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Famed ATM Hacker Barnaby Jack Dies Days Before Black Hat Conference

wiredmikey writes "A shocking and sad day today in the security industry. Well known hacker Barnaby Jack has passed away, sending a shock through the security community. Jack, a famed white hat hacker, was scheduled to present at the Black Hat conference on Tuesday, and present research on vulnerabilities in implantable medical devices. Shocked reactions hit the Twittersphere on Friday, as many in the industry conveyed their condolences, shock, and even disbelief, hoping new of the death was some sort of hoax. 'I just wake up and heard this, really sad, I can't believe this, no words,' Cesar Cerrudo, CTO, IOActive Labs, said in an email to SecurityWeek. Barnaby Jack is probably best known for his ATM hacking demonstrations, which he liked to refer as 'Jackpotting,' and performed at a few conferences, including a demonstration at Black Hat 2010 that got media attention around the world. The San Francisco Medical Examiner's office told Reuters that Jack had died in San Francisco on Thursday, but did not provide additional details."

64 of 110 comments (clear)

  1. Myes, myes... by girlintraining · · Score: 5, Insightful

    . The San Francisco Medical Examiner's office told to Reuters that Jack had died in San Francisco on Thursday, but did not provide additional details."

    Well, that is the official version of events, yes. -- NSA

    --
    #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    1. Re:Myes, myes... by mjwalshe · · Score: 1

      or Russian mafia

    2. Re:Myes, myes... by ilsaloving · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why is the parent marked troll? A young guy dies days before he was going to give a lecture during a security conference, and they won't say how he died?

      How does that *not* sound suspicious?

    3. Re:Myes, myes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Clearly it was suicide, he couldn't handle the fame so he shot himself with 3 different firearms.

    4. Re:Myes, myes... by amiga3D · · Score: 3, Funny

      He actually had to reload one of them.

    5. Re:Myes, myes... by Dputiger · · Score: 5, Informative

      It doesn't sound suspicious at all if you think about it. It takes an autopsy to determine cause of death, and that takes a few days at least.

    6. Re:Myes, myes... by ebno-10db · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It doesn't sound suspicious at all

      I disagree. The guy was 34-35. Presumably he didn't get hit by a truck or shot in the head, as you don't need an ME to figure out the basic cause. Do people that age just drop dead? Sure, sometimes, especially if they have known serious health problems. Even if they don't, it can happen (e.g. major aneurysm due to congenital weakness in an artery). It doesn't happen very often though.

      I'm no conspiracy theorist and I wouldn't go around screaming ah ha! A little suspicion though, when it happens a few days before a hacker conference, and considering other things that have been happening lately, is another story.

    7. Re:Myes, myes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      We're still trying to figure out why he tied himself to a chair first.

    8. Re:Myes, myes... by Dunbal · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Do people that age just drop dead?

      Yes they do. Not often, but it happens. I had "sudden cardiac death". I'm alive because it happened in an emergency room in front of a doctor. They called code, and brought me back. I was 30. I'm still here at 45, 5 bypasses, a defibrillator implant and 8 stents later. The odds increase if you consider this researcher was probably a nerd like most of us, meaning he was probably sedentary most of the time, and probably didn't exactly eat the best stuff for his health.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    9. Re:Myes, myes... by Talderas · · Score: 2

      In the deaths of most young people an autopsy is performed precisely for the reasons you state. Unless the cause of death is readily apparent, most younger people are healthy enough that they do not just fall over dead. The results of the autopsy won't and can't be known for a couple days but there are plenty of non-spectacular causes of death the least of which is drugs or alcohol.

      --
      "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
    10. Re:Myes, myes... by operagost · · Score: 1

      Do people that age just drop dead?

      Suicide does the trick.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    11. Re:Myes, myes... by Connie_Lingus · · Score: 1

      It doesn't sound suspicious at all

      I disagree. The guy was 34-35. Presumably he didn't get hit by a truck or shot in the head, as you don't need an ME to figure out the basic cause. Do people that age just drop dead? Sure, sometimes, especially if they have known serious drug problems.

      FTFY...not saying this guy did, but probably most high profile deaths with people his age are due to drug ODs

      --
      never bring a twinkie to a food fight.
    12. Re:Myes, myes... by helix2301 · · Score: 1

      Huge loss to the security community his information were always informative great mind and presenter.

    13. Re:Myes, myes... by girlintraining · · Score: 1

      It doesn't sound suspicious at all if you think about it. It takes an autopsy to determine cause of death, and that takes a few days at least.

      Lies. I watch NCIS and know an autopsy only takes the time to ride an elevator to the basement. Of course, the body is usually either clothed, or a bright light is shining upon his nether-regions, which are suspiciously eunich-like... so maybe it only works on aliens mascarading as marines.

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    14. Re:Myes, myes... by Dputiger · · Score: 2

      My point is not "There's no way this death COULD have been suspicious."

      My point is "The reason a cause of death hasn't been released yet is because an autopsy and subsequent biochemical analysis takes time." There are blood tests to run, arteries to check, stomach contents to evaluate, etc, etc, etc. A lot of that is done by the doctor performing the autopsy, but confirmation takes a little while.

      So while I acknowledge that the *death* may or may not turn out to be suspicious, the fact that we don't know the *cause* is not. Not yet.

    15. Re:Myes, myes... by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Last month or so? What happened - did you sober up or something?

      Business As Usual. Nothing to see here, comrade. Move along, please.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    16. Re:Myes, myes... by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      What are we supposed to do with all this tin foil until then?

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    17. Re:Myes, myes... by jeremyp · · Score: 1

      But they have exceptional people at NCIS. I've watched Timothy McGee crack a 256 bit symmetrical cipher in an afternoon using just his desktop PC which is especially astonishing given that the way he delivered the line "256 bit symmetrical cipher" strongly implied that he had no clue what a 256 bit symmetrical cipher is.

      --
      All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that too much to ask ~~ Randall Munroe
    18. Re:Myes, myes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The question is whether or not the probability of dieing is significantly higher when you are about to appear at a hacker converence to discuss the hacking of implanted medical devices.

    19. Re:Myes, myes... by Talderas · · Score: 1

      I agree with you, which is why I wasn't responding to you.

      Jumping to conclusions without evidence at this point is frankly, indicative of a behavior I would expect from the pleb and not from the type of people that I would normally assume browse this site.

      --
      "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
    20. Re:Myes, myes... by DexterIsADog · · Score: 1

      This is another case of "people are stupid, inobservant lumps who don't understand probability".

      This is one data point, nothing to make any assumptions on. If you had perfect knowledge of all the people involved in that hacker conference, and what happened to them in the months leading up to the conference, you'd see all sorts of strange occurrences in their lives that ALSO don't imply nefarious government action.

      Remember, this is the country where airline travel decreased by 30% after 9/11. Sure, there were multiple factors - one of them is certainly fear of terrorism. Were those people safer using *any* other form of transportation? Of course not.

    21. Re:Myes, myes... by HairyNevus · · Score: 1

      Fun fact: "tinfoil hats" are, in fact a government conspiracy. Tin does absolutely nothing to deflect the alien mind-control waves the FBI has been using. The widespread usage of the term "tinfoil hat" has been leading people into using ineffective methods. Your hats need to made out of aluminum .

      --
      You were critically hit for no damage. The bruise will look nice, and maybe the scars will make good party talk.
    22. Re:Myes, myes... by Dunbal · · Score: 3, Informative

      It could be. Stress. Stress releases cortisol and increases vascular tone through a higher baseline of catecholamines (epinephrine, norepinephrine) which leads to higher blood pressure. This puts more work on the heart since it has to increase its output to compensate for the increased resistance to blood flow. Stress can very well be a factor that causes a catastrophic event like this to happen. Usually when someone dies suddenly, it's a circulatory problem - stroke, heart attack, aneurysm, thrombosis. All of these have increased probabilities of happening when someone is under stress. Yeah, I'm a doctor, too - which is why I got so lucky and was standing in the middle of an ER when it happened to me :)

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    23. Re:Myes, myes... by rednip · · Score: 1

      Really? A TV show using made up science, next you'll claim that Scottie of Star Trek didn't really have any engineering skills and was simply some actor spouting out nonsense.

      --
      The force that blew the Big Bang continues to accelerate.
    24. Re:Myes, myes... by Orne · · Score: 1

      But it was awesome nonsense . . .

    25. Re:Myes, myes... by slick7 · · Score: 1

      How does that *not* sound suspicious?

      NDAA, Obamanation's executive order kill list, Department of Human Sacrifice 2 bbbbbbillion rounds of hollowpoint ammo on taxpayer funds, fast and furious, suspicious? NAH.

      --
      The mind conceives, the body achieves, the spirit manifests.
    26. Re:Myes, myes... by sabri · · Score: 1

      The question is whether or not the probability of dieing is significantly higher when you are about to appear at a hacker converence to discuss the hacking of implanted medical devices.

      Maybe he accidentally caused a kernel panic on his own pacemaker while he was preparing his slides??

      --
      I'm not a complete idiot... Some parts are missing.
  2. Sometimes people just die by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Sometimes people just die.
    Sometimes people get killed.
    Sometimes people get killed by agencies funded by (yet unaccountable to) the United States Federal Government.

    Not saying that's what happened. Just saying...

  3. Nothing to see, move on. by auric_dude · · Score: 1, Insightful

    A 50% chance of passing away prior to the start of the gathering and a 50% chance of passing away after the start of the gathering.

    1. Re:Nothing to see, move on. by amiga3D · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Stop killing the fun. Paranoia is my favorite hobby.

    2. Re:Nothing to see, move on. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      A 50% chance of passing away prior to the start of the gathering and a 50% chance of passing away after the start of the gathering.

      No. That math only works if you pick a time frame for the 'before' and 'after'. Otherwise, you've got years after, and much higher odds.

      And if you pick a time frame, the 'nothing to see here' part no longer applies.

    3. Re:Nothing to see, move on. by Ly4 · · Score: 2

      A 50% chance of passing away prior to the start of the gathering and a 50% chance of passing away after the start of the gathering.

      I don't think you have much of a future as an insurance actuary.

    4. Re:Nothing to see, move on. by TubeSteak · · Score: 1

      A 50% chance of passing away prior to the start of the gathering and a 50% chance of passing away after the start of the gathering.

      That's not how statistics work.
      The guy was 35 years old and his chances of passing away before the start of Black Hat should have been significantly less than 50%, barring any pre-existing medical conditions or risky behaviors.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    5. Re:Nothing to see, move on. by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Amateur.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    6. Re:Nothing to see, move on. by DexterIsADog · · Score: 1

      Yep, that's the same reason I bought a lottery ticket today. Either I'll win, or I won't. My odds are 50/50.

    7. Re:Nothing to see, move on. by auric_dude · · Score: 1

      Kudos to you! An elegant repost that completely punctures my post and all without resorting to Schrödinger's cat to explain the apparent statistical paradox.

    8. Re:Nothing to see, move on. by DexterIsADog · · Score: 1

      "...repost..." I think you meant "riposte". Otherwise, well formed sarcasm. Empty, but well formed. Nice use of the umlaut. :-)

  4. Hacked by Time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    We are all honey pots for entropy

  5. Shitty by Orgasmatron · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That sucks.

    He was an interesting character. He helped me sneak a girl into a hacker party at the Peppermill one year during Defcon. No one that drank with him, even once, will ever forget him.

    God had better keep an eye on him. If the pearly gates have any exploits, he'll find them.

    --
    See that "Preview" button?
    1. Re:Shitty by arth1 · · Score: 1

      Sounds like an interesting person. However, I'm not sure I'd call him "famed" as TFA does, as he doesn't even have a Wikipedia page.

      (Which I'm sure will appear before long - once you're dead, everybody and their dog have always been your fans.)

    2. Re:Shitty by jittles · · Score: 1

      Sounds like an interesting person. However, I'm not sure I'd call him "famed" as TFA does, as he doesn't even have a Wikipedia page.

      (Which I'm sure will appear before long - once you're dead, everybody and their dog have always been your fans.)

      So that's what I got to do to get my dog to like me? Everyone said to try peanut butter....

      I kid I kid. ;)

    3. Re:Shitty by auric_dude · · Score: 1

      "Jack had exposed a security flaw in insulin pumps that could be made to dispense a fatal dose by a hacker 300ft away, pushing some medical companies to review the security of these devices." http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jul/26/hacker-barnaby-jack-san-francisco-dies many don't contribute that much in their whole lifetime but he did that and more.

  6. Re:They WILL kill you... by amiga3D · · Score: 1

    You know, I can't say I'm a big fan of the President but that drivel you spout is ridiculous in the extreme. The fantasy world you live in makes Hollywood movies seem realistic. I'd be willing to bet my life that President Obama never ordered anyone to cluster bomb a village filled with women and children. It is possible that the military targeted a site thought to be a terrorist camp and it was filled with women and children. Maybe, but I doubt even that happened. You see, women and children are targets for the terrorists that think making war on women and children is the way to go since they know they stand zero chance in a stand up fight with US Marines. They like to put up anti-aircraft batteries in school yards filled with children so that either no one will attack them to prevent killing the children or if someone does attack them fools like you will say that they targeted the children and school and forget to mention a couple of hundred terrorists and weaponry. I dislike almost everything the President does but he's the elected President of my Nation and I resent this bullshit slander by a lying idiot like you.

  7. Re:They WILL kill you... by Charliemopps · · Score: 1

    A month ago the idea that the US government was monitoring the entire internet, had access to every major ISPs records and could listen to anyone's phone calls at any time was a joke. Now look where we're at. I'm not saying we have to believe the wildest of conspiracy theories but at this point we have no baseline from which to compare. What the NSA is doing with their spying is so outrageous that I can no longer use common sense to judge if a conspiracy theory about their actions is more or less likely. Just because it defies common sense, just because it would cost billions, just because it would be technically infeasible, immoral, unconstitutional and would result it little or no benefit to the NSA, government or American people, no longer means they wont do it. If you would have asked me a month ago what was more likely, that the Government was doing what we now know the NSA is doing, or if the Government was executing reporters and security researchers it thought were a threat to national security, I'd have quickly said the latter.

  8. Re:They WILL kill you... by amiga3D · · Score: 1

    Like I said, maybe. Collateral damage is not targeting someone. Collateral damage is what happens when a rocket launcher is shooting at you and you shoot back blowing up the launcher and, unfortunately, the people in the neighborhood where the launcher is located. For this reason people usually flee war zones but many times terrorists actually block people from leaving so they can up the likelihood of collateral damage.

  9. Money by Nethemas+the+Great · · Score: 2

    I wonder how much his research would have cost device makers monetarily... Does anyone know if the research he was going to present is or will still be made publicly available?

    --
    Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once ... with negative results.
  10. Re:They WILL kill you... by NatasRevol · · Score: 1

    Anybody knows what Jack died from?

    Well, SOMEbody does. But they're not telling.

    --
    There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
  11. Re:They WILL kill you... by NatasRevol · · Score: 2

    I'd be willing to bet my life that President Obama never ordered anyone to cluster bomb a village filled with women and children. It is possible that the military targeted a site thought to be a terrorist camp and it was filled with women and children.

    Yeah, if your second sentence is true, then your first sentence is false.

    --
    There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
  12. Re:They WILL kill you... by uncqual · · Score: 1

    It's not "hacking" when the government just uses the access codes to your pacemaker that the manufacturer so thoughtfully gave to them.

    --
    Why is there an "insightful" mod and why isn't it "-1"? If I wanted insight, I wouldn't be reading /.
  13. Re:They WILL kill you... by rot26 · · Score: 1

    That's a really self-serving definition of "collateral damage". You're a tool.

    --



    To ensure perfect aim, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target
  14. Someone needs to relearn their statistics by MickLinux · · Score: 1

    Based on misreported deaths -- e.g., John Denver's death by aircraft misreported a week before the actual event -- there is a small (let's be generous, call it 0.1% ) chance that he did not die as of the time of publication by Reuters.

    Because of that, his chance of dying after the Black Hat conference is nowhere close to 50%. His chance of dying before the event was less than, but approaches, 100%.

    We adjust statistics to reflect known facts and known probabilities. The reports of his death are a known fact. Whether he in fact died is not a known fact.

    [For you researchers out there: this is just like the rules for combining data sets: if the number of data points in each set is not known, you use one set of rules. If the number of points is known, you use a set of rules similar to combination of areas and moments of inertia with the Parallel Axis theorem. Use the correct combination equations for the situation, please]

    --
    Correct Horse Battery Staple: 72 bits of entropy. Enter "Correct H" into google. When it generates the phrase, that's
    1. Re:Someone needs to relearn their statistics by MickLinux · · Score: 1

      Could I settle this? Not to use your wording but I agree, I was being snotty. You could call it "but-that" if you want. But my point did have to do with staistics, insofar as you need to use the best available data.

      --
      Correct Horse Battery Staple: 72 bits of entropy. Enter "Correct H" into google. When it generates the phrase, that's
  15. Reuters link dead by davidwr · · Score: 1
    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  16. Re:They WILL kill you... by MickLinux · · Score: 1

    Actually, the joke was more like an ad on a college bulletin board:

    "Did you know that the NSA is not only interested in spying, but also funds research in almost every field of university study? ... if you would like an application form for an NSA grant, call your mother and ask for one...."

    --
    Correct Horse Battery Staple: 72 bits of entropy. Enter "Correct H" into google. When it generates the phrase, that's
  17. age 35 young for a heart attack by peter303 · · Score: 1

    But when I hear a man over 40 die suddenly its usually a heart attack, accident or suicide.

  18. Re:They WILL kill you... by jeremyp · · Score: 1

    A month ago the idea that the US government was monitoring the entire internet, had access to every major ISPs records and could listen to anyone's phone calls at any time was a joke.

    Was it? It seemed totally plausible to me.

    --
    All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that too much to ask ~~ Randall Munroe
  19. Stuff is getting serious by erroneus · · Score: 1

    That's just the thing here. Banking controls the world right now. We think it is government, but it's pretty much banking and money. As the global financial crisis comes closer to "the end of things" it's getting more and more serious. Now that the people hacking, cracking and exploiting vulnerabilities in money systems and services are becoming heroes to the people, the government can no longer be trusted to handle these people through official means.

    We're going to see a lot more assassinations and mysterious deaths than we have been seeing lately.

  20. Re:They WILL kill you... by DexterIsADog · · Score: 2

    A better definition of collateral damage (that matches what the U.S. military and three letter agencies are actually doing) would be something like, "You're sitting in a trailer in Texas, watching a live feed from the UAV you're piloting over Pakistan, when you see a group of young men. Your supervisor tells you they're insurgents and you should kill them. You fire a missile at the group, entirely dismembering every one of them. They were standing next to a woman holding a baby who was walking by. She and the baby are splattered all over the ground." THAT'S collateral damage. Not just the woman in the baby, but between 0 and ALL of the group of young men identified as insurgents.

  21. Re:They WILL kill you... by Cabriel · · Score: 1

    Not so. An order by the military is not an order from Obama. This may come as a shock, but the the military occasionally acts without Obama's direct knowledge. If the first sentence is true, then Obama said "Bomb this place." The second sentence can happen entirely without that scenario.

  22. Re:They WILL kill you... by HaZardman27 · · Score: 1

    I think the point he is trying to make is that there was never an order to bomb a village when it was known that it was filled with women and children, or that the point of the bombing was to kill said women and children.

    --
    Apparently wizard is not a legitimate career path, so I chose programmer instead.
  23. Re:They WILL kill you... by amiga3D · · Score: 1

    Your definition is also correct. There is no way to fight a war in an occupied city without killing civilians. In the parent's post however he made it sound as if those guys in that trailer were actually targeting the woman with the baby which is stupid. Even absent the wrongness of that it makes no sense even from a practical standpoint because it's a waste of resources to kill those that can't conceivably be a threat. The only way to avoid civilian deaths is to give up and leave. I can say that I think that may be a good idea but then eventually the area becomes a general threat again. Sometimes there is no good solution.

  24. Re:They WILL kill you... by amiga3D · · Score: 1

    Ah! Someone who can read and comprehend. I actually think most deliberately misunderstand out of spite.

  25. Does anyone know... by alien-alien · · Score: 1

    Does anyone know if (by any chance) he had a pacemaker?

  26. Re:They WILL kill you... by DexterIsADog · · Score: 1

    Not arguing here (we're all friends here), but look into some of the stories of the remote operators. One told about being ordered to target a dwelling, out of which ran what looked like a "very short person", just before the missile hit. That figure was completely obliterated. The operator asked his spotter for more information about it, and was told, "it was just a dog". It seems as though there's a callous disregard for innocents in these operations, even after you discount the helicopter pilots who joked about the insurgents they tore to shreds with the cannon (who turned out to be journalists).

    There's more than a little wrong here.