Jerusalem Post: Akamai co-founder Daniel Lewin named first victim of 9/11 attacks in the US
The Jerusalem Post calls Israeli-American entrepreneur and Akamai Technologies co-founder Daniel Lewin the first victim of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. He was aboard American Airlines Flight 11, which later crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York.
As reported by the Jerusalem Post, Lewin was born in Denver, Colorado. At the age of 14, he moved to Israel, and after graduating from school, he joined Sayeret Matkal, an elite counterterrorism unit of the Israel Defense Forces.
Education and technology
After his military service, Lewin worked as a researcher at IBM in Haifa while simultaneously pursuing two bachelor's degrees at the Technion — Israel Institute of Technology. In 1995, the Technion named him Computer Engineering Student of the Year.
At IBM, he was responsible for developing and maintaining the Genesys system, designed for processor verification. In 1996, Lewin received a Massachusetts Institute of Technology fellowship for doctoral studies. According to publicly available data cited by the publication, during his research he developed an algorithm that applied the concept of sequential hashing and helped websites withstand higher loads.
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In 1998, Lewin founded Akamai Technologies together with his professor Tom Leighton and other partners. His name is listed on 25 US patents, and Akamai has published a permanent memorial text in his honor on its website.
Hijacking of American Airlines Flight 11
Lewin was 31 years old at the time of his death. According to an FBI report, the 9/11 Commission, and flight attendant records, he tried to confront the al-Qaeda hijackers seated in front of him. According to these accounts, attacker Satam al-Suqami, who was behind Lewin, slit his throat.
After the attacks, thousands of people searched online for information about whether their relatives had survived, causing the websites of federal agencies, newspapers, and other organizations to begin failing under the heavy load. According to the Israel Defense Forces website, Akamai Technologies was called upon to help keep such resources operating.
