Security News > 2021 > April > Computer security world in mourning over death of Dan Kaminsky, aged 42

Celebrated information security researcher Dan Kaminsky, known not just for his technical ability but also for his compassion and support for those in his industry, has died.

Though Kaminsky rose to fame in 2008 for identifying a critical design weakness in the internet's infrastructure - and worked in secret with software developers to mitigate the issue before it could be easily exploited - he had worked behind the scenes in the infosec world for at least the past two decades.

When your Register hack asked Kaminsky why he hadn't gone to the dark side and used the flaw to become immensely wealthy - either by exploiting it to hijack millions of netizens' web traffic, or by selling details of it to the highest bidders - he said not only would that have been morally wrong, he didn't want his mom to have to visit him in prison.

DEF CON April 24, 2021 Dan Kaminsky was one of our best and kindest.

It's hard to meet a person in the computer security field for whom everyone has a good word, and Kaminsky was one of the few.

There is now a move to see Kaminsky inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/04/25/dan_kaminsky_obituary/