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.<\/p>\n
\n Richard Clarke, a State Department official-turned-special
\n advisor to several United States presidents, said the early
\n morning auto crash last Tuesday was “consistent with a car
\n cyberattack<\/i>,\u201d raising new questions about the death of the
\n award-winning journalist.\n<\/p>\n
\n Hastings died last week when his 2013 Mercedes C250 coupe
\n collided with a tree in Los Angeles, California on the morning of
\n June 18. He was reportedly traveling at a high rate of speed and
\n failed to stop at a red light moments before the single-car
\n crash. He was only 33.\n<\/p>\n
\n Speaking to Huffington Post this week, Clarke said that a
\n cyberattack waged at the vehicle could have caused the fatal
\n collision.\n<\/p>\n
\n “What has been revealed as a result of some research at
\n universities is that it’s relatively easy to hack your way into
\n the control system of a car, and to do such things as cause
\n acceleration when the driver doesn’t want acceleration, to throw
\n on the brakes when the driver doesn’t want the brakes on, to
\n launch an air bag<\/i>,” Clarke told The Huffington Post. “You
\n can do some really highly destructive things now, through hacking
\n a car, and it’s not that hard<\/i>.”\n<\/p>\n
\n “So if there were a cyberattack on the car \u2013 and I’m not
\n saying there was<\/i>,” Clarke continued, “I think whoever did
\n it would probably get away with it<\/i>.”\n<\/p>\n
\n The Los Angeles Police Department said they don\u2019t expect foul
\n play was involved in the crash, but an investigation has been
\n opened nonetheless.
\n <\/p>\n
\n In an email reportedly sent by Hastings hours before the crash,
\n he told colleagues that he thought he was the target of a federal
\n investigation.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHey [redacted}, the Feds are interviewing my \u2018close friends
\n and associates<\/i>,\u2019\u201d Hastings wrote 15 hours before the crash.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cAlso: I\u2019m onto a big story, and need to go off the rada[r]
\n for a bit<\/i>,\u201d he added. \u201cAll the best, and hope to see you
\n all soon<\/i>.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n The email was supplied to KTLA News in Los Angeles by Staff Sgt.
\n Joseph Biggs, who says he met Hastings while the journalist was
\n embedded in Afghanistan in 2008. It was reportedly send to a
\n handful of Hastings\u2019 associates and was blind-copied to Biggs.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI just said it doesn\u2019t seem like him. I don\u2019t know, I just
\n had this gut feeling and it just really bothered me<\/i>,\u201d Biggs
\n told KTLA.\n<\/p>\n
\n Reporters at Buzzfeed where Hastings worked say they received an
\n email from their colleague, but the Federal Bureau of
\n Investigation issued a statement two days after Hastings\u2019 death
\n to quash rumors that they had been looking into the reporter.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cAt no time was Michael Hastings under investigation by the
\n FBI<\/i>,\u201d FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.\n<\/p>\n
\n According to the Associated Press, however, Hastings\u2019
\n fingerprints were on file with the FBI and were used by the
\n bureau to identify his body after flames consumed much the auto
\n wreckage last week.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I believe the FBI when they say they weren’t investigating
\n him<\/i>,” Clarke told the Huffington Post. “That was very
\n unusual, and I’m sure they checked very carefully before they
\n said that<\/i>.”\n<\/p>\n
\n “I’m not a conspiracy guy. In fact, I’ve spent most of my life
\n knocking down conspiracy theories<\/i>,” he said. “But my rule
\n has always been you don’t knock down a conspiracy theory until
\n you can prove it [wrong]. And in the case of Michael Hastings,
\n what evidence is available publicly is consistent with a car
\n cyberattack. And the problem with that is you can’t prove
\n it<\/i>.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Clarke, 62, spent nearly two decades at the Pentagon before
\n relocating to the White House where he served under President
\n Ronald Reagan and both Presidents Bush. He served as special
\n advisor to President George W. Bush on cybersecurity until
\n leaving the administration in 2003 and is currently the chairman
\n and CEO of Good Harbor Security Risk Management, LLC.\n<\/p>\n