Damn. This must be one of the most terrifying cyber attacks of all time. Like, Mr. Robot level of breach and execution. In that show they rig the UPS batteries of server buildings to blow up, this is basically the same idea on a smaller scale. Either that, or they compromised the manufacturer of the pagers and put small explosive devices in there. Truly legendary and insane.
Lebanon’s health minister says 8 killed, 2,750 wounded by exploding pagers
Submitted 3 months ago by technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
Zer0_F0x@lemmy.world 3 months ago
naturlychee@lemm.ee 3 months ago
no way it was just the batteries.
batteries burn but don’t detonate with shrapnel
Nightwind@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Yeah they got into the supply route and added c4 to all those pagers. Makes me wonder how many pagers or smartphones have added explosives still.
cm0002@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Shrapnel, no, but Lithium-Ion does explode. Especially on a full charge
EncryptKeeper@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Probably not. It was almost certainly the case that these pagers were already connected to explosives, probably to be IEDs. All Israel would have had to do is page the pagers to detonate them. I can’t think of any other logical explanation.
peopleproblems@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I don’t think the thousands of pagers built this way really count as “improvised.”
That being said, it makes me wonder if this went in any way according to plan - 8 deaths and 2750 injuries is a large scale attack, don’t get me wrong. But they’ve now announced Mossad has compromised the supplier of the pager, which they will undoubtedly audit, and instill new policies on device security. I wouldn’t be surprised if that means they discover a lot more compromised electronics, allowing Hezbollah to pinpoint the compromise. Because 2750 survived, you now have 2750 people very interested in finding it.
In all, for 8 deaths, they’ve made their own work harder.
That being said 2750 injuries could be a large enough number to scare members out of the org.
Scolding7300@lemmy.world 3 months ago
If those pagers had explosives, I wonder if the explosives were put there as a sabotage or for “destroy if found” functionality
Anon819450514@lemmy.ca 3 months ago
More like stuxnet level !
Doorbook@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I am surprised the name of the manufacture is not out. This basically raise privacy concern.
JoeKrogan@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Its stuxnet like
LostSole@lemmy.world 3 months ago
cyber attack ? Lol
sozesoze@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Bibi really wants a war with Hezbollah, doesn’t he? I mean you can’t call it defending Israels safety anymore when you provoke any and all responses every other month with a missile here, a bomb there and now thousands of bombs everywhere. This is just another measure to keep Netanyahu in a conflict so that he doesn’t have to bear the consequences of multiple corruption cases against him and the dissolving of his coalition outside unity cases in a war. Why is Europe and the US still covering for him? What is the rest of Israel doing?
CerealKiller01@lemmy.world 3 months ago
During the last month there were not 1, not 10, not 100 but 807 alerts in Israel for missile attacks. Some of them weren’t fired by Hezbollah, and some might have been the same alert in different areas, but that’s still about 7 missile PER DAY even if we assume only 1 in 4 alerts was due to an attack by Hezbollah (side note: during the entire war, about 2,000 missile were launched from Lebanon to Israel, that’s an average of about 6 per day). In addition to this, there were 452 aircraft intrusion alerts. Most of these attacks are against civilian targets.
Right now, there are about 79 thousand people (around 0.8% of total population) who are still evicted for nearly a year from northern Israel.
And just in case it needs to be said - the first attack was made by Hezbollah (on Oct. 8th) and without any provocation by Israel.
Not only is this a situation no sovereign country can stand, but it’s also a violation of the Lebanon-approved UN Security Council’s resolution 1701, that was the basis for ending the 2006 Lebanon War. Hell, just having missiles in the area is by itself a violation of the resolution.
Regarding political reasoning - A war in Lebanon is actually bad for Netanyahu. His interest is a slow-burning war so he can prolong the current situation as much as possible (once the war is over, the pubic will demand an election). In fact, that’s probably the main reason you had “a missile here and a bomb there” and not an actual war.
interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml 3 months ago
It’s war they wanted and it’s what they have. Couldn’t make it work in 75 years. We’ve heard enough and seen enough, nobody gets the benefit of the doubt in this. And I’m scared to even post this mild critic will make me an information warfare target. So tired of this shit.
sozesoze@lemmy.world 3 months ago
A war in Lebanon is actually bad for Netanyahu. His interest is a slow-burning war so he can prolong the current situation as much as possible
The current situation is that he’s in a war in Gaza and that is keeping him in office. He can still spin this as “we are fighting against an existential threat”. Rocket defence and retaliation strikes aka the slow burning war in Lebanon is not enough for the Israeli society to unite behind Bibi. Only if they seriously attack. And I think Netanyahu wants to provoke such an attack.
Sending thousands of bombs God knows where they land is not a proper defense. It’s a huge escalation where Hezbollah will answer. I think the best argument against this strike has been thrown around everywhere: What if Hezbollah made such an attack where 3000 bombs where sent to IDF people. We would talk about a terrorist attack. Why is that different now?
TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 3 months ago
He wants the US at war before the sea change. once elected or close enough to it Harris can change her tune.
JustZ@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Hezzbollah literally shoots rockets at Israel multiple times per week. Wtf are you talking about?
Blackmist@feddit.uk 3 months ago
Are they not already at war with Hezbollah?
They’ve been killing each other pretty much non stop for 40 years.
What’s that if not a war?
FinishingDutch@lemmy.world 3 months ago
This is definitely one of the most interesting attacks that’s ever happened. It certainly doesn’t look like an accident. If it was indeed Mossad: take a bow, you’ve earned it. That was a pretty slick move. That was probably a difficult op to pull off. Gotta respect the craft, even if you disagree on the method.
machineLearner@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I wonder if you wouldve said the same thing about 9/11
ChairmanMeow@programming.dev 3 months ago
9/11 targeted and killed civilians. This attack largely struck Hezbollah militants, who are in open hostilities with Israel. Doing things this way is far better than the seemingly indiscriminate bombing in Gaza.
Rekorse@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
Its not rocket science how they did it. What is the impressive part? Are we really just going to say civilians don’t matter? Is it impressive to you because of how many people were hurt?
In no way is it required to respect the craft or the method.
pastermil@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
I was about to say, they’re fucked in the head, but goddamn that was ingenious.
craigers@lemmy.world 3 months ago
How exactly did they pull that off? And with walkie-talkies too. There’s no way you can do that with normal RF. The only thing I can figure is they had to intercept the devices and tamper with them in some way.
SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I’m no fan of Hezbollah but how is this different than spreading land mines? Even if you kill civilians in an air strike at least you can claim there were enemy combatants there. Here it is just “Eh, we’ll just kill people at random and see what happens.”
Ullallulloo@civilloquy.com 3 months ago
These were pagers specifically ordered by Hezbollah. Random civilians wouldn’t have had them.
freeman@feddit.org 3 months ago
Thousands of peoples were wounded. And by the nature of a pager you do wear them when out and about and not only at the HQ
Maggoty@lemmy.world 3 months ago
So that kid was Hezbollah too then?
Cocodapuf@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Israel might be the baddies…
umami_wasbi@lemmy.ml 3 months ago
Is this a cyberattack, or pre-planted explosives?
My dad used to have one and it runs on single AA bsttery. It will burn if exploded but I doubt will that make “man fell on the groud bleeding.” Newer models might use recharable batteries, yet the BMC (logically thinking) should be sperated from the communication part as charging have nothing to do with it. How are you going to use SMS to hack a part of the system which isn’t connected?
If it is pre-planted explosives, that’s just wet work and nothing to talk about it.
Of course, the attacker can do a supply chain attack (by threating/hacking the manufacture, excluding explosives) as a stage to make the cyberattack possible.
dhork@lemmy.world 3 months ago
NYT has a link up which it claims has been verified. It is a video of someone at a market who had one of these in their messenger bag. The video shows a decent size explosion, which blew a big hole in the bag and knocked the guy (and people around him) to the ground. I doubt you could make an explosion that big with a AA battery. They must have planted the stuff in some massive supply chain hack.
alvvayson@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 months ago
Yep, all the electrical engineers who have chimed in say it looks more like explosives.
A battery would get hot and start a fire. It wouldn’t instantly explode like this.
Dave@lemmy.nz 3 months ago
Given how targeted the attacks were at certain people, does this imply a bunch of people walking around with explosives in their pagers, where they weren’t set off because they weren’t one of the targets?
echodot@feddit.uk 3 months ago
Yeah this is what I’m confused about. In a lot of simpler devices like this the BMS is actually a daughter board and has no physical connectivity to the main circuits at all. I wouldn’t need them. And even if it had access you generally do not have the capacity to rewrite its code, because again code updating is not something that was ever expected.
cheese_greater@lemmy.world 3 months ago
“Exploded” always sounded like an adorable little kid word to me, like “He hitted me!?”
Rekorse@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
Sort of telling how you can teach people to associate good thoughts with awful things. Conditioning is a bitch.
zbyte64@awful.systems 3 months ago
Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those injured by the pager explosions on Tuesday, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported.
Attacking ambassadors is a great way to become a ln international piriah.
TypicalHog@lemm.ee 3 months ago
Why did he have the pager tho?
interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml 3 months ago
Ambassador, communication device …
erenkoylu@lemmy.ml 3 months ago
Hezbollah is a legitimate political party in Lebanon, with millions of voters.
shikitohno@lemm.ee 3 months ago
It just says he was injured, which could happen if you were in close proximity to someone wearing one of the pagers. News here showed one of the explosions occurring in a grocery store, with plenty of people nearby, for example.
Ilgaz@lemm.ee 3 months ago
What was ambassador doing with Hezbollah exclusive pager?
zbyte64@awful.systems 3 months ago
Talk about working backwards from a conclusion. Can you do the same for the little girl that was also killed? I would be further impressed by your gymnastics to back flip over the conclusion she deserved it as well.
Bob_Robertson_IX@discuss.tchncs.de 3 months ago
This goes to show that Israel could have taken out Hezbollah leadership at any time… there was no need to raze Palestine other than to move people out so that Israelis can move in and rebuilt.
JokerProof@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Aren’t you confusing Hezbollah with Hamas though?
Maggoty@lemmy.world 3 months ago
He did. But the proponents of Greater Israel do actually include Lebanon. They also include Jordan, Syria, parts of Egypt, Parts of Saudi Arabia, and parts of Iraq.
This ideology is dominant in the ruling party of Israel.
Bob_Robertson_IX@discuss.tchncs.de 3 months ago
Shit, you’re right… thanks, I’ve corrected it because my point still stands.
naturlychee@lemm.ee 3 months ago
Hezbollah is not Hamas.
TypicalHog@lemm.ee 3 months ago
They allies.
Furball@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
Israel has assassinated a staggering number of high ranking Hamas officials, less so for Hezbollah but their leadership has also been targeted
sumguyonline@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Israel has a reckoning coming. The mercy they have shown is the mercy they will receive. I wish they would stop.
Wooki@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Whats scarey here is the amount if energy stored in smart phones. Pagers hold a fraction of the energy and the application here to the smart phone is the same.
essteeyou@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I read in a NYT headline that they were pagers with explosives added in.
iceonfire1@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Upvoted for the honesty
stealth_cookies@lemmy.ca 3 months ago
If you see the video there is no way a battery behaves like that, even if you drive a nail into them they more rocket flames than explode (I used to work in a battery lab).
Wooki@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I doubt the lab experience.
Lithium ion batteries do explode, off-gassing and pressure alone can do significant damage when contained. While typically closer to a thermite reaction, conditions determine damage which have been killing people from either heat or poisonous gas. I can point to state occuption work regulators that have a documented case of an explosion.
CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work 3 months ago
I wonder how they did it. Was the firmware hacked to make the batteries ignite or were separate explosives implanted in each pager?
ultranaut@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Almost certainly it was explosives. Mossad very likely designed a functioning pager that contains explosives but looks identical to the original pagers and this is effectively a supply chain attack.
LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Anyone else confused about how these bombs are actually detonating? Articles say they are detonating via a text message sent 3x in error, theoretically causing either a spark or a “closed circuit” like a different article explained. The article (from al jazeera) says they have to look at the message but there’s video of one igniting in a bag.
KyuubiNoKitsune@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 months ago
Nothing in an electronic device, save for a very overvolted capacitor, could come anywhere near to as explosive as these were. Even LiPo batteries don’t explode like that.
These were explosives planted in the devices when being manufactured.
Not sure if you’ve seen videos of the explosions or the aftermath.
LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Both, al jazeera source says the explosive inside is PETN. What I’m asking is how tf did text messages and whatever in the walkie talkies ignite a spark strong enough to ignite the PETN? Is that true? Or is it possible some of these are still live or ignited in a faulty way? What is the risk to the public?
Afaik such an idea was nonsense previously. Why are we taking their word that this is sophisticated at any level when they’ve been simply brutal up to now?
werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Oh shit… Let me call the police about this! Sure thing! Right away!
Wait a minute!
LOL! You think I’m that stupid? You call them! Here, take my phone! I’m just gonna go hide behind that 1" thick steel wall! Oh, should we just run over to the station? It’s safer that way.
spyd3r@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
College campuses across the US/Canada will be holding memorial services, no doubt.
NastyNative@mander.xyz 3 months ago
Isreal wants to start ww3!
JustZ@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Iran has already started it.
zbyte64@awful.systems 3 months ago
Great, can’t wait for the conspiracy theories from this one.
Chloett82@reddeet.com 3 months ago
The recent incident reported by Lebanon’s health minister is truly tragic, with 8 lives lost and 2,750 wounded from exploding pagers. In times of crisis, it’s crucial to stay informed and manage resources efficiently. For those looking for reliable tools to streamline business processes and manage critical information, check out asisinfo.net/netsuite-login/. Stay safe and take care.
ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
RIP Taiwanese electronic device export economy.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 3 months ago
None dare call it Terrorism.
Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 3 months ago
While it’s likely there were civilians hurt by this, the target was undeniably Hamas. So no, not terrorism.
archomrade@midwest.social 3 months ago
Likely because the bulk of those wounded by this attack were not Hezbollah
I don’t even know how you’d reasonably expect to only injure your targets in an attack as widespread and remote as this one. Seems blatantly indiscriminate at best.
JustZ@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Stunning that you’re being downvoted. This was a brilliant attack on a group that actually attacks Israel actually indiscriminately on the daily.
erenkoylu@lemmy.ml 3 months ago
Israel is a terrorist organization. Radical, fundamentalist Jewish terrorism.
sozesoze@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Why is it okay for them to bomb Lebanon as well?
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Because Arab lives have no value in Israeli society.