Security Researcher Dan Kaminsky Has Died 56
Security researcher Marc Rogers (also a BBC contributor) tweeted this morning "I guess theres no hiding it now. We lost Dan Kaminsky yesterday. One of the brightest lights in infosec and probably the kindest soul I knew. The vacuum he leaves behind is impossible to measure. Please keep speculation to yourself and be respectful of his family and friends."
In later tweets, Rogers says he was proud that Kaminsky was his friend, adding "I could literally wrote a book of Dan Kaminsky tales. From shenanigans at events all over the world, to parties and just crazy stuff that happened at the spur of a moment. But most about his crazy brilliant kind generous ideas and offers of help and support. He was one of a kind."
Even the stories in Kaminsky's Wikipedia entry are impressive: He is known among computer security experts for his work on DNS cache poisoning, and for showing that the Sony Rootkit had infected at least 568,200 computers and for his talks at the Black Hat Briefings.
In June 2010, Kaminsky released Interpolique, a beta framework for addressing injection attacks such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting in a manner comfortable to developers.
On June 16, 2010, he was named by ICANN as one of the Trusted Community Representatives for the DNSSEC root.
"Dan was a force of nature," adds Marc Rogers on Twitter. "A hacker who saw not just 1 or 2 moves ahead but so many you sometimes wondered if he was playing the same game: I asked him for a demo. He brought a record turntable he used to move a VM forwards & backwards in time like a DJ scratching."
In later tweets, Rogers says he was proud that Kaminsky was his friend, adding "I could literally wrote a book of Dan Kaminsky tales. From shenanigans at events all over the world, to parties and just crazy stuff that happened at the spur of a moment. But most about his crazy brilliant kind generous ideas and offers of help and support. He was one of a kind."
Even the stories in Kaminsky's Wikipedia entry are impressive: He is known among computer security experts for his work on DNS cache poisoning, and for showing that the Sony Rootkit had infected at least 568,200 computers and for his talks at the Black Hat Briefings.
In June 2010, Kaminsky released Interpolique, a beta framework for addressing injection attacks such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting in a manner comfortable to developers.
On June 16, 2010, he was named by ICANN as one of the Trusted Community Representatives for the DNSSEC root.
"Dan was a force of nature," adds Marc Rogers on Twitter. "A hacker who saw not just 1 or 2 moves ahead but so many you sometimes wondered if he was playing the same game: I asked him for a demo. He brought a record turntable he used to move a VM forwards & backwards in time like a DJ scratching."
damn (Score:5, Informative)
Over the years I have been to several of his presentations at security conferences. He had a big impact on the industry and I throughly looked forward to hearing what he had to say.
I am sad to hear that he has passed.
Re:[expressing of extreme sadness] (Score:2)
Nice FP. I am glad it wasn't occupied by some troll with a crazy conspiracy theory.
Sounds like a nice guy who deserves to rest in peace, but I wish I felt that we had made (or were making) more progress towards solving the problems to which he dedicated his life.
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Speculation is now rampant (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: Speculation is now rampant (Score:2, Funny)
Yep. Autoerotic asphyxia it is, then.
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Exactly. If you want to discourage speculation, say RIP, share a good memory of the person, and ask people to give the family and/or friends privacy as they deal with the sudden passing. The wrong way to discourage speculation is to (a) start out "I guess there's no hiding it now" (!) and (b) continue with "Please keep speculation to yourself".
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Diabetic ketoacidosis
https://heavy.com/news/dan-kam... [heavy.com]
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RFC 2468 refresh (Score:5, Interesting)
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And I think everyone except the immediate relatives, police and courts should keep their nose out of a death.
He died. What is it to you HOW he died, I can't fathom.
It's like the fucking morbid fascination with politician's sex lives, who cares?
And just because you want to know, doesn't mean that ANYONE should ever tell you - anymore than a doctor should tell you everything on my medical record right now. Just because you die doesn't mean you lose the right for those records to remain private, whether you'
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I mean, that really depends on the answer to how he died, doesn't it? "Hey, 100 people just died up the road, and 200 were hospitalized. PRIVACY PLEASE, DON'T ASK WHAT HAPPENED!"
It literally means just that [wikipedia.org]. Only living people have rights.
Re: The vaccine killed him. SAY IT (Score:2)
Okay okay I will!
Ketoacidosis!
There, I said it..
Re: speculation (Score:1)
Butt sex hasn't killed anyone but Mr. Hands.
You should try it sometime! No, it don't "make" you gay, unless you do it with a guy and like it when sober. Otherwise imagine how gay rubbing a dick (your dick) would make you. :P
But yeah, something they are ashamed of.
And I think they should not be.
Because we aren't implying it's his fault. (And even if...)
Telling us what caused it, is a teaching than will help us avoid the same fate. Then at least his death had a little bit of a good effect.
Re: Kaminsky (Score:3)
It's a Slav name, you jealous loser with the failed life.
How about you find a better scapegoat to fuck with. Like your mothersister.
Echo through eternity (Score:1)
Re: It's like Marc is trying to attract animosity. (Score:2)
No, this has nothing to do with "the right words". But with prejudice against us. Hint: One can be grieving, and still be a dick.
I grant him that it was probably not intentional. But it's still not nice, and not good for him to imply these things in other people by default.
It's like if I had just lost my young wife, and while telling you, would also tell you "Please don't rape her corpse". ...
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LP? 33&1/3 or, 78,45... (Score:1)
Richard Stevens Also (Score:2)
While none (?) of us know the cause of his death, and to many of us it would be interesting, I'd say the only people who have a /right/ to know would be his family.
Does anybody remember, about 20 years ago, the legendary (W.) Richard Stevens passed away, apparently suddenly, and the family asked that the details of his death be kept private. (His books and writing on TCP/IP and Unix programming are IMO hands-down the best-ever on the subject.) In general, that fuels speculation that it was something hu
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OK, so bringing up speculation was unnecessary then, because there's no reason to speculate, and even if we did, just what kind of speculation do people think will spring up knowing the man's current reputation? Is their something we're NOT suppose to be drawing attention to? Like the Streisand Effect.
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>While none (?) of us know the cause of his death
He died from Diabetic Ketoacidosis.
Kaminsky was 42 years old. (Score:5, Informative)
Kaminsky was 42 years old, that article says.
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Security Researcher Dan Kaminsky Passes Away [securityweek.com] (Apr. 24, 2021) Kaminsky was 42 years old, that article says.
Lost way too young.
Loved his humor during the DEFCON talks. We'll miss you Dan. RIP.
Damn this year just keeps on hitting.
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> Kaminsky is also credited with amplifying the severity of the SONY rootkit infections back in 2005.
Not the most fortunate way of describing his involvement.
*What* did he die of? (Score:2)
You forgot the most important part!
Also: Just say he died. Euphemisms just make you sound dishonest and manipulative and downplaying it in a non-respectful way.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Re: *What* did he die of? (Score:1)
You misspelled Ketoacidosis.
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I had the privilege of working with him (Score:3, Interesting)
"I could literally wrote a book"? (Score:4, Funny)
If you decide to do so, I'd suggest you hook up with a really good editor.
Dan Cracked DNS at the Root !! (Score:3)
Think about /that/ motherfuckers! http://www.root-dnssec.org/tcr... [root-dnssec.org] Go look up a video of root signings ... in plexiglass rooms for full /literal/ transparency! This guy was trusted to sign root DNS! And he got there how? By cracking the DNS caches ... at the root layer!! ... Waking up his partner in the middle of the night ... "I just broke the Internet" ... Seattleite here ... To all who knew him ... Sending loves to you and yours ... :( ... maybe Jacob will post condolences too soon?
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From a statistical standpoint, this is the most likely. There is a stigma with mental illness that doesn’t come with a traffic accident or falling off a ladder.