The 35 year old was highly respected in computer security circles, often finding ‘back doors’ into systems that left them open to cyber attacks.
He found fame when he publicly hacked an ATM machine making it give out random amounts of money in a technique that became known as ‘jackpotting’
His death, which is being described as ‘unexpected’ by friends, occurred on Thursday in San Francisco. The Medical Examiners Office has confirmed his death, but has given no other details so far.
He was due to give a lecture at the Black Hat Event in Las Vegas, which starts tomorrow. His presentation entitled “Implantable Medical Devices: Hacking Humans” was due to be given on August 1st.
Jack had discovered that medical devices such as insulin pumps and heart pacemakers could be hacked from a considerable distance, causing the pumps to dispense fatal doses of the drug and pacemakers to malfunction seriously enough to stop the wearer’s heart. The presentation was to explain to companies the vulnerabilities of such devices and how they could be improved to prevent tampering.
