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Hezbollah pager explosions kill several people in Lebanon

reuters.com

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Re: Hezbollah pager explosions kill several people in Lebanon

#691

Post by respondo2134 »

einszwei wrote: post #196

From Israel's perspective, this supply chain attack was undoubtedly a clever move, but I can't help but wonder about its long-term consequences. Although it was aimed at harming Israel's adversaries, third-party countries may now hesitate to involve Israel in their supply chains. There's also the risk that other major producers could replicate this tactic, potentially leading to further escalation in the region or be…

I don't see this as a smart move (let alone strategy) in any time frame. As a third-party observer greatly removed from the conflict I used to view Israel as an island under attack from terrorists. Now I'm struggling to see the differences between their activities and blowing up airplanes or launching rockets from schools and hospitals. You can say I'm naive, and why would Israel care about how I feel, but as a country and a people they only exist as long as we're their benefactor, and I don't think I'm alone in how I feel.

Re: Hezbollah pager explosions kill several people in Lebanon

#692

Post by dredmorbius »

listless wrote: post #201
throwaway55479 wrote: post #183

At least Eight killed and 2,750 wounded (200 of those in a critical condition) [1] [1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/sep/17/middle-ea...

Good lord that’s a lot of damage from exploding pagers. This is kind of next level stuff here - straight out of a movie.

[flagged]

Re: Hezbollah pager explosions kill several people in Lebanon

#693

Post by fmobus »

pragma_x wrote: post #545
sbeam wrote: post #179

If we try to do what we are best at here at HN, let’s focus the discussion on the technical aspects of it. It immediately reminded me of Stuxnet, which also from a technical perspective was quite interesting. I already wonder if this was anything that was planted in the devices perviously, or if the ones responsible had similar devices, and managed reverse engineer them and craft a payload to them, that could be sent…

> make the device exagerte some existing functionality to a point where it caused a malfunction? Thoughts on this? I'm actually astounded by the things that must have been in place to make this attack even plausible, let alone viable. At the same time, the ramifications are sobering. Here's where my head is: - Hezbollah failed to inspect electronics that, if tampered with, could have lead to some kind of intel breach…

You don't have to intercept a shipment and tamper at large scale with incredible speed if you're posing as the supplier.

That's what I believe happened. Specially likely if you consider that terrorist orgs are not exactly putting RFPs or doing large orders at legit vendors. That gives you the chance to pose as a helpful supplier that operates on the down low and accepts cash on delivery, etc.

Re: Hezbollah pager explosions kill several people in Lebanon

#694

Post by [deleted] »

einszwei wrote: post #196

From Israel's perspective, this supply chain attack was undoubtedly a clever move, but I can't help but wonder about its long-term consequences. Although it was aimed at harming Israel's adversaries, third-party countries may now hesitate to involve Israel in their supply chains. There's also the risk that other major producers could replicate this tactic, potentially leading to further escalation in the region or be…

[deleted]

Re: Hezbollah pager explosions kill several people in Lebanon

#695

Post by amelius »

some_random wrote: post #185
sbeam wrote: post #179

If we try to do what we are best at here at HN, let’s focus the discussion on the technical aspects of it. It immediately reminded me of Stuxnet, which also from a technical perspective was quite interesting. I already wonder if this was anything that was planted in the devices perviously, or if the ones responsible had similar devices, and managed reverse engineer them and craft a payload to them, that could be sent…

We can't really do much more than speculate right now, but it seems like the most likely answer is that a shipment of pagers was intercepted and implanted with explosives. Israel has done this before to assassinate a prominent bomb maker. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahya_Ayyash#Assassination

Question: assuming there were explosives inside the pager, what would happen if the owner of such device would try to board an airplane?

Re: Hezbollah pager explosions kill several people in Lebanon

#697

Post by loodish »

sbeam wrote: post #179

If we try to do what we are best at here at HN, let’s focus the discussion on the technical aspects of it. It immediately reminded me of Stuxnet, which also from a technical perspective was quite interesting. I already wonder if this was anything that was planted in the devices perviously, or if the ones responsible had similar devices, and managed reverse engineer them and craft a payload to them, that could be sent…

The implications of weaponising a lithium battery, which seems like what was done, are potentially really significant.

Lithium batteries are everywhere, most of them significantly larger than the one in a small pager. This includes secure environments like military/intelligence facilities and aircraft.

Proof that a lithium battery pack can be weaponised as a bomb, in a way that avoids easy detection, should be a significant concern to anyone who tries to maintain the security of those spaces.

Re: Hezbollah pager explosions kill several people in Lebanon

#700

Post by [deleted] »

respondo2134 wrote: post #691
einszwei wrote: post #196

From Israel's perspective, this supply chain attack was undoubtedly a clever move, but I can't help but wonder about its long-term consequences. Although it was aimed at harming Israel's adversaries, third-party countries may now hesitate to involve Israel in their supply chains. There's also the risk that other major producers could replicate this tactic, potentially leading to further escalation in the region or be…

I don't see this as a smart move (let alone strategy) in any time frame. As a third-party observer greatly removed from the conflict I used to view Israel as an island under attack from terrorists. Now I'm struggling to see the differences between their activities and blowing up airplanes or launching rockets from schools and hospitals. You can say I'm naive, and why would Israel care about how I feel, but as a count…

[deleted]
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