Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Havana syndrome: NSA officer’s case hints at microwave attacks since 90s

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 222 posts

Re: Havana syndrome: NSA officer’s case hints at microwave attacks since 90s

#131

Post by sigg3 »

bingbong70 wrote: post #114
bArray wrote: post #28

Are microwave attacks something that is proven to exist? Can we replicate the effects on mice from some distance? Given the fact they pass through walls, this kind of bounds the frequency range the attacks could exist in... I would expect to see radio interference on nearby devices, etc (even if operating on a different frequency). I wouldn't be entirely surprised if these could be self-manifesting symptoms from peop…

One of the leaked NSA slides from 2013-2015 included an electromagnetic weapon that was supposedly used to exfiltrate data from air gapped systems by turning humans (or any living thing with high water content) in a given area into WiFi antennas. If anyone else remembers the slides detailing this device please post the source.

It's "just" TEMPEST in the nth iteration.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempest_%28codename%29

Re: Havana syndrome: NSA officer’s case hints at microwave attacks since 90s

#132

Post by [deleted] »

jjcon wrote: post #130
tediousdemise wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m saying there’s no evidence implicating Cuba in the incidents, that they are an “attack,” or that they involved microwaves. Quite frankly, nobody knows what caused the suspected injuries. > Then you claim that multiple governments, dozens of victims and their families, medical professionals, independent boards, contractors, etc etc have all colluded with the former trump administration to invent havana syndrome? (…

> The “microwave attack” story came out in mid-2017 when Trump was in office. Travel restrictions came back and foreign relations languished. It’s trivially easy to blame a nation state for an attack, and then use it as excuse to end political support, agreements, or funding. > it is patently obvious that the US is making politically-motivated conclusions that Cuba is to blame That is called innuendo friend, and righ…

[deleted]

Re: Havana syndrome: NSA officer’s case hints at microwave attacks since 90s

#133

Post by cookguyruffles »

dv_dt wrote: post #69
bArray wrote: post #28

Are microwave attacks something that is proven to exist? Can we replicate the effects on mice from some distance? Given the fact they pass through walls, this kind of bounds the frequency range the attacks could exist in... I would expect to see radio interference on nearby devices, etc (even if operating on a different frequency). I wouldn't be entirely surprised if these could be self-manifesting symptoms from peop…

Wouldn’t it be ironic if this was some secret comm equipment that the US is installing in its own embassies

The same idea crossed my mind. Those embassies are chock full of magical equipment, US embassies sometimes have radio-transparent walls for unspecified reasons ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embassy_of_the_United_States,_... )

Re: Havana syndrome: NSA officer’s case hints at microwave attacks since 90s

#134

Post by tediousdemise »

DubiousPusher wrote: post #92

> “They said it was a ‘no-brainer’ that this medical condition was due to an attack.” Exactly not the kind of people who should be allowed to investigate anything. Not even who framed Roger Rabbit much less a claim of international warfare committed with a secret ray gun.

> Donald Trump: I believe Cuba is responsible. Swiftly expels Cuban diplomats from the US and restricts travel to Cuba.

Regardless of what has been injuring people, it is quite clear that the US has blamed what happened on Cuba and took decisive political actions, without evidence to support Cuba’s involvement. It is par for the course with how they’ve treated Cuba in the past.

Re: Havana syndrome: NSA officer’s case hints at microwave attacks since 90s

#135

Post by ipaddr »

oh_sigh wrote: post #45
bArray wrote: post #28

Are microwave attacks something that is proven to exist? Can we replicate the effects on mice from some distance? Given the fact they pass through walls, this kind of bounds the frequency range the attacks could exist in... I would expect to see radio interference on nearby devices, etc (even if operating on a different frequency). I wouldn't be entirely surprised if these could be self-manifesting symptoms from peop…

This reminds me of the "I figured out what was wrong with my brain" post from a few days ago. The entire blog was written as if the cause was "overthinking" and he physically depleted some resource in his brain leading to seizures. In reality the illness he linked to clearly states that it is a psychological condition of being overworked/stressed, and treatment needs to be "culturally sensitive" and done with CBT, wh…

The psychological effects could be side effects of a miss chemical. Even after adding the missing chemical psychological issues may need to be dealt with.

Re: Havana syndrome: NSA officer’s case hints at microwave attacks since 90s

#136

Post by tediousdemise »

bArray wrote: post #28

Are microwave attacks something that is proven to exist? Can we replicate the effects on mice from some distance? Given the fact they pass through walls, this kind of bounds the frequency range the attacks could exist in... I would expect to see radio interference on nearby devices, etc (even if operating on a different frequency). I wouldn't be entirely surprised if these could be self-manifesting symptoms from peop…

The US government tortured people at Guantanamo for 14 years, so I wonder how long they’ve been irradiating their diplomats.

Re: Havana syndrome: NSA officer’s case hints at microwave attacks since 90s

#137

Post by ALittleLight »

realce wrote: post #22
tqkxzugoaupvwqr wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you please explain in more detail why it makes sense to attack low-level staff? I can’t follow. Is it because low-level staff rotates more often and is only a short time in the country so effects won’t be connected to their stay in Kuba?

Low level staff today is the high level staff of 15 years from now, so you just make them dumb now.

Probably a very low percentage of low level staff today will be high level staff 15 years forward - especially if you microwaving them. If that were the adversary's intention then I would expect hundreds or thousands of our staff to be suffering. As is, it looks like only a few people spread across decades. Malfunctioning of a microwave power source is the only thing that makes sense to me.

Re: Havana syndrome: NSA officer’s case hints at microwave attacks since 90s

#138

Post by sudosysgen »

amelius wrote: post #127
Google234 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it actually looks like you can buy them on Amazon for about 30$. I don’t want to doubt but this seems so simple to test that the lack of any direct evidence makes me suspicious. https://www.amazon.com/Electromagnetic-Radiation-5HZ-3500MHz...

This kind of device seems marketed towards people who think EM waves in general are bad for them. It says it can't detect RF radiation while it clearly says 3.5Ghz in the description, so I think it might be a scam.

Regardless of that, wideband EM receivers exist, and the US has some with incredibly high sensitivities.

Re: Havana syndrome: NSA officer’s case hints at microwave attacks since 90s

#139

Post by sudosysgen »

giantrobot wrote: post #124
cm2187 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That dates a bit. I find it hard to believe the embassy wouldn’t detect a microwave attack given that they probably monitor the whole spectrum.

Depending on the frequency radio waves can have extremely narrow beams. If an antenna is not literally in the path of the beam it can't detect it. Microwaves happen to be readily formed into tight beams. If an embassy had a monitoring system a microwave brain cooker beam might have just looked like a splash of static if it was detected at all. Multiple beams would likely be used so only their focal point (someone's h…

You can have two of the following three.

Small size (less than thirty meters), low scatter, and power.

If you're going to have a powerful microwave brain frying system radiating over a 50m^2 area there is no way you're not going to light up the neighborhood in EM. Just can't happen, sorry.

Re: Havana syndrome: NSA officer’s case hints at microwave attacks since 90s

#140

Post by 01100011 »

bArray wrote: post #28

Are microwave attacks something that is proven to exist? Can we replicate the effects on mice from some distance? Given the fact they pass through walls, this kind of bounds the frequency range the attacks could exist in... I would expect to see radio interference on nearby devices, etc (even if operating on a different frequency). I wouldn't be entirely surprised if these could be self-manifesting symptoms from peop…

> A slow acting toxin for example

Afflatoxin. Common in food and gives you liver cancer.

Post reply on HN