Vladimir O. Safonov, PhD, is Professor of the Computer Science Department at St. Petersburg University and the head of the university's Java Technology Laboratory. With some thirty years of experience leading major software projects, developing software, and teaching software technologies, Professor Safonov is one of the leading innovators in computer science and software engineering in Russia. He holds four U.S. software patents and four Russian software patents and has published five books and over eighty papers. He is also a Microsoft Research 2005/2006 RFP winner for TWC and Secure Software Development.