Ross J. Anderson
British computer scientist, cryptographer (1956–2024)

Ross John Anderson (15 September 1956 – 28 March 2024) was a British researcher, author, and industry consultant in security engineering. He was Professor of Security Engineering at the Department of Computer Science and Technology, University of Cambridge where he was part of the University's security group.
Education
Anderson was educated at the High School of Glasgow. After leaving school he attended Glasgow University and studied Natural Philosophy. He did not complete his studies there and moved to Cambridge. In 1978, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and natural science from the University of Cambridge where he was an undergraduate student of Trinity College, Cambridge, and subsequently received a qualification in computer engineering. Anderson worked in the avionics and banking industry before moving back to the University of Cambridge in 1992, to work on his doctorate under the supervision of Roger Needham and start his career as an academic researcher. He received his PhD in 1995.
Research and career
Anderson was appointed a lecturer at Cambridge in 1995. In addition to teaching at the University of Cambridge, he also taught at the University of Edinburgh.
The public source identifies “Ross J. Anderson” as british computer scientist, cryptographer (1956–2024). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Ross, Anderson and British.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2167581. VIAF identifies the subject as 74007194. The Library of Congress control number is n94047247. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1956, 2024, 1978 and 1992.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ross J. Anderson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.