Log In Join HuffPost
ENTERTAINMENT
Was Michael Hastings' Car Hacked?
Richard Clarke Says It's Possible
By Mike Hogan
06/24/2013 06:03pm EDT | Updated June 26, 2013
The peculiar circumstances of journalist Michael Hastings' death in Los
Angeles last week have unleashed a wave of conspiracy theories.
Now there's another theory to contribute to the paranoia: According to a
prominent security analyst, technology exists that could've allowed
someone to hack his car. Former U.S. National Coordinator for Security,
Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-terrorism Richard Clarke told The
Huffington Post that what is known about the single-vehicle crash is
"consistent with a car cyber attack."
Clarke said, "There is reason to believe that intelligence agencies for
major powers" -- including the United States -- know how to remotely seize
control of a car.
"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 cyber attack on the car -- and I'm not saying there was,"
Clarke added, "I think whoever did it would probably get away with it."
Authorities have said that it may take weeks to determine a cause of
death for Hastings, but that no foul play is suspected.
Hastings was driving a 2013 Mercedes C250 coupe when he crashed into
a tree on Highland Ave. in Los Angeles at approximately 4:30 am on June
18. Video posted online showed the car in flames, and one neighbor told a
local news crew she heard a sound like an explosion. Another eyewitness Log In Join HuffPost
said the car's engine had been thrown 50 to 60 yards from the car. There
were no other vehicles involved in the accident.
The fire was so all-consuming that it took the Los Angeles County
coroner's office two days to identify Hastings' body, but Clarke said a
cyber attack on the vehicle would have been nearly impossible to trace
"even if the dozen or so computers on board hadn't melted."
Hastings practiced a brand of no-holds-barred journalism that tended to
anger powerful people. His 2010 profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal,
published in Rolling Stone, was so damaging that it ostensibly prompted
President Barack Obama to fire the general (the president denied that the
article had a role in his decision).
In the days before his death, Hastings was reportedly working on a story
about a lawsuit filed by Jill Kelley, who was involved in the scandal that
brought down Gen. David Petraeus, according to the LA Times. KTLA
reported that Hastings told colleagues at the news site BuzzFeed that he
feared the FBI was investigating him. On June 20, the FBI denied that any
investigation was under way.
"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."
Clarke worked for the State Department under President Ronald Reagan
and headed up counterterrorism efforts under Presidents George H.W.
Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He also served as a special adviser
on cyberterrorism to the younger Bush and published a book on the topic,
Cyber War, in 2010.
"I'm not a conspiracy guy. In fact, I've spent most of my life knocking down
conspiracy theories," said Clarke, who ran afoul of the second Bush
administration when he criticized the decision to invade Iraq after 9/11. "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."
Clarke said the Los Angeles Police Department likely wouldn't have the
expertise to trace such an attack. "I think you'd probably need the very
best of the U.S. government intelligence or law enforcement officials to
discover it."
Log In Join HuffPost
Mike Hogan
Digital Director, Vanity Fair
Suggest a correction
MICHAEL HASTINGS CAR ACCIDENT CYBERSECURITY
MICHAEL HASTINGS DEATH MICHAEL HASTINGS VIDEO
Popular in the Community
AdChoices Sponsored
WHAT'S HOT
Cruise Ship With COVID-19 Locked-Up 'Sullen' Crumbley Defiant California Parents Send Spread Your Wings: Vegas
Infections Arrives In New Family Showing No Remorse Child With COVID To Elementary Company Offers Tickets To Mile-
Orleans After School Shooting, Says School, Trigger Outbreak High Club
Sheriff
MORE IN ENTERTAINMENT
Gwyneth Paltrow Continues To Audiences Go For A Second 'Insecure' Producer Amy Aniobi 'Spider-Man: Across the
Log In
Spider-
Join HuffPost
Be Blissfully Unaware About Helping Of ‘Encanto' On How The Show Validates Verse’ Drops Dazzling First
Everything Marvel Black Women's Experiences Footage Of 2-Part Sequel
NEWS COMMUNITIES HUFFPOST FAQ HUFFPOST PRESS ROOM
POLITICS HUFFPOST PERSONAL
ABOUT US CAREERS PRIVACY POLICY
ADVERTISE ARCHIVE DMCA POLICY
ENTERTAINMENT VIDEO
CONTACT US USER AGREEMENT CONSENT PREFERENCES
LIFE NEWSLETTERS
RSS COMMENT POLICY DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
Part of HuffPost Entertainment. ©2021 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. The Huffington Post
