This week Elise Jordan, wife of famed journalist Michael Hastings, who recently died under suspicious circumstances, corroborated this reporter's sources that CIA Director, John Brennan was Hastings next exposé project (CNN clip).
Last month a source provided San Diego 6 News with an alarming email hacked from super secret CIA contractor Stratfor’s President Fred Burton. The email (link here) was posted on WikiLeaks and alleged that then Obama counter-terrorism Czar Brennan, was in charge of the government's continued crackdown or witch-hunt on investigative journalists.
Wikileaks wrote:
On Monday February 27th, 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files, over five million e-mails from the Texas headquartered "global intelligence" company Stratfor. The e-mails date between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher, but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal's Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defence Intelligence Agency. The emails show Stratfor's web of informers, pay-off structure, payment laundering techniques and psychological methods.
Obama Leak Investigations (internal use only - pls do not forward)
Released on 2012-09-10 00:00 GMT
Email-ID 1210665
Date 2010-09-21 21:38:37
From burton@stratfor.com
To secure@stratfor.com
Brennan is behind the witch hunts of investigative journalists learning
information from inside the beltway sources.
Note -- There is specific tasker from the WH to go after anyone printing
materials negative to the Obama agenda (oh my.) Even the FBI is
shocked. The Wonder Boys must be in meltdown mode...
http://www.wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/1210665_obama-leak-investigation s-internal-use-only-pls-do-not.html
After providing the Stratfor email to the CIA for comment, the spymaster's spokesperson responded in lightning speed. Two emails were received; one acknowledging Hastings was working on a CIA story and the other said, “Without commenting on information disseminated by WikiLeaks, any suggestion that Director Brennan has ever attempted to infringe on constitutionally-protected press freedoms is offensive and baseless.”
He (and you) have put it very starkly: it is the military and covert agencies taking shots at democracy for their own ends. If you don't have free speech and a free press press then truly you have entered into a 1984-kafkaesque-brave-new-world-order.
'Early in the morning on June 18, a brand new Mercedes C250 coupe was driving through the Melrose intersection on Highland Avenue in Hollywood when suddenly, out of nowhere, it sped up. According to an eye-witness, the car accelerated rapidly, bounced several times then fishtailed out of control before it slammed into a palm tree and burst into flames, ejecting its engine some 200 feet away.
A witness, Jose Rubalcalva, whose house stood adjacent to the crash, told Ana Kasparian of the The Young Turks news network that no one could approach the burning car because it kept exploding. In a simulated full-frontal crash of a 2013 C250 coupe, the car doesn’t explode on impact nor does it launch its engine 200 feet.
In fact, said Nael Issa, a Mercedes Benz dealer in Long Beach, “The car has a crumble zone, so when it crashes it goes in like an accordion. And in some cases the engine drops down, so it doesn’t go into you.”
and a VERY INTERESTING bit of info that I don't believe has appeared on this thread yet:
'According to L.A. Weekly, just hours before the deadly crash Hastings had asked to borrow his neighbor's Volvo because he suspected his own car's computer system had been hacked...' _________________ 'And he (the devil) said to him: To thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will, I give them'. Luke IV 5-7.
Lately it feels like everybody has figured out how to hack a car.
...
How hard is it to hack a car?
Very. The teams of researchers working on each hack — yes, it took teams — spent months solving difficult problems. They had to heavily modify the software running on the in-car computer so that it would give them access to the commands necessary to interact with the car.
In other words, these were not your average script-kiddie grease monkeys.
...
You’re probably OK. For a hack to be successful, each car had to be elaborately prepped first.
Quote:
Hackers Cut a Corvette’s Brakes Via a Common Car Gadget
Can a Mercedes Car be Hacked
Giancarlo Perlas February 26, 2014
“Can a Mercedes car be hacked?” With the advent of new technologies and the growing reliance of cars to computers, this question has been bugging a lot of people. In this article, we will discuss the likelihood of a Mercedes car to be hacked or operated by a hacker remotely to separate myth from fact.
Hacking a Mercedes Car is Possible
It should be noted that no victims of car hacking have surfaced yet, [Ed note: ignoring the list within this website of course ] but according to an old article from Car and Driver, researchers at the Center for Automotive Embedded Systems Security (CAESS—a joint-venture between the University of California San Diego and the University of Washington) claimed that it is possible by simply plugging a device into the car’s OBD-II port.
The source also cited another research that claimed to have been able to hack another car’s systems using a malware slipped through its MP3 and a code transmitted through its Wi-Fi connection. It explained that although the infotainment system of the car is independent from the systems controlling the brakes and other vital functions of the car, the intertwining of the two would mean that just one breach in component of the latter could spell disaster.
Last August, Forbes released a video in YouTube of how a car can be hacked which can be seen below:
[Ed note: mention of DARPA in first few seconds]
["It's quite terrifying when you don't have brakes, right?" ha-ha-ha, they laughed]
From the video, you can see that the indicators, safety functions and even the steering of the car can be manipulated by using a computer connected in the CAN (controller area network) bus of the car.
It can be nightmarish if you are behind the steering wheel and suddenly it steers on its own or someone suddenly activates the airbag.
On the side of automakers, they are denying the chances of hackers being able to operate their cars completely just by going into its system. They claim that they are making sure that they are always a step ahead of hackers and they are continuously putting enhancements in their cars’ security systems to deter a potential hacker from gaining control of the entire vehicle.
Going back to the video, hacking a car and taking control of its driving and safety operations involves a lot of work that includes dismantling the dashboard in order to connect the computer to the CAN bus of the vehicle. It may be hard to pull but this just goes to show that a car can surely be taken over by a hacker.
As for the issue of a remote hacking, we are yet to see someone demonstrate how it can be done. But with what we witnessed in the video, it may become possible in the near future if hackers can keep pace with the software engineers of automakers.
Organised crime knew all about it.
But Volkswagen lawyers made sure car owners wouldn't find out about the security flaw.
Organised Crime = Mafia = Intelligence Services?
Audi, Porche, Toyota & Mercedes were caught previously trying to hide killer car hacking technology.
German car firms at the centre of the deception & cover up AGAIN
Car-hacking scandal: How a security loophole left thousands of vehicles vulnerable to thieves
Organised criminals are finding hi-tech new ways to take control of vehicles
By DAVID CONNETT Tuesday 18 August 2015
Tens of thousands of cars are vulnerable to thieves using electronic hacking, according to researchers whose findings were suppressed by a major manufacturer for two years.
The full details of the security loophole, which can now be revealed, show a widely used electronic security device designed to prevent thieves from breaking in and driving off with vehicles could easily be disabled by criminals.
Most modern cars cannot be “hot-wired” as they are powered by electronics. But organised criminals are finding hi-tech new ways to take control of vehicles. The problem is acute in London, where four out of 10 car thefts feature electronic hacking.
Three university researchers from Britain and Holland discovered that immobilisers fitted to more than 100 car makes had weak security that could be defeated – in some cases within a few minutes. But when they tried to publish their findings, Volkswagen took High Court legal action to stop them.
Critics claim the move could have a “chilling effect” on security research in the UK but VW defended it, stressing the firm went to “great lengths” to prevent “unauthorised individuals [gaining] access to our cars.”
The researchers, Birmingham University’s Flavio Garcia and Roel Verdult and Baris Ege, from Radbound University in Nijmegen, fought the ban, saying they identify security flaws so they can be fixed. They said their research started after police claimed cars were being stolen “and nobody can explain how”.
Beetle cars by German car maker Volkswagen (VW) Beetle cars by German car maker Volkswagen (VW)
Despite this a High Court judge agreed to the ban – saying he believed publication would “facilitate car crime”.
The researchers denied their paper teaches people to steal vehicles, and argued that the ban on publication denied the car-buying public crucial information about the security of their vehicles.
Following more than a year of negotiations between the academics and VW, the full details have now been published. The researchers say only one sentence has been removed from the original research. It reveals how they identified “several weaknesses” in a Swiss-made security device called a Megamos Crypto system.
The device is used by a total of 26 car manufacturers including Audi, Fiat, Honda, Volvo as well as Volkswagen. Many top-range brands including Bentley, Ferrari, Porsche and Maserati are among those known to use them.
The manufacturer of the system claims to have sold over 100 million radio frequency identification chips which are designed to verify the identity of the ignition key being used to start the car engine. If thieves get into the vehicle without the right key, the engine should refuse to start.
The researchers showed how it was possible electronically to listen to signals sent between the security system and the key fob. By doing this, they were able to discover the vehicle’s secret code within 30 minutes.
The academics warn the security devices were vulnerable to “close-range wireless communication” attacks and said situations such as valet parking and car rental where attackers could have access to both the immobiliser and the keys were a particular danger. They recommend the car industry use more sophisticated systems which are harder to defeat.
A VW Passat, left, and a Golf Cabrio car wait in the storage building of the Volkswagen company in Wolfsburg, Germany A VW Passat, left, and a Golf Cabrio car wait in the storage building of the Volkswagen company in Wolfsburg, Germany
The researchers say they believe that some modifications have now been implemented on new models.
According to industry experts, the security flaw could cost manufacturers millions to fix. The radio frequency identity chips in the key fobs – as well as the equipment that responds in the engine starting system – will both require re-engineering or replacing.
A spokesman for Volkswagen said: “Volkswagen has an interest in protecting the security of its products and its customers. We would not make available information that might enable unauthorised individuals to gain access to our cars. In all aspects of vehicle security, we go to great lengths to ensure the security and integrity of our products against external malicious attack.”
The RAC says electronic security has led to a dramatic improvement in levels of car theft, which has fallen 70 per cent in the last 40 years.
Last year near 70,000 cars were taken in the UK. Experts warn that the overall decrease hides a spike in electronic keyless thefts.
How the scam works
The Megamos Crypto immobiliser is designed to stop a thief breaking in and “hot-wiring” a car. A device called a transponder in the key fob sends an identification code to the immobiliser informing it the correct driver is present.
Scammers overcome this by electronically eavesdropping on the key fob signal and then using a commercially available computer programme to analyse it and emulate it. The immobiliser then decodes the signal and, if it is correct, starts the engine.
Researchers found the chips use relatively simple encryption. By listening to them talk to each other twice, anyone could quickly discover the pattern and copy the key. _________________ --
'Suppression of truth, human spirit and the holy chord of justice never works long-term. Something the suppressors never get.' David Southwell
http://aangirfan.blogspot.com http://aanirfan.blogspot.com
Martin Van Creveld: Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: "Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother."
Martin Van Creveld: I'll quote Henry Kissinger: "In campaigns like this the antiterror forces lose, because they don't win, and the rebels win by not losing."
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2017 9:55 pm Post subject:
Wikileaks: CIA's Brennan on 'witch hunt' when Hastings was killed
http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/wikileaks-cia-s-brennan-on-wi tch-hunt-when-hastings-was-killed/article/421913
BY RALPH LOPEZ DEC 26, 2014 IN WORLD
A 2010 email released by Wikileaks from a top-level CIA contractor asserts that CIA Director John Brennan, the subject of a story by now deceased journalist Michael Hastings, was on a "witch hunt" against "investigative journalists" perceived as hostile.
Hastings, a reporter for the Rolling Stone who ruffled many feathers in his career, was killed in an unusual high-speed car accident in which the vehicle exploded on impact with a tree, and perhaps before. Hastings' wife confirmed to San Diego 6 News Television, soon after the uncharacteristic high-speed automobile crash, that Hastings' next "big story," as he called it, was to be on Brennan.
The email, written by Stratfor President Fred Burton and reported by San Diego 6, reads:
Brennan is behind the witch hunts of investigative journalists learning information from inside the beltway sources.
Note -- There is specific tasker from the WH to go after anyone printing materials negative to the Obama agenda (oh my.) Even the FBI is shocked. The Wonder Boys must be in meltdown mode...
The story on Brennan was never published.
Stratfor was once called "The Shadow CIA" by Barron's. In 2012 WikiLeaks began publishing “The Global Intelligence Files,” over five million e-mails from the Texas-based company.
The email has never been disavowed by Stratfor. When San Diego 6 reporter Kim Dvorak asked the CIA for comment on the email in the context of the Hastings' death, in an August, 2013 report, a CIA spokesman responded:
“Without commenting on information disseminated by WikiLeaks, any suggestion that Director Brennan has ever attempted to infringe on constitutionally-protected press freedoms is offensive and baseless.”
Michael Hasting was killed on June 18, 2013, when the new Mercedes C250 SUV he had just leased hit a tree after running numerous red lights at over 100 mph in Los Angeles. A surveillance video at a pizza shop captured a fiery, violent explosion, which is uncharacteristic of high-speed impacts. Generations of advances in safety design have made accidents exhibiting these characteristics unheard of.
Typically, high speed impacts, even in past generations of automobiles, are characterized by a violent, horrific-sounding crunching of metal and glass, but no gas explosion. Fire can follow, but ignition usually takes place after the initial impact, as fuel vapors heat up and come into contact with hot surfaces. According to the National Fire Protection Association, only 3% of cars catch on fire as the result of crash impacts, and impact explosions are not a statistical category.
The pizza shop video shows a fireball which explodes outward for hundreds of feet in all directions and immediately lights up the night sky. Skeptics of the official LAPD conclusion, that no foul play was involved, cite a witness who said that "It sounded like a bomb going off in the middle of the night."
Witnesses also reported the car was already on fire before it hit the tree.
Hastings crash video taken from pizza shop surveillance camera
Hours before he died, Hastings sent out a series of frantic emails to friends and colleagues, indicating that be believed he was being investigated by the FBI and sounding "panicked," according to his friend Sgt. Joe Biggs, whom he had met in Afghanistan.
In an in-depth interview with San Diego 6 reporter Kim Dvorak, and Hastings friend Sgt. Biggs, Biggs tells RT interviewer Abby Martin that he had received an email indicating that police had been present at Hastings' house that day, and that Hastings had been seen looking underneath his car. The San Diego journalist Kim Dvorak expresses her belief, after extensive investigation, that the Hastings crash was not a simple one-car accident, and may have involved foul play. She notes the police are withholding evidence such as the "black box" onboard the vehicle, which would have recorded all electronic events involving the car's controls.
San Diego 6 report
After Hastings' death, his notes on the Brennan story were suppressed, according to WesternJournalism.com, and in any event the Rolling Stone never published the story despite pledges to do so.
After at first saying that “At no time was Michael Hastings, or anything related to his work as a journalist, ever under investigation by the FBI,” the FBI subsequently revised its statement to: “At no time was journalist Michael Hastings ever under investigation by the FBI.” Freedom of Information Act requests from reporters revealed that the FBI had indeed cataloged some of Hastings' articles, and discussed him in heavily redacted documents.
Brennan was architect of CIA "Disposition Matrix" capture/kill list
CIA Director Brennan made news during his confirmation hearings in early 2013, when he was nominated for the position by Obama. Of particular concern to some senators was Brennan's role in creating the “Disposition Matrix,” an Obama administration project started in 2010, described by government officials as a "next-generation capture/kill list."
Brennan also served under the George W. Bush administration, first as chief-of-staff to CIA Director George Tenet, then as deputy executive director of the CIA.
Of the “Disposition Matrix” run by the executive branch National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC,) and heavily shaped by Brennan in his role as Obama National Security Advisor, Glenn Greenwald for the UK Guardian wrote:
What has been created here - permanently institutionalized - is a highly secretive executive branch agency that simultaneously engages in two functions: (1) it collects and analyzes massive amounts of surveillance data about all Americans without any judicial review let alone search warrants, and (2) creates and implements a "matrix" that determines the "disposition" of suspects, up to and including execution, without a whiff of due process or oversight.
Before his Senate confirmation vote for CIA Director, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul mounted a filibuster against Brennan's confirmation, saying:
“No one politician should be allowed to judge the guilt, to charge an individual, to judge the guilt of an individual and to execute an individual. It goes against everything that we fundamentally believe in our country."
Brennan was eventually confirmed by a vote of 63-34.
RT interview of San Diego 6 reporter Kim Dvorak and Hastings friend Sgt. Joe Biggs
Similar concerns moved Oregon Senator Ron Wyden to write a letter to Brennan asking him to clarify if he believed the extrajudicial assassination system, deemed unconstitutional by civil libertarians, applied to American citizens on American soil. Brennan wrote back that he believed it did not. This did not assuage the concerns of many on this issue, however, since the Obama administration gave a different answer when US Attorney General Eric Holder refused to rule out the assassination of American citizens within the United States.
Brennan has become controversial on other issues. Right-leaning sources accuse Brennan of being behind the US policy of running arms to Al Qaeda-linked Syrian rebels.
In an unusual public comment on the case, former Bush national counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke told the Huffington Post:
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...
After denying he was a "conspiracy guy," the former top US counter-terrorism official went on to say:
...in the case of Michael Hastings, what evidence is available publicly is consistent with a car cyber attack. _________________ www.lawyerscommitteefor9-11inquiry.org www.rethink911.org www.patriotsquestion911.com www.actorsandartistsfor911truth.org www.mediafor911truth.org www.pilotsfor911truth.org www.mp911truth.org www.ae911truth.org www.rl911truth.org www.stj911.org www.v911t.org www.thisweek.org.uk www.abolishwar.org.uk www.elementary.org.uk www.radio4all.net/index.php/contributor/2149 http://utangente.free.fr/2003/media2003.pdf
"The maintenance of secrets acts like a psychic poison which alienates the possessor from the community" Carl Jung
https://37.220.108.147/members/www.bilderberg.org/phpBB2/
WikiLeaks Vault 7 Michael Hastings, cia car assassination
Michael Hastings participates in the Guardian’s “Post-Truth Politics & the Media’s Role” dicussion at The LongView Gallery on May 1, 2012 in Washington, D.C. (Morigi/Getty Images for The Guardian)
It was revealed today by the WikiLeaks’ Vault 7 leak that the Central Intelligence Agency may have car hacking capabilities, leading online conspiracists to further the claims that journalist Michael Hastings was murdered by the CIA.
Hastings died on June 18, 2013, in a fiery high-speed automobile crash in his Mercedes C250 Coupé following the publication of “Why Democrats Love to Spy On Americans” on BuzzFeed. Hastings had been a vocal critic of the Obama administration. Following his death, former U.S. National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-terrorism Richard A. Clarke said that Hastings’ crash was consistent with a “car cyber attack.”
Clark told the Huffington Post, “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… You can do some really highly destructive things now, through hacking a car, and it’s not that hard.”
According to CW6 San Diego, Hastings claimed to have received a death threat prior to the crash by a staff member at the McChrystal Group about a critical passage in his book, The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan. The McChrystal Group is an advisory firm started by retired United States Army general Stanley Allen McChrystal.
McChrystal’s last military assignment was in Afghanistan.
CW6 also reported that Hastings was investigating CIA Director John Brennan for an upcoming exposé before his death.
WikiLeaks Vault 7 Michael Hastings, cia car assassination
In an official synopsis of the recently leaked Vault 7, the above passage can be found.
Redditors on r/conspiracy are already connecting the new information to the death of Hastings. It cannot be independently confirmed.
However, a July 23, 2015, article on WhoWhatWhy by Russ Baker also drew a similar conclusion to conspiracist Redditors, despite not having access to WikiLeaks Vault 7 information.
JFK WikiLeaks Vault 7 Password: ‘I Will Splinter the CIA Into a Thousand Pieces’ [VIDEO]
This morning, WikiLeaks tweeted the decryption passphrase for the CIA Vault 7 leak. The password is, "I will splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it into the wind," a quote credited to President John F. Kennedy.
Click here to read more
WATCH: CNN ‘Cuts Off’ Congressman Scott Taylor After He Mentioned Refugee Crime Stats
DID the CIA assassinate journalist Michael Hastings?
WikiLeaks’ release on Tuesday of a massive trove of secret CIA documents has reignited conspiracy theories which have swirled since 2013, with revelations the spy agency was attempting to remotely hack vehicles.
“As of October 2014 the CIA was also looking at infecting the vehicle control systems used by modern cars and trucks,” WikiLeaks writes. “The purpose of such control is not specified, but it would permit the CIA to engage in nearly undetectable assassinations.”
Hastings, an acclaimed war correspondent and vocal critic of government mass surveillance, died in the early hours of Tuesday, June 18, 2013, when his Mercedes C250 Coupe apparently lost control and burst into flames before slamming into a palm tree.
Witnesses to the accident, which occurred around 4:25am in the leafy Hancock Park neighbourhood of Los Angeles, said the car appeared to be travelling at top speed and was creating “sparks and flames” before it went off the road.
Los Angeles police said there was no sign of foul play in the crash.
People said I was crazy when my friend Michael Hastings died out of no where. His car apparently hitting a tree and throwing the engine out
— Joe Biggs (@Rambobiggs) March 7, 2017
Michael Hastings was murdered. #Vault7
— Mike Cernovich 🇺🇸 (@Cernovich) March 7, 2017
I was disinclined to think that my colleague Michael Hastings was murdered for his work. But never ruled it out: https://t.co/bODqypQXl4
— Evan Wright (@evanscribe) March 7, 2017
Time to reread Michael Hastings report on excesses of Obama survellience state. Published right before his death https://t.co/R54X5DTvGV
— Cate Long (@cate_long) March 7, 2017
WikiLeaks Latest Release Gives Weight to Michael Hastings Assassination Theories https://t.co/vJpcXby2qs
— Cassandra Fairbanks (@CassandraRules) March 7, 2017
Wikileaks hints CIA may have had a role in the death of Michael Hastings https://t.co/Iu0aY57zCG pic.twitter.com/QC9gXLwWhD
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 7, 2017
CIA has tools to remote control chips in cars, trucks, planes, medical devices and hospital tech with assassination potential. pic.twitter.com/RvFonUphUg
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) March 7, 2017
Still working through the publication, but what @Wikileaks has here is genuinely a big deal. Looks authentic.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) March 7, 2017
Just over 12 hours earlier, the 33-year-old BuzzFeed and Rolling Stone contributor had sent an email to colleagues and friends, warning he was onto a “big story” and was under investigation.
“The Feds are interviewing my ‘close friends and associates’,” he wrote in an email sent at around 1pm on Monday, June 17. “May be wise to immediately request legal counsel before any conversations or interviews about our news-gathering practices. I’m onto a big story and need to go off the radar for a bit. All the best, and hope to see you soon. Michael.”
Hastings’ final published article, ‘Why Democrats Love To Spy On Americans’, was highly critical of President Barack Obama and the US government’s domestic spying program, which had just been revealed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Hastings accused the Obama administration and its allies in the FBI and Department of Justice of waging a war on “transparency supporters, whistleblowers and investigative reporters”.
Hastings’ car at the scene of the accident.
Hastings’ car at the scene of the accident.Source:Supplied
According to his widow, Elise Jordan, Hastings was working on a profile of CIA director John Brennan at the time of his death. But Ms Jordan didn’t buy into the conspiracy theories.
“I have no doubt that he was pursuing a hot story,” she told CNN six weeks after the accident. “He always had at least five hot stories going. That was Michael. Right now the LAPD still has an active investigation ... my gut here is that it was just a really tragic accident and I’m unlucky in the world, the world was very unlucky.”
At the time, however, former US National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-terrorism Richard Clarke told The Huffington Post the crash was “consistent with a car cyber attack”.
“There is reason to believe that intelligence agencies for major powers [know how to remotely seize control of a car],” he said.
“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 airbag.
“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 — I think whoever did it would probably get away with it.”
WikiLeaks itself appeared to suggest Hastings’ death was the result of foul play. Hours after crash, WikiLeaks tweeted: “Michael Hastings contacted WikiLeaks lawyer Jennifer Robinson just a few hours before he died, saying that the FBI was investigating him.”
Following that claim, the FBI took the unusual step of denying any investigation. “At no time was journalist Michael Hastings under investigation by the FBI,” agency spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said at the time.
Ms Eimiller told Reuters the FBI had been receiving a barrage of calls pertaining to WikiLeaks’ tweet and “it was getting a little out of control”.
WikiLeaks’ so-called “Vault 7” release of nearly 9000 documents contains explosive allegations about the CIA’s cyber-warfare capabilities, including detail on how the agency created malware to target iPhones, Android and smart TVs, giving them the power to spy and listen in on users.
WikiLeaks said the data shows that the CIA is now rivaling the NSA, the US government’s main electronic spying body, in cyber warfare, but with less oversight. _________________ --
'Suppression of truth, human spirit and the holy chord of justice never works long-term. Something the suppressors never get.' David Southwell
http://aangirfan.blogspot.com http://aanirfan.blogspot.com
Martin Van Creveld: Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: "Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother."
Martin Van Creveld: I'll quote Henry Kissinger: "In campaigns like this the antiterror forces lose, because they don't win, and the rebels win by not losing."
He (and you) have put it very starkly: it is the military and covert agencies taking shots at democracy for their own ends. If you don't have free speech and a free press press then truly you have entered into a 1984-kafkaesque-brave-new-world-order.
_________________ --
'Suppression of truth, human spirit and the holy chord of justice never works long-term. Something the suppressors never get.' David Southwell
http://aangirfan.blogspot.com http://aanirfan.blogspot.com
Martin Van Creveld: Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: "Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother."
Martin Van Creveld: I'll quote Henry Kissinger: "In campaigns like this the antiterror forces lose, because they don't win, and the rebels win by not losing."
Journalist Who Died In Car Accident Feared Government Was Tracking Him Before Death; WikiLeaks Documents May Have Vindicated Him
Spencer White , Benzinga Staff Writer
As Americans attempt to digest WikiLeaks' latest revelations that the CIA developed an extensive domestic spying apparatus, it may be relevant to explore the life of a fallen journalist who was pulling a similar thread.
WikiLeaks revealed Tuesday the CIA has developed cyber espionage capabilities that can penetrate Apple Inc.
AAPL
iPhones and even software systems on automobiles, casting the death of Michael Hastings in a new light.
Hastings, a journalist whose Rolling Stone expose of Gen. Stanley McChrystal led former President Barack Obama to fire McChrystal, was suspicious that the government was tracking him in his final days.
Hastings' Death And What He Was Investigating
Hastings died in a single-car accident in Los Angeles in 2013; the circumstances of which left many commentators skeptical. At the time of his death, Hastings was working on an article covering Obama-era CIA director John Brennan.
Per New York Magazine: "At 4:20 a.m. on Tuesday, June 18, Hastings’s silver Mercedes C250 coupe, speeding south on Highland Avenue, crossed Melrose, jumped the median, hit a palm tree, and exploded. The charred body of the driver was identified by the Los Angeles coroner as John Doe 117 until fingerprints confirmed that the deceased was Michael Hastings."
Before the accident, Hastings sent an email to his colleagues at BuzzFeed, where he was working at the time, saying government agents had been speaking to people close to him.
A former counter-terrorism advisor to former President Ronald Reagan told the Huffington Post in 2013 that it was possible government forces hacked Hastings' car in order to assassinate him, but the theory met opposition. The issue largely lay dormant until WikiLeaks confirmed the CIA's capabilities.
"As of October 2014 the CIA was also looking at infecting the vehicle control systems used by modern cars and trucks," WikiLeaks said in a press release. "The purpose of such control is not specified, but it would permit the CIA to engage in nearly undetectable assassinations."
While the timeline WikiLeaks suggests doesn't fit with the timing of Hastings' death, the confluence of government interest in hacking vehicles may prove that he was on to something.
Not The Only Investigative Journalist To Suspiciously Die
Other journalists who have drawn the ire of the CIA have ended up dead.
Gary Webb, the San Jose Mercury-News writer whose 1998 "Dark Alliance" series revealed connections between crack cocaine distributors in Los Angeles and CIA-funded Nicaraguan rebels, was found dead in 2004 with two bullets in his head.
Webb's death was ruled a suicide. _________________ --
'Suppression of truth, human spirit and the holy chord of justice never works long-term. Something the suppressors never get.' David Southwell
http://aangirfan.blogspot.com http://aanirfan.blogspot.com
Martin Van Creveld: Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: "Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother."
Martin Van Creveld: I'll quote Henry Kissinger: "In campaigns like this the antiterror forces lose, because they don't win, and the rebels win by not losing."
Driverless cars are at 'real risk' of being hacked by unidentified killers http://dailym.ai/2hqRayb _________________ --
'Suppression of truth, human spirit and the holy chord of justice never works long-term. Something the suppressors never get.' David Southwell
http://aangirfan.blogspot.com http://aanirfan.blogspot.com
Martin Van Creveld: Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: "Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother."
Martin Van Creveld: I'll quote Henry Kissinger: "In campaigns like this the antiterror forces lose, because they don't win, and the rebels win by not losing."
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2018 2:15 pm Post subject:
Renowned investigative journalist Michael Hastings was working on story about CIA Chief John Brennan at the time of his mysterious death
Brennan has has been described in secret emails from the President of CIA contractor Stratfor as being on a 'witch hunt' of investigative journalists.
The day he was killed, Hastings sent an email to his editors alerting them that the federal government was investigating him and interviewing his 'close friends and associates'
Hastings' widow says she believes his death was probably just a tragic accident
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 06:18, 15 August 2013 | UPDATED: 06:19, 15 August 2013
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2394278/Renowned-investigativ e-journalist-Michael-Hastings-working-story-CIA-Chief-John-Brennan-tim e-mysterious-death.html
The mysterious death of famed investigative journalist Michael Hastings took a surprising turn this week when it was revealed that the target of his latest expose was CIA Director John Brennan.
Hastings was killed in a fiery car crash in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles about 4:25 a.m. on June 18, of this year. Witnesses described his speeding Mercedes coup as creating sparks and flames before it fish-tailed into a palm tree and exploded. Hastings' body was burned beyond recognition.
Earlier that day, Hastings had sent an email to his editor at the website Buzzfeed alerting him that 'the Feds are interviewing my "close friends and associates." Perhaps if the authorities arrive "BuzzFeed GQ," er HQ, may be wise to immediately request legal counsel before any conversations or interviews about our news-gathering practices or related journalism issues.'
Mystery: the mystery behind the tragic death of journalist Michael Hastings continues to grow
Mystery: the mystery behind the tragic death of journalist Michael Hastings continues to grow
He added that 'Also: I'm onto a big story, and need to go off the radat for a bit.'
Hours later, Hastings was dead.
The big story he was working now appears to be about spy chief Brennan, who has been described in secret emails from the President of CIA contractor Stratfor, Fred Burton - and released by Wikileaks -as being on a 'witch hunt' of investigative journalists.
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Hastings' wife, Elise Jordan, revealed on Piers Morgan's show on CNN earlier this month that the story Hastings was working on at the time of his death was about Brennan. The CIA confirmed Jordan's claim to San Diego 6 News, which says that when they brought the information - as well as a leaked email from Stratfor - to Brennan's spokesperson, he responded 'with lightning speed.'
'Witch hunt': Leaked emails from a CIA contractor claim that CIA Chief John Brennan is going after investigative journalists
'Witch hunt': Leaked emails from a CIA contractor claim that CIA Chief John Brennan is going after investigative journalists
Inferno: Skeptics came up with conspiracy theories about his death but the Los Angeles Coroner ruled that he died of a blunt force trauma, and died almost immediately after impact in the June 18 crash
Inferno: Skeptics came up with conspiracy theories about his death but the Los Angeles Coroner ruled that he died of a blunt force trauma, and died almost immediately after impact in the June 18 crash
Reporter Kimberly Dvorak says she received two emails from the CIA spokesman, one acknowledging that Hastings was working on a story about the CIA, and another stating that 'without commenting on information disseminated by WikiLeaks, any suggestion that Director Brennan has ever attempted to infringe on constitutionally-protected press freedoms is offensive and baseless.'
Jordan says the article about Brennan will appear in an upcoming issue of Rolling Stone magazine.
Conspiracy theorists have jumped all over Hastings' death because he has a proven history of bringing down powerful people (his Rolling Stone article about General Stanley McChrystal effectively ended the general's career) and a collection of secret sources within the highest levels of government.
Beyond Recognition: Authorities had to use a set of fingerprints on file with the FBI to identify his body
Beyond Recognition: Authorities had to use a set of fingerprints on file with the FBI to identify his body
In the know: Relatives were reportedly headed to Los Angeles to have an intervention for Hastings as he had relapsed and started using drugs. His widow, Elise Jordan, says his death was likely just a tragic accident
In the know: Relatives were reportedly headed to Los Angeles to have an intervention for Hastings as he had relapsed and started using drugs. His widow, Elise Jordan, says his death was likely just a tragic accident
The cryptic emails aside, skeptics have asked where was Hastings going at 4:25 a.m., when witnesses say he was speeding AWAY from his house? Why would he be going so fast on a residential street (authorities say he was traveling 'at top speed' when he hit the tree, although that, too, has been questioned).
Those suspicious of a coverup in Hastings' death even question the intensity of the fire that seemed to instantly engulf Hastings' car after it hit the tree. Some have even suggested that a device was installed in Hastings' car that allowed someone outside of the vehicle to control it's speed and direction - although, those claims have been widely rejected as baseless, as there's no known evidence to suggest that anyone but Hastings was in control of the vehicle, or that such a device even exists.
Adding to the suspicion is the fact that several government agencies - both local and federal - have been slow to turn over public records about the crash, despite hundreds of Freedom of Information Act requests from journalists across the country.
When asked if she subscribes to any of the conspiracy theories about her husband's untimely death, Jordan says 'the LAPD still has an active investigation...my gut here is that it was just a really tragic accident and I'm very unlucky and the world is very unlucky.'
The peculiar circumstances of journalist Michael Hastings' death in Los Angeles last week have unleashed a wave of theories.
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.
The fire was so all-consuming that it took the Los Angeles County coroner's office two days to identify Hastings' body, but Clarke said a cyber attack on the vehicle would have been nearly impossible to trace "even if the dozen or so computers on board hadn't melted."
Hastings practiced a brand of no-holds-barred journalism that tended to anger powerful people. His 2010 profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, published in Rolling Stone, was so damaging that it ostensibly prompted President Barack Obama to fire the general (the president denied that the article had a role in his decision).
In the days before his death, Hastings was reportedly working on a story about a lawsuit filed by Jill Kelley, who was involved in the scandal that brought down Gen. David Petraeus, according to the LA Times. KTLA reported that Hastings told colleagues at the news site BuzzFeed that he feared the FBI was investigating him. On June 20, the FBI denied that any investigation was under way.
"I believe the FBI when they say they weren't investigating him," said Clarke. "That was very unusual, and I'm sure they checked very carefully before they said that."
Clarke worked for the State Department under President Ronald Reagan and headed up counterterrorism efforts under Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He also served as a special adviser on cyberterrorism to the younger Bush and published a book on the topic, Cyber War, in 2010.
"I'm not a conspiracy guy. In fact, I've spent most of my life knocking down conspiracy theories," said Clarke, who ran afoul of the second Bush administration when he criticized the decision to invade Iraq after 9/11. "But my rule has always been you don't knock down a conspiracy theory until you can prove it [wrong]. And in the case of Michael Hastings, what evidence is available publicly is consistent with a car cyber attack. And the problem with that is you can't prove it."
Clarke said the Los Angeles Police Department likely wouldn't have the expertise to trace such an attack. "I think you'd probably need the very best of the U.S. government intelligence or law enforcement officials to discover it."
Mike Hogan
Digital Director, Vanity Fair
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Michael Hastings _________________ --
'Suppression of truth, human spirit and the holy chord of justice never works long-term. Something the suppressors never get.' David Southwell
http://aangirfan.blogspot.com http://aanirfan.blogspot.com
Martin Van Creveld: Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: "Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother."
Martin Van Creveld: I'll quote Henry Kissinger: "In campaigns like this the antiterror forces lose, because they don't win, and the rebels win by not losing."
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] but according to an old article from Car and Driver, researchers at the Center for Automotive Embedded Systems Security (CAESS—a joint-venture between the University of California San Diego and the University of Washington) claimed that it is possible by simply plugging a device into the car’s OBD-II port.