FRESH

Hacker News

Home

Peter Neumann has died

310 points by pabs3

by paol

4 subcomments

Sometime in the 2000s I started reading the RISKS Digest mailing list[1] from the beginning. I did it for fun - it's an interesting mix of fun anecdotes and lessons learned, and the 80's and early 90's were before my time which I found interesting too.
A side effect of reading the mailing list in bulk is that a set of common "stereotypes" of failure (for lack of a better word) start to emerge clearly from the stream of anecdotes. These really influenced my mental model of technology risks. I would still recommend the exercise for anyone interested in the subject.
[1] https://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/

by dredmorbius

0 subcomment

Neumann had a tremendous impact on perception and curation of technology-related risks. His passing is a moment of sadness.
It wasn't unforeseeable, however, and it pains me to see on the Catless RISKS archive this note: "I'm sad to have to tell you that Peter Neumann died on the 17th May. This website will be here as long as I am able to maintain it, but whether or not there is any future RISKS content anywhere, I cannot say."
<https://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/>
Death is a risk, but not an inconceivable one, and it's a reminder that whilst a single individual can often drive with singular vision and surprising efficacy a project, that if they fail to establish some broader foundation, that project dies with them.
I'd noted this myself, in this context, several years ago: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37582242>.
I continue to hope that RISKS may survive Peter.

by ontouchstart

2 subcomments

Bookmark this link for future reference, it is very relevant in the era of “agentic engineering”
https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/1005937.1005938

by gnabgib

0 subcomment

Previously (25 points - same list, LWN host) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48172640

by jamesholden

0 subcomment

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/30/science/peter-g-neumann-a...

by jgrahamc

0 subcomment

I loved reading RISKS and looks like back in 1991 (35 years ago! Eek!) I was worried about trojan horses on Netware 286: https://catless.ncl.ac.uk/risks/11/65#subj3
RIP

by OhMeadhbh

0 subcomment

Well, hell. I only new Peter peripherally, but every time I met him he was a wonderful human. I built cryptography libraries in the 90s and Peter was responsible for expanding my thinking about the systems surrounding security controls and (not surprisingly) their associated risks. And he did it with great patience, speaking to me (and everyone else) at a level we could understand, but never patronizing. I would bump into him at a conference one year and he would suggest a direction of study or experiment. At the next conference I saw him at I would report my findings (or send them to the RISKS list) and then there would be another, interesting direction suggested.
There's a Peter-shaped-hole in Sili Valley tech culture.

by Tempest1981

0 subcomment

https://cacm.acm.org/news/in-memoriam-peter-g-neumann-1932-2...

by pelasaco

0 subcomment

To see "Albert Einstein" in the list of his mentors was beautiful. He was a connection link to many of the greatest minds in our history. RIP.

by raverbashing

1 subcomments

The mailing list style and his personal web page tells me all that I need to do
(And if you don't get it, you wouldn't get it)

by stogot

0 subcomment

Impressive that Neumann moderated RISKS for 41 years in addition to all of his other achievements. His contributions were valuable to us all

by edwinjm

1 subcomments

Not to be confused with John von Neumann

by sheepoloz

0 subcomment

[dead]

by aaron695

0 subcomment

[dead]

by therealdkz

0 subcomment

[dead]