Peter Gutmann (computer scientist)
Encyclopedia
Peter Gutmann is a computer scientist
in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Auckland
, Auckland
, New Zealand
. He has a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Auckland. His Ph.D. thesis and a book based on the thesis were about a cryptographic security architecture. He is interested in computer security
issues, including security architecture
, security usability
(or more precisely the lack thereof), and hardware security
, he has discovered assorted flaws in publicly released cryptosystem
s and protocols. He is the developer of the cryptlib
open source
software security library and contributed to PGP
version 2. He is also known for his analysis of data deletion on electronic memory media, magnetic and otherwise, and devised the Gutmann method
for erasing data from a hard drive more or less securely.
Having lived in New Zealand for some time, he has written on such subjects as weta
s, which are peculiar to New Zealand, and the Auckland power crisis of 1998
, during which the electrical power system failed completely in the central city for five weeks. See, for instance, Auckland: Your Y2K beta test site on Gutmann's Homepage. He has also written on his career as an "arms courier" for New Zealand, detailing the difficulty faced in complying with customs control regulations with respect to cryptographic products (once classed as "munitions").
"Cost Analysis of Windows Vista
Content Protection", in which he described the content protection specification as "the longest suicide note in history
", generated considerable public interest since it was first posted in 2006. He discussed this with Steve Gibson in episode #74 of the Security Now! podcast on 2007-01-11.
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Auckland
University of Auckland
The University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...
, Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. He has a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Auckland. His Ph.D. thesis and a book based on the thesis were about a cryptographic security architecture. He is interested in computer security
Computer security
Computer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and networks. The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to...
issues, including security architecture
Computer security model
A computer security model is a scheme for specifying and enforcing security policies.A security model may be founded upon a formal model of access rights, a model of computation, a model of distributed computing, or no particular theoretical grounding at all....
, security usability
Usability
Usability is the ease of use and learnability of a human-made object. The object of use can be a software application, website, book, tool, machine, process, or anything a human interacts with. A usability study may be conducted as a primary job function by a usability analyst or as a secondary job...
(or more precisely the lack thereof), and hardware security
Hardware Security Module
A hardware security module is a type of secure cryptoprocessor targeted at managing digital keys, accelerating cryptoprocesses in terms of digital signings/second and for providing strong authentication to access critical keys for server applications...
, he has discovered assorted flaws in publicly released cryptosystem
Cryptosystem
There are two different meanings of the word cryptosystem. One is used by the cryptographic community, while the other is the meaning understood by the public.- General meaning :...
s and protocols. He is the developer of the cryptlib
Cryptlib
cryptlib is an open source cross-platform software security toolkit library. It is distributed under the Sleepycat License, a free software license compatible with the GNU General Public License...
open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
software security library and contributed to PGP
Pretty Good Privacy
Pretty Good Privacy is a data encryption and decryption computer program that provides cryptographic privacy and authentication for data communication. PGP is often used for signing, encrypting and decrypting texts, E-mails, files, directories and whole disk partitions to increase the security...
version 2. He is also known for his analysis of data deletion on electronic memory media, magnetic and otherwise, and devised the Gutmann method
Gutmann method
The Gutmann method is an algorithm for securely erasing the contents of computer hard drives, such as files. Devised by Peter Gutmann and Colin Plumb, it does so by writing a series of 35 patterns over the region to be erased....
for erasing data from a hard drive more or less securely.
Having lived in New Zealand for some time, he has written on such subjects as weta
Weta
Weta is the name given to about 70 insect species endemic to New Zealand. There are many similar species around the world, though most are in the southern hemisphere. The name comes from the Māori word 'wētā' and is the same in the plural...
s, which are peculiar to New Zealand, and the Auckland power crisis of 1998
1998 Auckland power crisis
The 1998 Auckland power crisis was a five-week-long power outage.Almost all of downtown Auckland in New Zealand was supplied electricity by Mercury Energy via four power cables, two of them 40-year-old oil-filled cables that were past their replacement date. One of the cables failed on 20 January,...
, during which the electrical power system failed completely in the central city for five weeks. See, for instance, Auckland: Your Y2K beta test site on Gutmann's Homepage. He has also written on his career as an "arms courier" for New Zealand, detailing the difficulty faced in complying with customs control regulations with respect to cryptographic products (once classed as "munitions").
Criticism of Windows Vista
His white paperWhite paper
A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that helps solve a problem. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions, and are often requested and used in politics, policy, business, and technical fields. In commercial use, the term has also come to refer to...
"Cost Analysis of Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
Content Protection", in which he described the content protection specification as "the longest suicide note in history
The longest suicide note in history
"The longest suicide note in history" is an epithet originally used by United Kingdom Labour Party MP Gerald Kaufman to describe his party's left-wing 1983 election manifesto.-The document:...
", generated considerable public interest since it was first posted in 2006. He discussed this with Steve Gibson in episode #74 of the Security Now! podcast on 2007-01-11.
External links
- Gutmann's Homepage
- Vista copy protection is defended, 2007-01-22 BBC reported Microsoft's response to Gutman's white paper
- Macalope blog