Peter Claus Gutmann is a
computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who specializes in the academic study of computer science.
Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation. Although computer scientists can also focus their work and research on ...
in the Department of Computer Science at the
University of Auckland
The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...
,
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. 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 (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and computer network, n ...
issues, including
security architecture, security
usability
Usability can be described as the capacity of a system to provide a condition for its users to perform the tasks safely, effectively, and efficiently while enjoying the experience. In software engineering, usability is the degree to which a softw ...
(or more usually the lack thereof), and
hardware security; he has discovered several flaws in publicly released
cryptosystem
In cryptography, a cryptosystem is a suite of cryptographic algorithms needed to implement a particular security service, such as confidentiality (encryption).
Typically, a cryptosystem consists of three algorithms: one for key generation, one ...
s and
protocols. He is the developer of the
cryptlib open source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...
software security library and contributed to
PGP version 2. In 1994 he developed the
Secure FileSystem (SFS). He is also known for his analysis of data deletion on electronic memory media,
magnetic
Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that occur through a magnetic field, which allows objects to attract or repel each other. Because both electric currents and magnetic moments of elementary particles give rise to a magnetic field, m ...
and otherwise, and devised the
Gutmann method for erasing data from a
hard drive
A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating hard disk drive platter, pla ...
more or less securely. These analyses have gained great popularity, although they are based on numerous inaccuracies and incorrect assumptions. Having lived in New Zealand for some time, he has written on such subjects as
weta (a group of insects endemic 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, which he has blogged about. He has also written on his career as an "arms courier" for New Zealand, detailing the difficulties faced in complying with customs control regulations with respect to cryptographic products, which were once classed as "munitions" by various jurisdictions including the United States.
Criticism of Windows Vista
His
white paper
A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. Since the 199 ...
"''Cost Analysis of
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...
Content Protection''", in which he described the content protection specification as "
the longest suicide note in history
"The longest suicide note in history" is an epithet originally used by United Kingdom Labour MP Gerald Kaufman to describe his party's 1983 general election manifesto, which emphasised socialist policies in a more profound manner than previous ...
",
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.
Response to Criticism
In an
article written on September 1, 2007, George Ou offers a rebuttal to Gutmann's statements on Windows Vista. Peter Gutmann is quoted in reference to Windows Vista as saying, "Can others confirm this? I don't run Vista yet, but if this is true then it would seem to disconfirm Microsoft's Claims that the content protection doesn't interfere with playback and is only active when premium content is present.". This garnered criticism from audiences who didn't trust the primary use of secondhand information for detailed data, which was often found on forums. When the quality of Gutmann's research came into question, George Ou himself tested certain assertions from the white paper. He found significant differences between what was reported to be true and what was revealed to occur when performed firsthand, and failed to reproduce multiple alleged results in his own tests.
See also
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Criticism of Windows Vista
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Data privacy
Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data ...
*
Gutmann method
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Information privacy
Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as dat ...
*
Plaintext
In cryptography, plaintext usually means unencrypted information pending input into cryptographic algorithms, usually encryption algorithms. This usually refers to data that is transmitted or stored unencrypted.
Overview
With the advent of comp ...
Bibliography
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References
Further reading
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External links
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Auckland: Your Y2K beta test site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gutmann, Peter
Computer security academics
Living people
Modern cryptographers
New Zealand computer scientists
University of Auckland alumni
Cypherpunks
Year of birth missing (living people)