and key anti-spam groups, called the agreement "significant."

"I think if you look at it from the 50,000-foot level, the most important thing is that it was the very first time that the people who are really involved in dealing with spam sat down with no preconceived notions, no rules," said Joffe, chairman of Phoenix-based American Computer Group, a service bureau for direct marketing companies.

Joffe said he was interested in helping the competing groups find common ground because he is involved with businesses on both sides of the issue.

"Hopefully, this will have turned out to have been the pivotal meeting that actually gets control of the spam problem."

Deirdre Mulligan, a lawyer for the Center for Democracy and Technology who at the request of the Federal Trade Commission led a yearlong working group that studied potential solutions to the spam debate, said she was heartened by the announcement.

"I think what this shows is that when there is a table created and people step back from the rhetoric, that there is a lot of agreement at least on how to start addressing the problem," Mulligan said. "A year ago CAUCE and DMA couldn't agree on anything."

Ray Everett-Church, a lobbyist for CAUCE, said "the starting point is that the DMA seems to have realized that 'opt-in' marketing methods are good marketing methods and are the kind of methods that increase consumer comfort levels for receiving marketing e-mail."

He said being able to convince the Direct Marketing Association to support a system that would allow entire domains to opt-out of marketing lists was also significant.

"We were able to show them that there are not only a lot of ISPs out there with their domains but even more businesses who own their own domains and all the equipment and e-mail addresses to which that mail might be sent," Everett-Church said.

The law would be the first in the United States setting out potential fines and prison terms for convicted spammers.

"So for instance, a large corporation might have an entire sales fleet with e-mail paging systems. If you can't opt out the whole domain, there is no way that a pager, for instance, could opt itself out. So you need to be able to do that at a domain level."

Robert Wientzen, president of the Direct Marketing Association, said a key point for his group was the "general agreement that this is not going to inhibit the growth of e-mail as a marketing tool. We believe there is a great future for e-mail marketing."

At the meeting, Everett-Church said, "We were able to show them that we're not wild-eyed crazy people but that we really are business people and we are concerned with the tactics but we are also in the business of making money and we understand what it takes to do that."

Everett-Church and Wientzen both said they hoped that through continued meetings the groups can reach consensus on legislation being prepared for Congress's return in January.

The groups were on opposite sides of the aisle during the 105th Congress, with CAUCE pushing for an outright ban on unsolicited commercial e-mail. The Direct Marketing Association backed alternative bills that would have required senders of bulk e-mail to label their messages as unsolicited commercial e-mail, and to contain accurate reply information to enable recipients to be removed from the mailing lists.

CAUCE had strongly opposed the Direct Marketing Association proposals, saying they would legitimize a practice that is costly not only to the Internet service providers who have to process the spam but to many Internet users who pay long distance charges to download their incoming mail.

The bills died on adjournment after the House Commerce Committee decided the divisive issue needed more study.

Several states, including Nevada, California and Washington, have adopted laws making it illegal for spammers to use false return addresses. And more proposals are expected at the state level when legislatures return in January.

American Computer Group: With one foot in the technology world and the other in marketing, ACG is one of the direct marketing industry's most advanced computer service bureaus.

The company provides real-time contact list management and analysis services over the Internet to direct mail marketers and telemarketers.

ACG founder Rodney Joffe has been an innovator in the use of information technology for marketing purposes -- he holds patents in both the networking and marketing fields.

Chat with Rodney Joffe, founder and chairman

Greatest strength: "Innovation. We are the leading service bureau from a technology point of view in this field."

Although many competitors have crossed over to the Internet from the old-fashioned methods of data processing in the past six months, Joffe said his company made the switch five years ago.

Biggest obstacle: "The fact that we're in Arizona. Arizona has never been accepted as an innovator in any particular field. People from outside (the state) don't realize how big and technologically advanced Phoenix is.

"People are surprised to learn that there's a whole leading-edge world in Phoenix. They think we're all living out in the sticks."

Biggest mistake: Moving to metro Phoenix in 1994. Joffe moved the 17-year-old ACG to Tempe from a Los Angeles suburb after an earthquake nearly destroyed his home and business. Although he is safe from natural disasters, Joffe said it is more difficult to attract new business.

"You aren't taken seriously in the technology world if you're from Arizona. The move was almost catastrophic for us."

Key to financial success: "Having a complete understanding of our true costs and being able to model our pricing based on that.

"We know absolutely what everything costs every step of the way."

How technology improves business: "We are a technology-driven company. We've even spawned a couple of patents."

Joffe said 40 percent of his staff is made up of programmers.

ACG uses technology to communicate and transfer data -- unlike the old days when contact lists were stored on magnetic tape and shipped by mail

"We survive on technology."