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Michael Hastings Sent Panicked Email Hours Before Car Crash

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Re: Michael Hastings Sent Panicked Email Hours Before Car Crash

#11
post #3

Anybody read through http://www.autosec.org/pubs/cars-usenixsec2011.pdf already? My car-tech knowledge is way to rudimentary to get a better idea on that stuff.

Well, page 6 sounds a lot like the mysterious magic car openers the police have been seeing (compromise the CAN bus through wireless device exploits, use CAN to unlock the doors).

[From the PDF:] To be clear, for every vulnerability we demonstrate, we are able to obtain complete control over the vehicle’s systems.

The latest Fast and Furious movie employes magnetically attached exploit devices that lock the ABS system on a single wheel at speed, causing the car to immediately pull hard in that direction. With an available attack vector, it's depressingly easy.

Re: Michael Hastings Sent Panicked Email Hours Before Car Crash

#14

Another possibility is that he had a nervous breakdown or substance abuse episode, leading to both the paranoid emails and the irrational vehicle operations. Obviously I'm not saying that's the case, but the extremely irrational driving goes fits a theory of paranoid delusions (brought on by any number of mechanisms), just as the hacked car system goes with about to uncover something big.

This first question that comes to mind is what was he doing driving at 4:30 in the morning.

His friends describe him as a "grandma diver" so why was he driving so fast and blowing red lights on a residential street? Did he ever display this type of behaviour before?

Another question is.. how does a well made car burst into flames so quickly.

Re: Michael Hastings Sent Panicked Email Hours Before Car Crash

#15

Another possibility is that he had a nervous breakdown or substance abuse episode, leading to both the paranoid emails and the irrational vehicle operations. Obviously I'm not saying that's the case, but the extremely irrational driving goes fits a theory of paranoid delusions (brought on by any number of mechanisms), just as the hacked car system goes with about to uncover something big.

I think given the fact that the US is literally Nazi Germany, it's pretty much assured that the US assassinated him for what he knew.

I'm so glad that these kind of pieces are being upvoted here so we can finally stop talking about all that technology bullshit.

Upvote on the left if you agree.

Re: Michael Hastings Sent Panicked Email Hours Before Car Crash

#16

Another possibility is that he had a nervous breakdown or substance abuse episode, leading to both the paranoid emails and the irrational vehicle operations. Obviously I'm not saying that's the case, but the extremely irrational driving goes fits a theory of paranoid delusions (brought on by any number of mechanisms), just as the hacked car system goes with about to uncover something big.

Yeah, we really don't know. But I'm extremely uncomfortable by the fact that foul play is a real possibility. We already know that the federal government is operating largely in secret and without regard to the law (their insistence that are indeed following their own secret set of laws doesn't provide me much solace). We already know that various press organizations have been wiretapped. I feel like I've woken up in…

I definitely already feel some sense of pause.

I remember reading this article when it came out; does anyone know if there have been any further developments in the case?

Re: Michael Hastings Sent Panicked Email Hours Before Car Crash

#17
post #2

"Hey [redacted] the Feds are interviewing my close friends and associates." So - who was interviewed? What questions were asked?

Yeah, that's what I'm wondering. I wonder if his editor was in the loop.

I read it wasn't about Jill Kelly... doesn't really narrow it down.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/michael-hastings-ji...

Re: Michael Hastings Sent Panicked Email Hours Before Car Crash

#18
How does a 2013 model Mercedes Benz with a five star ANCAP safety rating (the highest rating you can get) scoring 35.51 points scored out of 37 (an Australian car safety rating for reference) with more airbags than wheels (8 airbags for those of you playing at home including a curtain airbag that drops in-front of the passenger and driver protecting the head and upper-body from impacting anything) crash into a tree without there even being another vehicle involved?

The car has stability control, traction control, ABS, EBD, brake assist and three-point pre-tensioning seatbelts. If you've ever driven a modern BMW, Mercedes or any other premium European vehicle than you'd know it's impossible to crash these things unless you honestly wanted to crash them. I am pretty sure it has been standard on most cars in this price bracket for a while now to respond to impacts by shutting off fuel, disconnecting battery terminals and unlocking doors. It varies from model to model, but most premium cars react to emergencies by cutting off as many points of danger as possible. Something doesn't add up here.

Was he drunk? Was he poisoned with a cocktail of drugs that perhaps made him lose concentration and crash into a tree? A new 2013 Mercedes don't just malfunction and crash killing its occupants so easily. They build these cars to withstand a lot of impact, this isn't the movies, new cars don't just crash and explode on impact. You hear of gruesome accidents everyday in vehicles, but you rarely hear of them exploding, mangling in a ball of metal and plastic yes, but rarely exploding. Is there CCTV footage of the minutes before he crashed showing perhaps what happened?

Perhaps a recreation of the accident might help shed some light on what really happened. A computer simulation I am sure would be more than enough, coupled with CCTV footage and you should have a pretty close to accurate simulation of how it all went down and how the car would fare.

If the FBI were interviewing close friends and family, someone needs to come out at least dispelling the suggestion he went crazy or was suffering from paranoia. Because at present, there's nothing to suggest foul play other than speculation. And as usual, we all point fingers and call someone crazy when they claim the FBI is watching them and after all of this PRISM controversy, claims like that don't sound as crazy as they once did...

Re: Michael Hastings Sent Panicked Email Hours Before Car Crash

#19
while this story is about a week old and got lost in all this nsa nonsense, listen to what mr. hastings said before his death. even on tv.

i am german and i can tell you that a mercedes benz DOES NOT just blow up and spit its engine 100yd down the street. the car wasn't even really against the tree...

sometimes you just need to apply a little grain of common sense, ppl.

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