It’s a tragic commentary on the times in which we live that well-known security researcher Dan Kaminsky died of diabetes-related complications this week—and his family had to put out a statement to correct conspiracy theorists who were suggesting the COVID-19 vaccine was the cause. “While his passing was sudden and unexpected for us, Dan struggled for years with diabetes and was even recently hospitalized because of it,” his niece tweeted. “This tragedy has nothing to do with COVID-19 vaccination and unfortunately everything to do with diabetic ketoacidosis.”

On April 12, Kaminsky tweeted that he got his second vaccination. That was all it took for COVID-19 deniers and vaccine skeptics to start a baseless whisper campaign that the shots might be the cause. His niece, Sarah, took to Twitter to set the record straight. “I think Dan would laugh at the idea of conspiracy theorists promoting anti-vax propaganda through his death, but as his family, it hurts us to see his death being used to spread lies about a vaccine that he had full faith in. But like Dan always said to me, they’re all just noise. So I am going to take his advice, ignore the trolls and respectfully ask the internet community to please give my family peace and privacy as we try to navigate a world without Daniel.”