I have just discovered, shamefully late, that Ross Anderson died at his Cambridge home at the end of last month. He was only 67. Anderson was Professor of Security Engineering at the Cambridge University’s Department of Computer Science and Technology. He had worked at the University since the early 1990s.
Professor Anderson was famously rabidly anti spook, but more justifiably famous for his work in privacy and particularly in those aspects of computer security (or wider technology) which could impact on personal privacy.
I cannot pretend to have known Professor Anderson, but I had, and have, the greatest respect for his work. Anyone who can annoy certain parts of GCHQ as much as he did deserves commendation. Professor Anderson’s obituary can be found here. There are also good tributes by John Naughton and Bruce Schneier. There are plenty of others on-line should you care to search.
I am deeply sorry that I only found out about his passing from the latest “feisty duck” newsletter. My only excuse is that I don’t follow twitter, nor am I as active in following many of the security sources I used to read. One of the impacts of (long) retirement I fear.
RIP Professor.