Media watchers, security experts, and auto mechanics were all critical of a Huffington Post report suggesting recently deceased BuzzFeed reporter Michael Hastings may have had his car "hacked" into by nefarious "intelligence agencies" possibly associated with the U.S. government.
Hastings died early in the morning on June 18 in a fiery car crash after his 2013 Mercedes C250 coupe crashed at high speed into a tree. The accident spawned conspiracy theories among those who believe Hastings was targeted due to his investigative reporting.
Huffington Post reporter Michael Hogan fueled these theories on Monday when he quoted veteran security analyst Richard Clarke as saying that Hastings’ car may have been "hacked."
"‘There is reason to believe that intelligence agencies for major powers’—including the United States—know how to remotely seize control of a car," Clarke told Hogan.
"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," Hogan quoted Clarke as saying. "The problem with that is you can't prove it."
Politico’s Dylan Byers criticized the story Tuesday.
"Of course, there are a lot of things people can't prove; news stories tend to include the information the reporter can prove," Byers wrote. "Of course, different media organizations have different editorial standards."
Privacy expert Julian Sanchez also criticized the Huffington Post for failing to thoroughly research and validate Clarke’s remarks.
"In the absence of any evidence that a ‘theoretically’ possible attack was actually used here—and as far as I can see, there isn't any—it seems pretty gross to use a man's premature death as click bait in this way," said Sanchez, a research fellow at the Cato Institute.
Veteran auto mechanics and security experts in the Washington D.C.-area called Clarke’s claim far-fetched and irresponsible, telling the Washington Free Beacon that they had "never heard" of a car being manipulated in such a way and that, from their experience, the technology to do so does not exist.
"It sounds more like a movie to me," said Bobby Gonzalez, a manager and mechanic at Georgetown Auto Service.
"I’ve never heard of it and doubt they can do anything," said Jose Bautista, a mechanic and manager at Auto Tech Service in D.C.’s Adams Morgan neighborhood.
Asked if a car could be remotely controlled by a third-party and directed to accelerate, Bautista bristled.
"No. There’s no way. No way they can do that," he said.
Chris Charucksiri, owner of Capitol Hill Auto Service Center, agreed with this assessment.
"I’d say it’s very unlikely" to remotely control a control by hacking into its computer systems.
Some mechanics speculated that a car’s OnStar computer-operated navigation system might be compromised by a sophisticated hack.
However, an OnStar technical operator told the Free Beacon that this is impossible.
OnStar is capable of applying the brakes in certain cars or even contacting emergency services, but it cannot operate a vehicle or accelerate it without the driver’s knowledge, according to the OnStar expert. The service is also unable to remotely steer an automobile.
Additionally, Mercedes vehicles are not equipped at this time to support a native OnStar system, which would have to be installed into the car by a third-party.
Security experts suggested that the scenario Clarke is describing may theoretically be possible, but there is no evidence such an attack has taken place.
"It is possible to hack into the computer controls of recent, high-end cars, but there have been no confirmed incidents anywhere," said James Lewis, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and director of its technology and public policy program. "And there is always the issue of intent—who has a motive and do they have the skills?"
Neither Hogan nor Clarke responded to multiple Free Beacon requests for comment.