Peter G. Neumann, one of the world’s pioneering computer security researchers and a longtime critic of weak cybersecurity practices, has died at the age of 93.
Neumann, who continued working full time until his death, helped shape modern cybersecurity research through projects backed by the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), including the CHERI program, which developed hardware-based protections against malicious software attacks. He also became known for documenting thousands of computer failures and privacy issues through the influential “Risks Forum” newsgroup and his 1995 book “Computer-Related Risks.”
The veteran computer scientist spent more than five decades at SRI International and remained outspoken about the tech industry’s approach to privacy and security, warning that corporations often prioritized short-term gains over public safety. Neumann died Sunday in Santa Clara, California due to complications from a recent fall.