Str0ke (the guy who ran milw0rm) is dead? | Hacker News Reader

Str0ke (the guy who ran milw0rm) is dead?

bl4cksecurity.blogspot.com

53 pointsnrr22 comments

I'm not dead yet, just being trolled.

http://twitter.com/str0ke/status/5422531377

I'm not sure who's running things there (if anyone) but he had said he turned over duties to some friends. Milw0rm was (is?) a source of quality PoC exploit code, much of which was zero-day. For security research, it used to be a great resource. I, too, have noticed it hadn't been very active lately, so it's hard telling who (again, if anyone) is running things there.

Also, I haven't really seen any other posts about str0ke's death, other than ones linking to bl4cksecurity or mentions of it quite a while after the initial post there.

It's not that I would consider it a hoax, but it highlights one of the oddities of pseudonymous culture. First and foremost, I was under the impression he was in his late 20s from his profiles elsewhere on the web, and the link says he was born in '74. Again, pseudonymous culture means that data could be false, accounts could be impostors, etc.

I don't usually reply to my own comments, but just to point out a few examples of the F'd up things people do, including "making others dead over the Internet":

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=578260 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=909396 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=381095

"Dead, like rigor mortis, habeas corpus."

"Very impressive."

"Superhero-like, even!"

Right. If I win, you wear a dress on our date.

Is this his Twitter account? Apparently, not dead as of 22 min ago: http://twitter.com/Str0ke

That is, indeed, his twitter account. And people wonder why I'm so jaded and skeptical about stuff like this.

He's not dead. Or someone's got his account. Hard to tell really.

str0ke @ milw0rm has passed away due to cardiac arrest early this morning at 9:23 AM. We @ blacksecurity are deeply saddened by the loss of a good hearted friend.

At the risk (certainty?) of being downvoted, that's an interesting choice of words.

For those who don't know (I didn't), it appears milw0rm is a kind of exploits database:

http://www.milw0rm.com/

I had never heard of it before myself, but clearly some people had.

It was kind of the startup of the security world, and it became popular very fast. It required a working proof-of-concept (POC) for publishing - no pie in the sky text only stuff.

I can't see why you'd be downvoted. :) I'm reasonably certain that str0ke would have chuckled at that himself.

And, indeed, he might!

http://twitter.com/str0ke/status/5422531377

milw0rm is (or was) one of the first places I check each morning for new info. I was worried about the lack of updates - and this is sad news for both the security community and, obviously, str0ke's friends and family.

RIP.

I thought there was an announcement some time ago that he was done with milw0rm? Perhaps someone else has taken over already?

Yeh there was a lot of confusion (heh, how ironic :D) but I was under the impression he was still at the helm.

Might be wrong then.

RIP. It's good to know that a smart guy left four children to the world, so part of his essence will continue to live.

Thanks, antirez, for the nice thought.

Having children is sufficient, but not necessary for part of one's essence to continue to live. There are many great "DNA-less" ways to do this. For those without biological children, you can live on through hard work and good deeds that benefit others.

RIP.

Indeed thanks edw519 for adding this.

RIP :(

oh no :(

This is a sad day, RIP str0ke.

http://exploits.astalavista.com they have a new section that accepts submissions

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