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Elite Hacker Barnaby Jack 'overdosed on drugs'
- MyNameIsMK 13y agoWhy was he doing drugs?
- zaporozhets 13y agoFor recreational purposes most likely? It's sad that this highly intelligent person has died, but drugs are a thing. And people do them, and sometimes it gets out of hand and those people die. There's nothing too unique about this.
- MyNameIsMK 13y agoThis whole thing sounds highly suspicious. There was also no reason for the downvote.
- smokinjoe 13y agoAny specific reasons why it sounds highly suspicious? I don't mind theories, but just throwing that out there with literally no supporting evidence is just a waste of energy.
- zaporozhets 13y agoI was not the person who downvoted. I do agree that the timing is very suspicious, and i'm sure this will be construed as some kind of conspiracy- but realistically, considering the kind of death; I think it's most reasonable to accept that this was a standard mixed drug overdose death.
- meowface 13y agoAccidental drug overdoses from heavy drug users are suspicious? They happen all the time, unfortunately.
- anigbrowl 13y agoI don't see why. Lots of people take drugs, they're very available in San Francisco, and that particular combination is famously risky. Sure, common sense would tell you that the risk isn't worth it, but people often take foolish risks in pursuit of a good time.
- codyb 13y agoEspecially since intelligence and drug use seem to be correlated.[1][2] [1] http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/201010/why-intelligent-people-use-more-drugs http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundament... [2] http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/the-crackademics-more-than-one-in-10-cambridge-742933 http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/the-crackademics-more-t...
- MagicWishMonkey 13y agoFor fun, most likely.
- zaporozhets 13y agoDrugs are bad mmkay.* *may or may reflect the actual feelings of the author
- username223 13y ago"*may or may reflect ..." You might want to fix the footnote when you're less high...
- codebeard 13y agoWhy not come out and say what you're too coy to say?
- Confusion 13y agoWhy do people smoke, drink, ride rollercoasters? Why do they do dangerous things like parkour or traditional free climbing?
- extx 13y agoHow well know was he? Will HN have a black banner to remember him?
- codyb 13y agoI'm certain many a reader here can attest to being awed by his cracks on pace makers and ATMs. I know I was. Not sure what gets you a black banner. Did Steve Jobs get one? I've never seen one personally. If it's only based upon how well known you are in the tech community than Steve Jobs would certainly deserve one. What about Aaron Schwartz? Probably less known among the general populace but a minor celebrity within the tech community prior to his death. And much more well know post-mortem like many great and talented persons through the ages.
- danso 13y agoHe died in July but the autopsy has only just been made available? Or did the news of his death just fall off the radar so much that no one checked the coroner's office earlier? (coroner reports in newsworthy cases are generally public record) For reference sake, Paul Walker, the star of "Fast and Furious", had his autopsy reported on today but he died on Nov. 30 (roughly 35 days) http://www.tmz.com/2014/01/03/paul-walker-autopsy-report-roger-rodas-death/ http://www.tmz.com/2014/01/03/paul-walker-autopsy-report-rog... Michael Hastings, the Rolling Stone reporter who also died in a car accident, died in mid-June and his autopsy report was made available in mid-August: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/21/michael-hastings-buzzfeed-autopsy-drugs http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/21/michael-hasting... Both of those deaths may have been more in the news than Barnaby Jack's, but they also involved fiery car crashes. It's possible that Barnaby Jack's death was just forgotten about, which is not unheard of (how many people not related to you can you recall the date of their deaths, a month later?). I guess you can assume that news orgs don't follow up as quickly on non-celebrities, and that tech advocates don't do as much public records requesting.
- kayoone 13y agoi believe his family kept it back as they also didn't want to say anything about the reason of his death.
- dpifke 13y agoThe SF Medical Examiner is particularly slow, per a recent article in the Chronicle: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-medical-examiner-lags-in-ruling-on-deaths-5006771.php http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-medical-examiner-l...
- kayoone 13y agoI remember the conspiracy theories surrounding his death so close to the event where he would reveal how to hack pace makers... Since his family/friends said nothing and he had drug problems in the past, this seemed like the most plausible reason for his death to me. Incredibly sad.
- girvo 13y agoHeroin, coke, and alcohol. Quickest way to overdose, even if it is fun... RIP mate, we'll miss you. My worst OD was with that mixture as well, only I was lucky enough to have people with me and live in a country where calling the emergency services doesn't end with police at your door for overdoses. Narcan in the back of the ambulance brought me back. I got clean a month later, and am still clean 20 months later. Some of my friends weren't so lucky, and neither was Jack, the poor bastard. He did awesome work. Mudge had an awesome talk at Defcon where he told a story about Jack in Dubai, go have a listen, it's well worth it. Drug abuse (opiates in particular) is more common in our field than we think, I believe.
- zaporozhets 13y ago"Drug abuse (opiates in particular) is more common in our field than we think" Even opiates aside, drug & alcohol abuse is ridiculously common for people that have a very /public/ and forced extraverted role in any field. The creative field is probably one of the most heavy cases for this sort of thing.
- Nrsolis 13y agoI can attest to this. I spent some time in the stand-up comedy community. The penetration of serious alcohol or drug abuse within the stage professions is mind-boggling. I got out when I realized that I was consuming far too much alcohol for the life I wanted to live.
- nate_meurer 13y agoLegal opiates are now the biggest killer of addicts, according to at least one new study: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/vicodin-oxycontin-drug-deaths-vos-lancet-502721 http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/vicodin-oxycontin-drug-deaths-vos-l...
- girvo 13y agoDoesn't surprise me. While being a heroin addict requires knowledge of risks (dealers don't like customers dying on them), popping a few OxyContin that you have left over from surgery doesn't, despite being nearly as strong.
- himal 13y agoHis 2010 demonstration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss_RWctTARU&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss_RWctTARU&feature=youtu.be
- tacoman 13y agoI didn't know him, but was familiar with his work and this obviously is all very sad. Infosec is a very strange slice of the tech industry/IT. I've been a generalist sysadmin for more than 25 years so I have broad exposure to most of the specialties in the industry. What strikes me about infosec is how the cult of celebrity is very prominent. Maybe it's just where my interests lie, but I can name a dozen high profile "hackers" or infosec researchers. If you ask me to name the names of linux kernel hackers or nginx hackers or whatever and I'd struggle. Also, it seems like every week there is a security conference somewhere in the world. I guess maybe it's sexy or flashy but the security industry seems to have proportionally way more extrovert-type people in it.
- ChuckMcM 13y agoMy Dad once said, the world would be a better place if drugs and alcohol only killed people we didn't care about. Sadly the world is not like that.
- zaporozhets 13y agoThat's a horrendous sentiment.
- lfuller 13y agoThere'd be a lot fewer minorities if that was the case.
- mortdeus 13y agoI'm not usually one for indulging in conspiracy theories, but if there was ever a shady coincidental happenstance. This "overdose" definitly deserves to be looked at more thoroughly under a metaphorical blacklight.
- quantumpotato_ 13y agoDid anyone know him to have a drug problem? I still find the timing suspicious.
- Canada 13y agoYes, it was widely known. Don't be surprised that none of his friends wanted to discuss it in public after he passed.
- quantumpotato_ 13y agoCertainly. Thanks. I'm still keeping my tinfoil hat on though. Sad that he went.
- baconhigh 13y agoRIP mate. i was still coming to terms with you being gone and this news article just brings everything back.