HuffPo | 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 said the car's engine had been thrown 50 to 60 yards
from the car. There were no other vehicles involved in the accident.
