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Comment by mr_overalls | Hacker News Reader

I'd be extremely surprised if it hasn't happened already, honestly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hastings_%28journalist...

Assuming it was foul play, it wouldn't qualify as you couldn't accomplish it via purely software hacking.

What brobinson is suggesting is that a hypothetical hacker, thousands of miles away in front of a console, could accomplish a murder with no other physical agents involved. i.e. no drones, hitmen, etc. just remotely commandeering existing systems already in everyday use.

Is there any difference between a pacemaker being disabled and your car driving into a brick wall? Genuinely curious how these things are different.

If it were e.g. a Tesla, no there would be no difference. But a Mercedes C250 Coupé? How would you hack that remotely? How would you program it to accelerate uncontrollably? Does it even have computer controlled acceleration? I would have to assume that physical tampering of some sort was involved, possibly even the introduction of a physical device such as one that remotely physically activates the throttle.

Today you're one of the lucky 10,000! https://blog.kaspersky.com/blackhat-jeep-cherokee-hack-expla...

short version: you hop onto an outward-facing wireless channel (in this case either wifi or cell), and then find the weak point where the industrial control system (ICS) and user network are very close to one another. Once you're on the ICS, systems are often low on verification/authentication, so there's a decent chance that you can do things like accelerating into a brick wall.

I was already aware of that hack, which was made possible because of two conditions:

* Outward-facing wireless channel

* Computer controlled acceleration accessible in some way from the same network the outward-facing wireless channel is on

If the Mercedes C250 Coupé meets those criteria then there is the possibility that (if it is indeed foul play) the assassination occurred via software hacking.

Ahh, my misunderstanding then. I don't know about the C250 in particular, but my inclination is to suspect that it is susceptible to the same type of attack. I believe this because outward-facing wireless has applications that would be appealing features in a luxury car, and because it seems to me that luxury car makers are the ones most likely to abstract away aspects of controlling the car so that they can offer more finely-tuned driving performance. It's possible that Mercedes implemented security, but from my experience it's unlikely that they would have done so, when it's expensive and directly at odds with implementing features.

His family thinks it was an accident. According to his brother, he was extremely stressed and had been smoking a (natural) psychedelic drug. That particular drug is such a powerful experience, that combined with the unusual circumstances of his life and the likely threats, intimidation or paranoia could cause someone to drive erratically.

Source? The Guardian reports:

"Coroner's investigators said the drugs likely did not contribute to the June crash, which they classified as an accident. "

"Hastings had been using the hallucinogenic DMT recently, though the drug was not detected in a blood test after the crash." [1]

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/21/michael-hastin...

DMT? That only lasts 15-ish minutes. It's also notorious for being so intense that most people have a hard time moving; complex tasks like driving just aren't going to happen.

This sounds like a story made up by someone who doesn't know how DMT works.

Typical plausible deniability story.

Somewhere in my archive is a declassified doc from I believe the CIA about putting a dead man in a car and then (RC) crashing it. Just tried to find it... maybe someone else has the link. Either way, it's painfully obvious that was a hit. He emailed close confidants right before about needing to go off the radar because of a dangerous story.

  he was extremely stressed
  had been smoking a psychedelic drug
  that combined with the unusual 
  circumstances of his life 
  could cause someone to drive erratically

And this is what we call willful ignorance, in an effort to avoid further pain.

Those words sound hollow, and presumptive. This is the sort of closure a person will errect around circumstances that can only be made worse by thinking about or acting in favor of a deeper investigation.

If it feels like social calculus at work, it probably is.

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