This doesnt add up... If the software was properly encrypted they shouldn't have been able to carry out a man in the middle attack right?
Who is to say his rulings weren't just natural phenomena? A Gust of wind perhaps? You can't rule it out.
I, and a friend of mine also experienced this. I believe it started after the "final" update, but there's no way to know. Needless to say i won't ever buy, or recommend, a google device ever again.