Hacker Barnaby Jack Died of Drug Overdose 195
Posted
by
Soulskill
from the rest-in-peace dept.
from the rest-in-peace dept.
DrDevil writes "Barnaby Jack, the computer security expert who died mysteriously a few days before he was due to give a presentation on hacking pacemakers at last year's Black Hat, died of a drug overdose. The coroner initially withheld the report, which led to much speculation given the timing of his death. Mr. Jack appears to have taken a cocktail of drugs (PDF) and was found dead by his girlfriend. His girlfriend stated that he had used drugs regularly."
Re:Hackers are the new Rock Stars (Score:5, Insightful)
No, hackers are just like anyone else and this proves it. People overdose all the time, they just don't make the front page of Slashdot.
You mean it wasn't a conspiracy ? (Score:5, Insightful)
Slashdot is really letting itself go, when posts describing the mundane reality take precedence over a good conspiracy story.
Or could it be that the coroner was bought by the peacemaker manufacturing lobby to give that statement? Hmm...
Re:You mean it wasn't a conspiracy ? (Score:4, Insightful)
It's easy to get away with murdering a drug user. Even if the guy's a speed freak and he dies of a barbiturate overdose, it's automatically an accident.
Re:Bad things (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Bad things (Score:3, Insightful)
The legalizing it trend is about far more than marijuana and it always has been. Don't fool yourself.
Re:Hackers are the new Rock Stars (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Hackers are the new Rock Stars (Score:2, Insightful)
Fear of pot makes you stupid.
Re:Hackers are the new Rock Stars (Score:4, Insightful)
He combined heroin with Xanax and an antihistamine. That is a pretty reckless combination. Sure, it's possible that the heroin was uncharacteristically pure.
Nevertheless, if you combine three depressant drugs (two of them quite strong), you're always risking an overdose. You can't really blame this one on prohibition.
Re:Hackers are the new Rock Stars (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Hackers are the new Rock Stars (Score:4, Insightful)
Not to mention we've had a recent kinda nasty VP that requires pacemakers and whom would have probably been a target if the info would have leaked and you have one more bullet point in the "this smells funny" column. Reminds me of that reporter whose family aid he had a phobia about blood and would pass smooth out when he saw a drop of the stuff supposedly slit his wrists to kill himself.
Frankly it should be so trivial to tell if he was a druggie, the stuff ends up in the hair, nails, hell with heavy users they practically sweat drugs so finding out shouldn't take any time at all...wanna bet nobody runs anymore tests? After all we have learned from Manning and Snowden the past couple of years frankly I trust the mob more than I trust my own government so call me paranoid but I'd like a second opinion please.
Re:Hackers are the new Rock Stars (Score:0, Insightful)
I suppose it's easier to damn these "druggies" that you've known than to have the uncomfortable thought that perhaps they were sniffing gasoline or huffing paint thinner due to the fact that they were, in fact, the only legal drugs to which they had easy access. Yes, those damn druggies, never mind that had they had legal access to properly dosed drugs and a safe environment, they wouldn't have been sniffing gasoline or huffing paint thinner.