Peter G. Neumann, who spent decades warning the tech industry about its recurring security failures, died at 93 on Sunday. His Cheri hardware security design, now being adopted by Google and Microsoft, could reshape how consumer products and industrial systems defend against attacks.

Launched in 2010 with Darpa funding, Cheri restricts software programs so malicious instructions become impossible to execute. The CHERI Alliance has begun commercializing the design for consumer and industrial use. Neumann also ran the ACM Risks Forum for 35 years, cataloging thousands of computer failures and privacy issues. Co-inventor of public key cryptography Whitfield Diffie called him both "one of the last of the old guard and a pointer to the future."

Neumann's early work on Multics at Bell Labs in the 1960s laid groundwork for secure multi-user computing. He was a vocal critic of corporate short-term thinking on security. An anonymous $4 million donation to the San Francisco Symphony in late 2024 showed his priorities beyond tech. He kept the same office at SRI International since 1971.