Beeper as a Weapon

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yahya

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Most odd attack happened today in Lebanon. There are reports on exploding beepers throughout Lebanon allegedly targeting Hezbollah members.



SM entries claim that the exploding pagers made by Gold Apollo were from the AP-900 series, most likely the AR-924.


There is speculation that the battery charger boards inside the pagers were hacked causing the lithium battery severe overheating, which led to explosions.

photo_2024-09-17_18-49-57.jpg photo_2024-09-17_18-50-50.jpg photo_2024-09-17_18-50-07.jpg
AR924_pic-1.png


So far the "attack" claimed over 2800 wounded and 9 dead according to SM.

Iranian ambassador to Lebanon was injured by the detonation of his pager.
 
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Explosive Pager Hack Only for Hezbollah Pagers? Self-Destruct Hack?

"There is now an explanation is that these were pagers only and this was a specific model for
Hezbollah with integrated self-destruct mode. The devices were made to be explosively
destroyed if they were captured. The theory is the hack triggered the explosive self-destruct."

See:

www.nextbigfuture.com

Explosive Pager Hack Only for Hezbollah Pagers? Self-Destruct Hack? | NextBigFuture.com

There are reports that hacking caused pagers to explode. Exploding devices could have left 1200+ (and 1500-2000) Hezbollah terrorists hospitalized and some in
www.nextbigfuture.com www.nextbigfuture.com
 
Well, an electronically triggered wipe would be sufficient to erase the memory and software on a compromised device rather than referring to a self-destruct "charge". (Remember WW II vintage transponders with self-destruct buttons and all the problems they brought.) Today's event rather resembles the 1996 assassination of Yahya Ayyash using a mobile phone fitted then with 15 grams of RDX, but with much more victims.

I believe that the AR-924 battery charger boards must have been somehow hacked and this triggered the explosions upon reception of a triggering signal in the UHF band. Note the manufacturer's website claims these pagers operated between 450 and 470 MHz and were using the POCSAG protocol. I wonder if the attack was executed through hacking the Lebanese operator's infrastructure and the associated UHF transmitters, or the attacker's own UHF transmitter(s) was/were used to remotely overheat the internal lithium batteries causing explosions. Was there any ELINT plane flying in vicinity today?

Bottom line. Doubtful the manufacturer could have agreed to the physical self destruction mode since today's incident already badly influenced his reputation. Perhaps an oversight in the design of the software allowed such a remotely triggered attack unless Hezbollah already altered the software without manufacturer's knowledge and consent, and the 'new feature' was simply exploited by the adversary.
 
Impressive! Truly impressive! By one masterful stroke, Israel (let's not play games here, shall we?):

1) Disabled more than 1500 of his main Lebanese opponents, presumably including a significant part of upper ranks

2) Totally disrupted their command-communication-control capabilities

3) Shocked and demoralized the whole organization, most likely making them wonder "what would explode NEXT?!"

Its brilliant!
 
Not your average stand-off, precision guided munition, but certainly ticks all 3 boxes.

www.twz.com

Hezbollah's Exploding Pagers Could Be As Monumental A Cyber-Espionage Operation As Stuxnet

We live surrounded by networked devices equipped with packs full of potential energy, possibly offering adversaries an unprecedented vector for kinetic attacks.
www.twz.com www.twz.com

Warning, graphic.
https://twitter.com/x/status/1836036228547825885
View: https://x.com/timourazhari/status/1836036228547825885

https://twitter.com/x/status/1836115920260923616
View: https://x.com/BilboBagginsBut/status/1836115920260923616
 
Guys, isn't that the explosives, even in small quantities can be detected using X-ray machines? Would Hezbollah X-ray now all the electronics they have to avoid their past mistake?

www.technologyreview.com

A new x-ray technique for detecting explosives could also identify tumors

The method, which works in conjunction with a deep-learning AI, identifies materials by their texture.
www.technologyreview.com www.technologyreview.com

www.dhs.gov

Feature Article: 3D X-Ray Makes it Easier to Detect Hidden Explosive Weapons | Homeland Security

S&T is developing, implementing, and ensuring the effectiveness of cutting-edge screening equipment and protocols that help protect the public and keep security lines moving.
www.dhs.gov www.dhs.gov

www.ucl.ac.uk

Explosives detection improved by new X-ray technique

Illegal and dangerous items, such as explosives, could be detected with 100% efficiency, using artificial intelligence (AI) and a new X-ray approach developed by a team led by UCL academics.
www.ucl.ac.uk www.ucl.ac.uk
 
Just wait for exploding carrier pigions...

Well done, Mossad! On one hand, I believe there must have been some explosive material in these pagers, but on the other hand I think this would have caused an alarm long time before in a security check. If thousands of these devices are spread amon the Hesbolla members, someone would very likely used a plane or something else with high security checks.
 
Nicknick said:
Just wait for exploding carrier pigions...

Well done, Mossad! On one hand, I believe there must have been some explosive material in these pagers, but on the other hand I think this would have caused an alarm long time before in a security check. If thousands of these devices are spread amon the Hesbolla members, someone would very likely used a plane or something else with high security checks.
Click to expand...

There are reports circulating on SM that these new AR-924 pagers were fielded only recently. Perhaps the internal explosives could not have flashed yet at Beirut Khalde or other points of entry in Lebanon.
 
Wait - did they made the batteries overheat and explode OR did they activate the Hezbollah self-destruct systems inside their pagers ? Second case would be of utter irony.
Hezbollah member "my pagers will self destruct if captured by an Israeli"
Israel - "hold my beer" (makes hezbollah member self destruct via the pager explosives.)
 
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Now, there are three versions:

(1) miniature explosives planted via the supply chain attack -- most likely;
(2) battery overheating and explode -- semi likely unless there were cases in Lebanon and Syria today where the battery ignited but did not explode;
(3) self-destruct mode by Hezbollah -- utterly stupid and most likely intentional disinformation by one side of the conflict.
 
There are reports on SM that PETN was planted behind the batteries on the pagers. When the batteries overheated, the explosives ignited at ca. 190 deg. C.
 
www.bbc.com

Watch: Small explosion in Lebanon supermarket

BBC Verify has examined dozens of videos after reports of thousands injured and several killed by handheld pagers exploding in Lebanon.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

www.bbc.com

Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies: How did they explode and who did it?

The attacks left at least 32 dead and thousands injured, but how the blasts occurred remains unclear.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

www.bbc.com

Israel says it killed senior Hezbollah figures in strike on Beirut

Lebanon's health ministry says 14 people were killed and dozens injured in the strike, as cross-border exchanges escalate.
www.bbc.com


www.telegraph.co.uk

IDF on alert for Hezbollah retaliation over pager attacks

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) was on Tuesday braced for a response after Hezbollah accused Israel of being behind a wave of exploding pagers that killed at least nine and injured thousands.
www.telegraph.co.uk www.telegraph.co.uk

At least 200 critically injured, so it is likely that there are already far more fatalities than the nine already admitted to.
 
This sounds like something right out of Mossad's playbook.

On another note the team from Mission Impossible would be impressed;):D.
 
An interesting quotation from the AR-924 website at https://www.gapollo.com.tw/product/ar-924/

Maintenance Provisions​

  • Separated main board and charger board
  • Replaceable battery (spring contacts)
  • Replaceable vibration motor (spring contacts)
  • Replaceable display with connector
  • Replaceable silicone seal
  • Manual self-test
Click to expand...

If the battery, among other parts, was replaceable, then the pagers themselves did not necessarily have to be hard-wired by the attacker. Replacing the battery with the PETN add-on could have been made as well within the organization. A software hack would do the rest.
 
"Bastard Operator From Hell"

Near-mythical IT senior operative with, literally, the keys to your kingdom. Plus a nasty habit of defenestrating contrary upper management. Though lesser minions etc are not immune...,
 
yahya said:
If a small explosive was indeed planted inside each of ca. 2800 pagers, that would mean a huge "supply chain attack."

www.bbc.com

Hezbollah blames Israel after deadly pager explosions in Lebanon

Nine people have been killed and 2,800 wounded by the blasts, the Lebanese health ministry says.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
Click to expand...
It's my understanding that the Israeli .gov impounded a lot of pagers before releasing them to Lebanon. (Pagers arrived at a port in Israel because Lebanese ports are a mess)



yahya said:
Guys, isn't that the explosives, even in small quantities can be detected using X-ray machines? Would Hezbollah X-ray now all the electronics they have to avoid their past mistake?
Click to expand...
You'd think they would have done this now, especially if the Israeli .gov had access to those pagers for any length of time.
 
This is like the electronic equivalent of the tylenol poisoning case or some other mass product tampering,and just as with that event its very likely we will see this repeated somewhere else at some point in the near future.
One could easily imagine the initial chaos resulting even from relatively small numbers of some well known brand of smart phone or laptop being booby trapped in this same sort of way,plus the longer term economic fallout for whichever unfortunate company [or companies] had its products targeted.
The potential is quite terrifying,for instance how big a bang would you get if you pulled this same sort of trick with an EV battery?
 

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