Peter Gutmann is a computer science based in Auckland, New Zealand; he received his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Auckland. He is particularly interested in computer security issues, including Cryptography, and has written widely in both fields, and has discovered assorted flaws in publicly released cryptosystems and protocol (cryptography)s. He is the developer of the cryptlib cryptography software library. He is also known for his analysis of data deletion on electronic memory media, magnetic and otherwise, and devised the Gutmann method for erasing data from a hard drive more or less securely.

Having lived in New Zealand (NZ) for some time, various NZ issues have come to his attention. These include wetas, which are peculiar to NZ, and the great blackout of 1998 in Auckland, during which electrical power failed for some months in the city. He has written extensively on both subjects, among many others. See, for instance, Auckland: Your Y2K beta test site. He has also written on his career as an arms courier for New Zealand. Both a short discussion of wetas and an adventure game guide to the geography of the Computer Science Department offices are available on his Web page.

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