Major Counter-Terrorism Expert: Hasting’s Car Crash “Consistent with a Car Cyber Attack.

Counter-terrorism expert Richard Clarke has told HuffPo that the circumstances of Michael Hasting’s car crash were “consistent with a car cyber attack.”

While hastening to add that he was not saying the crash was a purposeful attack, Clarke stated that“‘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 served during both Bush presidencies and under Bill Clinton.

Just what is a “car cyber attack”?

Salon explains:

The answer can be found in two alarming papers by researchers at the University of Washington and the University of California, San Diego, “Experimental Security Analysis of a Modern Vehicle,” and Comprehensive Experimental Analyses of Automotive Attack Surfaces.

Taken together, the papers make for scary reading. In the first the researchers demonstrate that it is a relatively trivial exercise to access the computer systems of a modern car and take control away from the driver. The second demonstrates that such mayhem can be achieved remotely, via a variety of methods. The inescapable conclusion: The modern car is a security disaster.