Posted on 06/26/2013 5:56:33 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A former cybersecurity advisor to President George W. Bush says a sophisticated computer hack could have been the cause of the automobile accident that claimed the life of journalist Michael Hastings last week in Los Angeles.
Richard Clarke, a State Department official-turned-special advisor to several United States presidents, said the early morning auto crash last Tuesday was "consistent with a car cyberattack,” raising new questions about the death of the award-winning journalist.
Hastings died last week when his 2013 Mercedes C250 coupe collided with a tree in Los Angeles, California on the morning of June 18. He was reportedly traveling at a high rate of speed and failed to stop at a red light moments before the single-car crash. He was only 33.
Speaking to Huffington Post this week, Clarke said that a cyberattack waged at the vehicle could have caused the fatal collision.
"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."
"So if there were a cyberattack on the car — and I'm not saying there was," Clarke continued, "I think whoever did it would probably get away with it."
The Los Angeles Police Department said they don’t expect foul play was involved in the crash, but an investigation has been opened nonetheless.
In an email reportedly sent by Hastings hours before the crash, he told colleagues that he thought he was the target of a federal investigation.
“Hey [redacted}, the Feds are interviewing my ‘close friends and associates,’” Hastings wrote 15 hours before the crash.
“Also: I’m onto a big story, and need to go off the rada[r] for a bit,” he added. “All the best, and hope to see you all soon.”
The email was supplied to KTLA News in Los Angeles by Staff Sgt. Joseph Biggs, who says he met Hastings while the journalist was embedded in Afghanistan in 2008. It was reportedly send to a handful of Hastings’ associates and was blind-copied to Biggs.
“I just said it doesn’t seem like him. I don’t know, I just had this gut feeling and it just really bothered me,” Biggs told KTLA.
Reporters at Buzzfeed where Hastings worked say they received an email from their colleague, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a statement two days after Hastings’ death to quash rumors that they had been looking into the reporter.
“At no time was Michael Hastings under investigation by the FBI,” FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.
According to the Associated Press, however, Hastings’ fingerprints were on file with the FBI and were used by the bureau to identify his body after flames consumed much the auto wreckage last week.
"I believe the FBI when they say they weren't investigating him," Clarke told the Huffington Post. "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," he said. "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 cyberattack. And the problem with that is you can't prove it."
Clarke, 62, spent nearly two decades at the Pentagon before relocating to the White House where he served under President Ronald Reagan and both Presidents Bush. He served as special advisor to President George W. Bush on cybersecurity until leaving the administration in 2003 and is currently the chairman and CEO of Good Harbor Security Risk Management, LLC.
Still don’t know why you couldn’t just turn off the key...
I think he cracked and committed suicide.
I already explained on another thread why this isn’t likely due to the way automotive control systems are designed. Of course FReepers believe any crap science that gets posted, unless it’s global warming. So live in fear of your Benz, if that’s what you believe. THere are infinitely more plausible explanations for this.
Have any of you all heard of “Onstar”? If they can GPS your location, turn your vehicle off or SLOW it down, then I’m sure with a little bit twiddling they could hack into a car’s system and have it do what they want. In fact, the Prius stuck accelerator fiasco may have just been practice.
Hastings sent that email saying “I’m going off the radar for a while.”
At 4am what compass direction was he traveling?
Was he rushing to LAX airport to catch a flight out of town around 6 or 7am?
Didn’t Wikileaks announce “Hastings contacted us the day he died?” Perhaps Hastings was headed to meet them in a foreign city, where he’d be “off the radar.”
The Ostapo could’ve bombed him or droned him in a hurry, since once he’s in the airport, they’d have to poison him or something “subtle.” Chasing him across the USA/Europe is difficult compared to LA.
Plus, the Marxists apparently control the LA Coroner office, since they got away with killing Breitbart AND arsenic-poisoning the damn Coroner Tech (Michael Cormier) who dropped dead within hours of his office releasing the Breitbart autopsy report to the public.
No updates on “arsenic-poisoned Coroner” folks? I guess that’s an everyday event. Won’t see that story on Unsolved Mysteries anytime soon.
Some witness said the Hastings car suddenly fishtailed. They could’ve remotely locked one front wheel (via ABS) while opening the throttle all the way. That would cause a fishtail. Waiting until he was traveling 50 or 60 mph would make a crash likely.
But instead of all this “NSA hacking the engine-management chip” stuff, any jackass could just stick some explosives in the dashboard and then trigger via remote control if Hastings made a move (like calling Wikileaks then rushing toward the airport) that NSA didn’t feel would brush Obama’s magic carpet the right way.
My friend in LA dropped a crapload of cash to purchase a 2007 Benz 500 SL.
The brakes failed while driving the curves on Mulholland.
She somehow drove off/up into a runoff area.
1-2 years later, she gets a similar Benz and trades that one in.
Guess what? The brakes on the new (similar) Benz failed in exactly the same way.
I think they’re brake-by-wire (electronic).
I told her to stop buying Benzes.
Easy, bluetooth.
My 1984 Benz is an early 70’s design, when computers filled whole rooms.
I'm not a hacker but I suspect the key turn-off could be overriden. For example, in my truck with the key turned off, the windows and be rolled up and down, the radio still works, etc. UNTIL I lift the door handle. Then everything goes dead.
If the Benz had the equivalent of OnStar, that could provide access via wireless. We've all heard the OnStar commercials where the doors are unlocked via a wireless command.
Up thread there was some speculation about how the hacker could steer the car. The hacker doesn't need to. Kill the brakes. Turn off the airbag. Invoke maximum acceleration. Who cares where the car goes? The driver is dead on impact with almost anything.
IMHO, doing this wirelessly is the hard way. Much easier to hack the computer to react to some event such as going over x miles per hour. The hack could have been done while the car was in a parking lot or garage.
“Still don’t know why you couldn’t just turn off the key...”
Most luxe cars nowadays have push-button starters. The key fob sits in your pocket and the ignition system senses that it’s in the car.
Hitting that “START” button doesn’t seem like a reliable way to switch off a hacked car.
“Much easier to hack the computer to react to some event such as going over x miles per hour. The hack could have been done while the car was in a parking lot or garage.”
Exactly, just set the throttle to go ballistic “When the car reaches 45mph.” The driver will naturally steer to avoid obstacles as long as possible.... meanwhile the car continues to gain speed under full acceleration....
...until he runs out of road or approaches a turn he can’t make b/c he’s reached 80mph.
The odds of Hastings contacting Wikileaks, saying he’s going “off the radar,” then dying in a fiery car crash on the SAME DAY are extremely remote.
That’s about as likely as Soetoro being a Christian.
I’ve three so far. All fantastic. No problems. Best safety record and the interior and exterior luxury exquisite.
That was sure fast.
Compare that to FBI Director Robert Mueller's Congressional testimony regarding the IRS attacks on Conservatives where he seemingly didn't even know his own name five weeks after the fact.
This article includes description and patent numbers for a system that would move the engine under the floor and pedals. Note that it doesn't describe launching the engine at an unsuspecting public. I can imagine the slip and fall lawyers licking their lips over the possibilities.
In the real world of electricity, power systems, and the maintenance thereof, a mechanical disconnection means is necessary with a visible opening that can be manipulated and locked in the open/off position before something is considered "off" or de-energized. That ought to be a must on a vehicle.
I also have a car with a pushbutton start. Suppose it could be hacked by a pro, and I suppose that it could make things a bit dangerous (to say the least). I'm not expecting it, but it ought to be something that car manufacturers are cognizant of.
Not if the NSA is tracking the calls and internet activity.
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