This article was really inspiring to me. I realized that "I don't do enough of what I do", reading it.
...the lock picker practiced disabling every type of lock in use in all the major hotels in Dubai.
The Dubai Job
51–60 of 64 posts
Re: The Dubai Job
#52It seems like the operation was tactically a great success, but strategically a failure. The agents seem to have been very well trained and carried out their task very effectively. There has been serious negative fall-out, though, including the unmasking of a number of important agents, and worsening ties with Dubai and the countries whose passports were forged.
I'd say you have it backward. Tactically, mistakes were made. But strategically this mission was a huge success: they eliminated their target-- the goal of the whole operation.
I agree it was a success. The target was eliminated, the operatives all survived, and it struck fear into the hearts of the enemy.
Re: The Dubai Job
#53This is a very interesting article. Ronen Bergman is a very well known journalist here in Israel, but this article sheds new light on details which haven't been made public up until now. The fact that head of the Caesarea unit offered to resign following the Dubai operation has not been known up until now.
Bergman may be well known but he's a sensationalist, making a living off "exposing unpublic information". Don't be surprised if he gets into UFOs at some point. I would take everything he writes with a grain of salt.
Re: The Dubai Job
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
More likely a combination of both: Mossad for the details of what is inside Iran's program and deploying the worm, and the US for the technical skills to build it.
Israeli software skills are excellent. Of all the assets the US could provide, that's one Israel doesn't need and likely wouldn't accept. The US could provide electronic surveillance: locations of people, details of local police operations, satellite photos, etc.
While technically it can be done by anyone in the world, it takes certain thriving technology culture to ensure that enough smart people penetrate the ranks of employees in government bureaucracies. Israel's overall IT scene is non-remarkable, not any more than one of Sweden or Greece.
The USA on the other hand, has decades-long successful track record of industrial sabotage involving computers, and NSA alone probably employs more talent than Mossad could ever afford to.
Re: The Dubai Job
#55Downvote me if you will, but I do not think this article belong on the front page of Hacker news. It is a interesting illuminating article but it belongs on Reddit or even Slashdot.
I knew the basic outline of this story beforehand and yet I read the article anyway. A few new things that stood out: - the description of Dagan's mgmt style and how it negatively affected the mission - the way the author (a presumably non-techie) described the lock picking and practicing of lock picking (did the picker actually test the picking of the locks as the author suggests or did the team assume the locks wou…
A private switchboard sounds complex, but it can be a single Asterisk server with 2 phone lines connected to it.
Dial in, optionally identify with PIN, type the number you want to call, Asterisk calls it for you, then connects your line with it.
Re: The Dubai Job
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is a bit sensational, but I suppose that is to be expected. >... the trafficking of huge amounts of rockets and sophisticated weaponry into Gaza, which have been used to devastating effect since the start of the second intifada in 2000. I don't think the weapons smuggled into were particularly sophisticated and I don't think they were used to devastating effect at all. Still a very informative piece though.
> I don't think they were used to devastating effect at all. That's a matter of perspective. I think the citizens of Ashdod would disagree. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_I...
Ashdod was first attacked in 2008. Sderot has been under attack since the start of the second intifada, and back then most of the time home-made and Qassam rockets were used, not "sophisticated" weaponry. And while I do recognize and appreciate the psychological damage caused to citizens, when looked at in the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the damage seems minimal.
I don't think the author needed to sensationalize the point about Al-Mabhouh being a weapons smuggler for a terrorist group. I think most people would understand why Israel wanted him eliminated.
Re: The Dubai Job
#57...they somehow managed to chain the door from the inside. This to me has always been the more curious detail of the operation.
There are tricks for unlocking it with something as simple as rubber bands. ( http://blackbag.nl/?p=1315 ) There are also tools for sale that go under the door for manipulating such locks. I imagine those could be used to replace the chain. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAkJRpKeyYg ) It should be even easier than unlocking it since you have access from the inside to set something up that you could pull from the ou…
The curious thing isn't so much that it could be done, but that they apparently were able to do it without spending any time fidgeting with the door.
The best way I could think of would involve something like a bent coat hanger, a chewed piece of bubble gum, and a small inspection mirror stuck through the crack in the door. It would take a while even for a practiced hand.
Re: The Dubai Job
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
Israeli software skills are excellent. Of all the assets the US could provide, that's one Israel doesn't need and likely wouldn't accept. The US could provide electronic surveillance: locations of people, details of local police operations, satellite photos, etc.
While technically it can be done by anyone in the world, it takes certain thriving technology culture to ensure that enough smart people penetrate the ranks of employees in government bureaucracies. Israel's overall IT scene is non-remarkable, not any more than one of Sweden or Greece. The USA on the other hand, has decades-long successful track record of industrial sabotage involving computers, and NSA alone probabl…
Israel doesn't just recruit from Israel. They recruit from Jews internationally.
This is a major part of their strength. How many brilliant Jewish software people live in the USA? Those are the people Israel would recruit, along with their homegrown talent.
Having said that I agree that the NSA would be more qualified than Israel at creating Stuxnet.
Re: The Dubai Job
#59How did the assassins exit room 230, chained from the inside?!!
Re: The Dubai Job
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are tricks for unlocking it with something as simple as rubber bands. ( http://blackbag.nl/?p=1315 ) There are also tools for sale that go under the door for manipulating such locks. I imagine those could be used to replace the chain. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAkJRpKeyYg ) It should be even easier than unlocking it since you have access from the inside to set something up that you could pull from the ou…
The curious thing isn't so much that it could be done, but that they apparently were able to do it without spending any time fidgeting with the door. The best way I could think of would involve something like a bent coat hanger, a chewed piece of bubble gum, and a small inspection mirror stuck through the crack in the door. It would take a while even for a practiced hand.
That still sounds like a solution when you're restricted to only accessing one side of the door. They might be able to rig something up before they leave the room that is much easier to execute after they close the door and without looking.
A string with adhesive, attached to the end of the chain, run over to the open door and under the edge of the locking plate. Then under the door. Close the door, pull the string, door is locked and string comes off. No evidence, takes two seconds. It might need a little tweaking but sounds plausible.