Maurer studied electrical engineering at ETH Zurich and obtained his PhD in 1990,[2] advised by James Massey.

[4] From 2002 until 2008, Maurer also served on the board of Tamedia AG.

[5] Maurer was appointed editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cryptology in 2002[6] for a three-year term.

[8] In 2008, Maurer was named a Fellow of the International Association for Cryptologic Research "for fundamental contributions to information-theoretic cryptography, service to the IACR, and sustained educational leadership in cryptology.

"[9] In 2015, he was named a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery "for contributions to cryptography and information security.