Kelly Lum, higher identified in hacking circles as Aloria, handed away on Sunday.
Aloria was a veteran of the cybersecurity neighborhood, particularly the one in New York, her house for a few years. The Twitter account of the New York Metropolis safety convention SummerCon introduced her loss of life on Monday, prompting a seemingly countless record of individuals to publicly mourn her loss and pay tribute to her life.
Individuals who knew her name her an “angel,” an “unimaginable girl,” “so prickly and darkish and humorous, and but heat and welcoming,” “sensible, sharp, deeply witty […] a daring adventurer, a sort soul,” “one of many funniest, kindest and most sincere folks” on Twitter, “distinctive and memorable,” “a legend […] sensible, beneficiant, hilarious,” the “the archetypal hacker, each technical and unconventional within the non-technical,” “type and welcoming,” somebody whose “magic was making us all really feel seen & appreciated simply as we have been,” an “inspiration,” “the height of authentic content material, an actual character,” and somebody who “really did change stuff for the higher.”
In keeping with the SummerCon official Twitter account, “Kelly didn’t take her personal life, however handed as a result of progressed important sickness, in a hospitalized setting surrounded by her household.”
Aloria was 41, and she or he’s survived by her husband.
Some folks bear in mind her for her qualities as an individual, and for her contributions to hacking tradition, greater than for her technical talents, though she was very educated and a outstanding cybersecurity skilled.
“I really feel like Aloria represented what the infosec business is at its finest: performing incredible feats of problem-solving with playfulness, ingenuity, and authenticity. She was an business legend and a trailblazer, however I don’t assume she ever noticed herself that approach,” stated Kelly Shortridge, who knew her for greater than a decade as each she and Aloria have been a part of the New York Metropolis hacking scene. “In contrast to most safety luminaries, she truly lived her life as to what fulfilled her relatively than what inflated her ego. She was beneficiant and the antithesis of a gatekeeper; she welcomed me within the business when few others did.”
Zach Lanier, who knew her for greater than a decade, stated she was like “a sibling” to him, and considered one of his finest mates. When he and Aloria lived in New York Metropolis on the similar time within the early 2010s, they might have a practice of going out with different cybersecurity people each Thursday, first to a Mexican restaurant in Union Sq., the place they might order “too many tacos and margaritas,” after which to a karaoke bar.
Aloria cherished to sing Separate Methods by Journey. The 2 would additionally sing Forgot About Dre, with Aloria singing Dr. Dre’s components, and Lanier singing Eminem’s components, Lanier stated.
“She would nail it and knock it out of the park each time,” he stated.
“You don’t wish to go after her as a result of it’s like: ‘Oh, God, how do I comply with that up?’ It’s as in case your opening act is knowledgeable and you might be an newbie,” stated one other buddy of Kelly who works in cybersecurity, who requested to not be named as his firm doesn’t enable him to talk to the press.
Her loss of life, Lanier stated, is especially tragic as a result of from his perspective, “she discovered a semblance of happiness that I had not seen for some time.”
“She was the happiest she’s ever been,” stated Erik Cabetas, one other veteran of the New York cybersecurity scene who knew her since 2009.
A meme memorial made by Erik Cabetas. “She would have notably favored this,” he stated pointing at Clippy.
Katie Moussouris, who additionally knew her for greater than a decade, highlighted the truth that Aloria had been a part of the cybersecurity business for round 20 years — one of many few ladies to have accomplished so. Aside from her technical qualities as a hacker and cybersecurity skilled, Moussouris stated that Aloria “was so giving not simply together with her time, however her spirit. Something she may share that may assist an individual she would, and she or he did.”
“She was only a lovely tortured soul,” Moussouris stated. “Her complete existence and all the pieces that she gave to everyone — I used to be like: how does she even have it left given her struggles?”
Aloria typically talked brazenly about having bipolar dysfunction, a continual — and sometimes misunderstood — situation that I additionally undergo from. It’s unimaginable to quantify one thing like this, however having somebody so outstanding and well-known within the cybersecurity scene speak so brazenly about psychological well being most likely impressed and helped so many individuals overcome the stigma that psychological well being points, notably bipolar dysfunction, sadly nonetheless carry.
“I’ve been making an attempt to elucidate away stigma, and it form of occurred to me that that’s not the way you erase stigma. I undergo from Bipolar II dysfunction and I’m additionally a a number of suicide try survivor,” she stated in a 2016 video. “You don’t rationalize away stigma, you’ll be able to erase it by being a constructive instance of somebody who has gone by means of these items and are available out on high, being profitable at overcoming the challenges that they’re confronted with.”
“If there hadn’t been a lot stigma related to bipolar dysfunction I might need been recognized earlier,” she continued, explaining that she was solely recognized not too long ago, regardless of struggling together with her psychological well being for a very long time. “And I wouldn’t have needed to spend 20 years struggling and changing into hopeless as a result of I didn’t assume there was an answer for me.”
“My life now’s — I’m not gonna say it’s excellent. I nonetheless have darkish days however I’ve accomplished so many superb issues, traveled to some superior nations, have superior mates, flew a aircraft as soon as,” she stated. “It’s a protracted onerous street forward generally, however that doesn’t imply that the journey isn’t going someplace, and it isn’t worthwhile.”
An image of Aloria sporting a humorous t-shirt.
Lanier stated that Aloria “was all the time very useful… she all the time wished to assist folks,” by being open and sincere about her personal psychological well being struggles.
Matthew Bischoff, a former Tumblr product and engineering supervisor, who labored with Aloria on the social media community, stated that Aloria’s “potential to meme nearly something will persist with me for a really very long time.”
“Her humorousness, dedication to doing the precise factor for customers, and fierce advocacy for the causes she believed in have been all vastly impactful on me and my profession,” they stated.
Whereas at Tumblr, Aloria advocated for turning on HTTPS by default on the positioning, which might make customers’ connections to the positioning extra non-public and safe. The well-known Twitter person SwiftOnSecurity wrote that her “pushing HTTPS and LetsEncrypt at such a large running a blog platform had actual waves throughout the business.”
“She was additionally an unsung hero, and a whole lot of issues she did, she didn’t actually prefer to broadcast. I feel that’s true of a whole lot of — particularly ladies within the safety neighborhood,” her nameless buddy stated. “Due to how unfair the safety neighborhood might be, I feel a whole lot of ladies are hesitant to face out.”
“Many individuals know her for her iconic retro computing swag, [the meme account] Infosec Reactions, and different cultural contributions to infosec however she wrecked many methods. In truth, I think her humility relative to her friends is why her fierce exploitation prowess was not talked about as typically,” Shortridge stated. “She may deftly navigate compromising methods in addition to defending them, and her views have been all the time well-reasoned relatively than self-serving — once more in distinction to a lot of her friends.”
Cabetas stated that Aloria was an incredible hacker, but in addition requested me to “let folks know that she was in regards to the lulz.”
Certainly, she was. In her spare time, Aloria maintained the hilarious Twitter parody account “Infosec Reactions,” 3D printed issues like a pickle with Nicholas Cage’s face, collected foolish t-shirts and hats, traveled the world — Lanier stated she set foot on all continents, together with Antarctica — and took lovely photos that she would submit on her Instagram and Tumblr.
And, in fact, she was a formidable karaoker.
