They're not even TRYING to hide it any more

Back in the 1960s, when the spooks killed highly visible people, they came up with elaborate schemes involving red herrings and patsies and controlled investigations and fake documents and big steaming buckets of disinfo. But nowadays, they're not even trying to hide what they're up to. American intel wants the world to get the message loud and clear: "Yeah, it's true. We kill people who annoy us. What are you gonna do about it?"

Case in point: The strange death (at 35) of superhacker Barnaby Jack, the man who made ATMs spew out cash the way Linda Blair spewed pea soup.

A computer hacker who gained cult status across the internet after revealing how to hack cash machines has been found a week before he was due to demonstrate how to kill someone by hacking their pacemaker.

The body of Barnaby Jack was found in San Francisco yesterday. The city's medical examiner's office would not give any further details.

We're talking about a guy who, to judge from his photos, seemed quite young and fit. If a coroner says anything about natural causes or suicide -- well, just remember the case of CIA man John Paisley, who was fished out of Chesapeake Bay in 1978; his body was tied up and he had a bullet hole behind his left ear. The coroner ruled that one a suicide as well -- even though Paisley was right-handed.

Back to Jack:

He was due to appear at the Black Hat hacking convention in San Francisco next week, demonstrating how he could attack heart devices.

He had claimed he had developed techniques for attacking implanted heart devices that could kill a man from 30 feet away.

It should be understood that Jack did not himself seek to kill people. He sought to warn the world that such things were very real.

Here's more, via Reuters:

The New Zealand-born Jack, 35, was found dead on Thursday evening by "a loved one" at an apartment in San Francisco's Nob Hill neighborhood, according to a police spokesman. He would not say what caused Jack's death but said police had ruled out foul play.

Looks like we have another Paisley. Or maybe this one will be more Ferrie-esque, complete with suicide note(s). Here's one final squib, from the San Jose Mercury-News:

Barnaby Jack died on Thursday, although the cause of death is still under investigation, San Francisco Deputy Coroner Kris Barbrich said. Craig Brophy, a spokesman for computer security firm IOActive, Inc., where Jack worked, confirmed his death and said the company would be issuing a statement.

Cynics may suggest that Kris is sending a message to Uncle: "You'll get your suicide verdict just as soon as the checks clear."

Michael Hastings. Barnaby Jack. Barrett Brown. Bradley Manning. Julian Assange. Ed Snowden. The members of Anonymous. 

There's a war going on. It's the cyber version of Prince John's armies versus the men of Sherwood Forest.

Remember what I've always said: Although anyone who loves peace must despise the very idea of revolution, the threat of revolution is the only thing that has ever kept any government honest. Therefore, any technology that makes rebellion impossible also makes tyranny inevitable.

Quite obviously, the government has declared war on anyone who hopes to warn the public that this technology is coming. Is here.

Added note: In a comment, a reader chides me for leaving out Aaron Swartz -- "prosecuted to death." Just so.

Back to Barnaby: Ya think they're going to try to sell the public on an auto-erotic asphixiation narrative? That would allow the Breitbarters to fill the internet with stories about sexaholic Dems...

Side note: If you Google the terms IOActive and NSA, you'll be directed to this IOActive blog entry, which details a Windows vulnerability that allows intelligence agencies to gain elevated privileges on your computer.

I don’t know why Microsoft continues using MD5; it has been banned by Microsoft SDL since 2005 and it seems there has been some component oversight or these components have been built without following SDL guidance. Who knows on what other functionality MD5 continues to be used by Microsoft, allowing abuse by intelligence agencies.

Perhaps Barnaby Jack also planned to talk about that stuff during his "heart stopping" demonstration.