Former NSA official on ActivCard board
Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Expertise Processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science. Credentials
- Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
ActivCard, a company that sells software for using "smart cards" with microchips to help in tasks such as identifying card owners, announced Friday that William Crowell, a former deputy director of the U.S. National Security Agency, has joined its board. Crowell also was chief executive of Cylink until its acquisition in February by SafeNet ; both companies sell technology for secure Internet communications.
ActivCard, which moved its headquarters from France to Fremont, Calif., this year, is issuing thousands of smart card ID badges each day to the U.S. Defense Department. The company supplies Microsoft with digital identity badges. For 2002, the company had revenue of $41.8 million but a net loss of $45.5 million.