Pacemaker hack legend Barnaby Jack dies just before Black Hat revelations

Tributes flood in for security titan

Barnaby Jack, the 35-year-old security researcher who demonstrated cash machine hacks live on stage in Las Vegas and later highlighted the insecurity of smart medical devices, has died.

His death was confirmed by staff at his employer, security biz IOActive, and his sister Amberleigh Jack. His passing comes days before the opening of the Black Hat hacking convention in Vegas, where he was due to give a talk on electronic medical implants for humans.

There are no details about the circumstances of his death at the time of writing. It is understood the San Francisco Medical Examiner's office said he died in the city on Thursday.

His peers took to Twitter to pay tribute, and reminisce about past exploits with Jack. Dave Marcus, a senior threat researcher at McAfee, wrote:

Great memory: Barnaby Jack shooting me in the face with water through a hacked insulin pump whilst doing shots. RIP Barns. You made me laugh

— Dave Marcus (@DaveMarcus) July 26, 2013

Jerry Gamblin, a network security specialist and conference speaker, added:

Sad to learn @barnaby_jack has passed away. He was a much better person than he was a hacker, and that is saying something.

— Jerry Gamblin (@JGamblin) July 26, 2013

Dan Kaminsky, of Cisco, Avaya and IOActive fame, chipped in:

God, the stories. Nobody caused such hilarious trouble like @barnaby_jack. You kids with your lulz are about to learn about a PRO

— Dan Kaminsky (@dakami) July 26, 2013

An IOActive spokesman told El Reg: "We are working with his family to provide a way to celebrate and remember him."

Back in 2010, to highlight security flaws in selected ATMs, Jack demonstrated his cash machine "jackpotting" technique live on stage, as this video shows:

His bug hunting and research covered all corners of computer security from scrutinising low-level Windows drivers to writing flaw exploitation whitepapers and articles. We'll update with more details when we have them. ®