The winner of the DON Privacy Program Excellence Award was announced by Department of the Navy (DON) Chief Information Officer Robert Foster at the DON Information Technology Conference in Norfolk, Va. on May 17.

Foster presented the award to Hakim S. Anbiya, Privacy Act Compliance Officer, Navy Installations Command, for substantially improving privacy programs throughout the Navy's Shore Enterprise.

"Mr. Anbiya's accomplishments, which are improving privacy across the Navy's shore enterprise, demonstrate his commitment to making the Department's information more secure," Foster said. "He is a dedicated and knowledgeable privacy professional, and I am proud to have awarded him the 2017 DON Privacy Program Excellence Award."

The Privacy Program Excellence Award is presented to an individual or team that demonstrates commitment to privacy and advancing the effectiveness of a command privacy program.

"It is probably up there in the top three of my greatest accomplishments of my life, aside from my wife and my kids," said Anbiya about receiving this award. "That to me is a very great achievement and I'm proud."

The award citation listed a number of achievements for Anbiya, including his efforts to eliminate dozens of unofficial organizational forms that collected personal information. He also made sure that Navy shore installations were in full compliance with Federal Information Security Management Act for the past four consecutive fiscal years. His proactive assessments and training identified and corrected privacy weaknesses before compromises could occur.

Anbiya said he takes his job very seriously and his number one concern is to make sure everyone's personal information is protected.

"People often get cyber security confused with privacy," Anbiya said. "Cyber security is about protecting the network; privacy is about protecting what they want to put on that network. So, the cyber people of the world don't want your stuff to get hacked into; me, I don't want them to steal your identity."

Navy Installations Command is comprised of approximately 53,000 military and civilian personnel worldwide responsible for the operations, maintenance, and quality of life programs to support the Navy's fleet, fighters, and their families.

For more information about Navy Installations Command, visit http://www.cnic.navy.mil/

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