Barnaby Jack

One of the world's best known computer hackers, who claimed to know how to remotely kill someone fitted with a heart pacemaker, has died suddenly at the age of just 35.

Barnaby Jack, a New Zealand-born computer whizz, shot to prominence in 2010 after demonstrating that he could hack ATM machines.

He was found dead at a San Francisco apartment late on Friday night. The cause of Mr Jack's death is still under investigation, according to the San Francisco coroner's office, however a police spokesman told Reuters they had ruled out foul play after people began voicing suspicions over his death on social media.

His sudden death came just days before he was due to deliver a much-anticipated talk to the annual Black Hat security convention in Las Vegas, demonstrating how he could hack human pacemakers, potentially killing a person from 30 feet away.

Thursday's planned talk, entitled "Hacking Humans", echoed the hit US TV drama "Homeland," where terrorists kill the vice president by hacking into his heart device, and was typical of the flamboyant style of Mr Jack, who was always careful to ensure that his secrets did not fall into malicious hands.