Posted on 06/25/2013 1:40:40 PM PDT by KosmicKitty
Former U.S. National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-terrorism Richard Clarke told The Huffington Post on Monday that the fatal crash of journalist Michael Hastings’ Mercedes C250 coupe last week is “consistent with a car cyber attack.”
“There is reason to believe that intelligence agencies for major powers” — including the United States — know how to remotely seize control of a car,” Clarke said.
On Saturday, Infowars.com posted a video of a talk presented by Dr. KathleenFisher, a program manager for DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technologies. Fisher admitted that the Pentagon has researched remotely controlling cars through hacking on board computers.
In 2011, Car and Driver magazine published an article substantiating the Pentagon research. “Currently, there’s nothing to stop anyone with malicious intent and some computer-programming skills from taking command of your vehicle. After gaining access, a hacker could control everything from which song plays on the radio to whether the brakes work,” writes Keith Barry, citing research conducted by the Center for Automotive Embedded Systems Security, a partnership between the University of California San Diego and the University of Washington.
“What has been revealed as a result of some research at universities is that it’s relatively easy to hack your way into the control system of a car, and to do such things as cause acceleration when the driver doesn’t want acceleration, to throw on the brakes when the driver doesn’t want the brakes on, to launch an air bag,” Clarke told The Huffington Post. “You can do some really highly destructive things now, through hacking a car, and it’s not that hard.”
Clarke was careful not to directly implicate the government in hacking Hastings’ car. “So if there were a cyber attack on the car — and I’m not saying there was,” he said, “I think whoever did it would probably get away with it.”
He also put credence in the FBI’s claim – despite claims to the contrary by associates of the writer – that the agency was not investigating him. “I believe the FBI when they say they weren’t investigating him,” said Clarke. “That was very unusual, and I’m sure they checked very carefully before they said that.”
“I’m not a conspiracy guy. In fact, I’ve spent most of my life knocking down conspiracy theories,” said Clarke. “But my rule has always been you don’t knock down a conspiracy theory until you can prove it [wrong]. And in the case of Michael Hastings, what evidence is available publicly is consistent with a car cyber attack. And the problem with that is you can’t prove it.”
Despite the overwhelming evidence that Michael Hastings was targeted and assassinated for his journalism – most notably his story resulting in the fall of Gen. Stanley McChrystal and remarks on NSA surveillance – the establishment media continues to portray the attack on Hastings as the delusional meanderings of conspiracy theorists. Clarke’s comments serve as the latest pièce de résistance in an unfolding drama revealing just how far the government will go to silence critics and truth tellers.
Prior to his murder, Hastings said the Obama administration had declared war on the press. His desire to go into hiding – expressed in an email mere hours before his assassination – demonstrates the ability of the government to monitor opponents by using a well-developed NSA surveillance grid and take executive action against investigative journalists and others who dare to stand up to the national security state.
I’m a firm believer in Occum’s Razor - the simplest answer is most likely the correct answer.
But from what I’ve been reading about Hastings in the weeks before the accident and the descriptions of the accident itself, the simplest answer does seem to be that someone wanted Hastings gone, permanently.
But if it's possible, why wouldn't it be done in a way that would evoke less suspicion?
And, if it is possible remotely control someone's car, that doesn't mean it's possible to ensure an outcome like the one in this case.
My Scion FRS really helps you keep from getting in trouble when you try to drift. But the REALLY cool thing is that with a push of a button you turn the whole system off and drift to your heart’s content.
You gotta know what you’re doing though. You CAN get in trouble with that system turned off.
I’m a firm believer in Occum’s Razor - the simplest answer is most likely the correct answer.
But from what I’ve been reading about Hastings in the weeks before the accident and the descriptions of the accident itself, the simplest answer does seem to be that someone wanted Hastings gone, permanently.
“Also today Hastings wife tweeted he was NOT working on the story abbout Kelly/Petraeus.”
Right, it was probably bigger - much bigger, to result in his being whacked like this.
Yes, yes he is. And a biased buffoon at that.
But I wouldn't throw away what he says with out some consideration first.
Hastings accident looks like someone who was determined to end their life. But I haven't seen anything about Hastings that would peg him as suicidal in the time before the accident.
I do see actions by Hastings that could have pissed people off. Maybe he just pissed off the wrong people.
If you’re going to kill someone for political reasons, I’d think you’d want it to be quite and deniable. You’d inject him with flu and pneumonia. You’d create a gas leak in his house and spark it with an old appliance. At the very least you’d do the old hit and run. You don’t do something spectacular. If you do, then you’re sending all sorts of messages. In Russia, a high value industrialist was killed with radioactive cesium in his telephone head set. Now, how many people can obtain or safely handle radioactive cesium? Only somebody government connected. So, that not only killed the guy, but sent a valuable message to others who might be inclined to not tow the line.
Who would “they” want to send a message to? Other journalists? What, there’s somebody threatening to publish Obama’s hidden records? Other journalists would kill them first.
I’ll buy into the possibility his car was remotely controlled and possibly involving a drone overhead. Entirely plausible.
Maybe Hastings got Breitbarted.
Indeed. Hold on to those old cars, free of electronics.
Yep, I am thinking my Land Rover Defender is a keeper.
PLus, I can run it on fuel oil or cooking oil.
The Good Guys hacked the hacker and prevented a “Hastings”. ; )
Exactly
With all the safety features in today's modern car, this inferno seems unlikely.
When starting with the assumption that conspiracy theories are true until proven otherwise, there is no more argument.
Meanwhile, the rest of reality demands extraordinary proof for extraordinary claims.
“When starting with the assumption that conspiracy theories are true until proven otherwise, there is no more argument.”
A Russian friend told me, “You can’t have a conspiracy in America. Nobody here can keep a secret. They all want everybody to know that they’re important enough to be in on a secret. So, book deal, movie deal, 15 minutes of fame.”
Maybe to silence other journalist or anyone critical..
Exactly.
Too many odd events. yes, it’s possible that they are all just coincidences, but the changes of that keep declining with every coincidental event that occurs
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