For seven decades, Neumann chronicled how computer systems fail and patiently advocated for the principles that make them fail less often.
In 1976, when ACM SIGSOFT was formed, Neumann founded ACM SIGSOFT’s Software Engineering Notes (SEN), editing it for 19 years. A SEN column on computer-related mishaps spawned, in 1985, the ACM Risks Forum —known to its readers as comp.risks or the RISKS Digest , and at its peak, one of the most widely read mailing lists on the Internet. He moderated RISKS for 41 years, until April 2026, and curated more than 250 “Inside Risks” columns in Communications of the ACM .
In this interview, computer security pioneer Peter G. Neumann relates his education at Harvard University (A.B. in Math, S.M. and Ph.D. in Applied Math), including an influential (to his perspective and career) two-hour long meeting/discussion as an undergraduate with Albert Einstein (discussing “complexity” and other topics). The vast majority of the interview addresses the many facets of his highly influential career in computer security research. With regard to the latter, this includes discussion of his work at Bell Labs and extensive involvement with MULTICS security, and his subsequent four-decade (and continuing) career as a research scientist at SRI International. He tells of his work and leadership with the Provably Secure Operating System (PSOS), research and writing on risks (including moderating the ACM Risks Forum), insider misuse and intrusion-detection systems (IDES, NIDES, EMERALD), and his current work on two DARPA-funded projects that builds on key lessons of the past to design and develop secure/trustworthy computer systems.
