G.M admits that all of their vehicles since 2007 are equipped with extensive, remote-control automated systems — via OnStar.
http://cartech.about.com/od/Safety/a/Gms-Onstar-Service-How-Does-It-Work.htm
OnStar is included with all new GM vehicles, and some non-GM vehicles also include it.
You may find these systems in certain Japanese and European vehicles that were manufactured between the 2002 and 2005 model years.
 
WHAT CAN ONSTAR DO?
Since OnStar has access to many of your vehicle’s systems, there are a number of ways that an OnStar operator can help out if you’re in a bind.
In many cases, OnStar can unlock your vehicle if you accidentally lock your keys inside.
[DW: The system would therefore also be able to lock you in, and prevent your escape, while the car is accelerating outside of your control.]
The FBI has even attempted to use the system to eavesdrop on private conversations, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied them the ability to do so.
 
ARE THESE SYSTEMS BEING MISUSED?
A remote-control system like OnStar may have been responsible for the death of journalist Michael Hastings, who died in a fiery, high-speed car crash.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/michael-hastings-car-hacked_n_3492339.html
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….
 
WHAT WAS HASTINGS WRITING ABOUT?
As our excerpt goes on, we find that Hastings had already been very effective at upsetting the existing power structure.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/michael-hastings-car-hacked_n_3492339.html
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.
 
WAS MICHAEL HASTINGS ASSASSINATED BY VEHICULAR REMOTE CONTROL?
These excerpts reveal that the fiery death of this journalist may have been intentional — as he was working on a very major story right before it happened.
Wikileaks Says Michael Hastings Contacted Them Just Before Death
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timstanley/100222652/wikileaks-says-michael-hastings-contacted-it-just-before-his-death-are-they-implying-he-was-murdered/
WikiLeaks just threw some gasoline onto the conspiracy fire. On Wednesday night, they Tweeted: “Michael Hastings contacted WikiLeaks lawyer Jennifer Robinson just a few hours before he died, saying that the FBI was investigating him.”….
And Hastings’ last article was about the evils of the NSA – which ended with the tantalising line, “Perhaps more information will soon be forthcoming.” Glenn Greenwald Tweeted a link to the piece after Hastings’ death. Hastings Said FBI Was Investigating Him
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/06/19/wikileaks-hastings-said-he-was-being-investigated-by-fbi/
CULVER CITY (CBSLA.com) — Questions persist following the death of Michael Hastings Tuesday, after reports that the award-winning journalist told WikiLeaks the government was watching him.
WikiLeaks tweeted a message to their millions of followers Wednesday stating that the 33-year-old author and war correspondent had contacted the organization’s lawyer to say he was being watched by the FBI….
Police have not yet confirmed that the person killed was Hastings because the body was reportedly burned beyond recognition.
One friend who declined to speak on camera said Hastings was very paranoid that he was being watched by the FBI, but that it is too soon to speculate on the conspiracy theories surrounding his death.
 
WHISTLEBLOWER REVEALS CARS CAN BE “HACKED”
Senior, high-ranking whistleblower Richard Clarke revealed to The Huffington Post that there are indeed ways to gain remote control of a vehicle, based on his insider knowledge.
If you read between the lines, Clarke appears to know a lot more about this system than what he has officially revealed in his statement.
Senior Insider Richard Clarke Reveals Cars Can Be Remote-Controlled
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/michael-hastings-car-hacked_n_3492339.html
The peculiar circumstances of journalist Michael Hastings’ death in Los Angeles last week have unleashed a wave of conspiracy theories.
Now there’s another theory to contribute to the paranoia: 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.”