# Dafydd Stuttard

> Dafydd Stuttard is the British founder and CEO of PortSwigger and the creator of Burp Suite. A former penetration tester, he co-authored The Web Application Hacker’s Handbook with Marcus Pinto and created the original content for the free Web Security Academy. His company grew from tools he wrote for his own work and took its first external investment in 2024.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at PortSwigger
- **Organizations:** PortSwigger, MDSec (former director, 2011-2018)
- **Nationality:** British
- **Education:** Master’s and doctorate in philosophy, University of Oxford
- **Known for:** Created Burp Suite., Co-authored The Web Application Hacker’s Handbook with Marcus Pinto., Created the original core content of the free Web Security Academy.

## Career timeline

- **2003** — Released early Burp software under the PortSwigger handle.
- **2007** — First edition of The Web Application Hacker’s Handbook, co-authored with Marcus Pinto; introduced Burp Sequencer.
- **2008** — PortSwigger Ltd incorporated; appointed director on 9 October.
- **2011-2018** — Served as a director of MDSec Ltd.
- **2013** — Wrote six principles for the first Knutsford office.
- **2019** — Launched the free Web Security Academy; PortSwigger received a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade.
- **2021** — PortSwigger announced a women-in-technology scholarship initiative.
- **2024** — Announced PortSwigger’s first external investment, $112 million from Brighton Park Capital, a minority investor.
- **2025** — Discussed Burp AI with James Kettle and Clint Gibler.
- **2026** — Published his argument for governed agentic security testing; PortSwigger released Burp AT.

## Achievements

- Created Burp Suite.
- Co-authored The Web Application Hacker’s Handbook with Marcus Pinto.
- Created the original core content of the free Web Security Academy.
- Led PortSwigger when it received the 2019 Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade.
- Built PortSwigger before taking its first external investment in 2024.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — PortSwigger published an update to Burp AT on 15 October covering custom skills, goals, agent approvals, and additional task context.
- **2026-08** — An update to Stuttard’s May essay confirmed that Burp AT had launched.
- **2026-05** — Stuttard published The beast needs a cage, arguing for governance around agentic security testing, and appeared with James Kettle in a sponsored Risky Business interview.

## Links

- Website: https://portswigger.net
- LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/dstuttard
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/DafyddStuttard

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/dafydd-stuttard
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21