Adrian Lamo, a hacker known for his high-profile breaches of the New York Times, Microsoft and Yahoo, has died, according to his family. He was 37 years old.
Adrian Lamo, centre, walks out of a courthouse in Fort Meade, Md., Tuesday, 20 December 2011, after testifying at a military hearing. Photo: Patrick Semansky (AP)
“With great sadness and a broken heart I have to let know all of Adrian’s friends and acquittances that he is dead. A bright mind and compassionate soul is gone, he was my beloved son,” his father, Mario Lamo, wrote in a Facebook post.
The county coroner for the area in Kansas where Lamo lived confirmed his death to ZDNet. The cause of death is not known.
Lamo was also known for his role in the prosecution of Chelsea Manning – Lamo reported her to the authorities after she told him she had sent military information to WikiLeaks. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison, a sentence later commuted by President Barack Obama.
In 2004, Lamo was sentenced for hacking into the New York Times, where he added his name to a list of expert sources, as well as several major tech companies. Lamo wasn’t shy about announcing his role in the breaches – he routinely reported security flaws to the companies he hacked.