Remote Pager Attack Begins A New Era Of Warfare

Uploaded on 2024-09-24 in INTELLIGENCE-Hot Spots-Iran, INTELLIGENCE--International, GOVERNMENT-Defence, FREE TO VIEW

At least 32 people, including two children, were killed and thousands more injured, many seriously, after communication devices, used by the armed group Hezbollah, dramatically exploded across Lebanon.

The explosions were precisely targeting the pagers of members of Hezbollah, an anti-Israel Military organisation controlled by the government of Iran.

The pagers were distributed by Hezbollah to its personnel as a secure communications device, following concerns over the security of mobile phones. A day later, Lebanon experienced more deadly blasts as walky-talky radios used by Hezbollah also detonated.

This likely Israeli-directed explosive pager attack on Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah is something that would not have worked a few years ago.

The details of how Israeli intelligence supposedly achieved the operation are not fully known. It’s not clear whether Israel's Mossad spy agency set up a dummy company to sell the pagers to Hezbollah, or intercepted consignments of pagers in transit to add the explosives using software capable of responding to a remote command.

The British defence establishment has long recognised the threat. Indeed, Britain has successfully influenced other major European nations to adopt common security guidelines for domestic Internet-connected devices, such as doorbell cameras or routers. Today, modern data networks, such as those used in 4G or 5G mobile, are increasingly “software defined”, and fears of malicious software update patches were what convinced the UK to join the US in removing Chinese-designed and manufactured Huawei equipment from its 5G infrastructure.

The automotive sector has been acutely conscious of the security risks of Internet connected devices a for years, although so far there is no evidence that malicious actors are able to use this type of technology to turn e-bikes or mobile phones into weapons.

Unherd | Gov.UK | CNN | CNN | BBC | Washington Post

Image: Ideogram

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