Vikram Rathour reunites with Rahul Dravid at Rajasthan Royals for IPL 2025
How MS Dhoni's sister played a crucial role in shaping his cricket career
This stock of Anil Ambani sees huge growth, price jumps more than 50% in a week
Technologically Triggered Terror: The weaponisation of electronics in modern warfare
IND vs BAN: Jasprit Bumrah joins elite company, becomes sixth Indian pacer to...
Land-for-jobs case: President Murmu authorises prosecution of Lalu Prasad Yadav, CBI submits...
Mumbai man orders iPhone 16 online after standing in queue for hours, then..
This man starts wedding sabotage business, claims he's fully booked till December, charges Rs...
Tirupati Laddoo Row: Jagan Reddy says he will write to PM Modi, CJI to take action against...
Meet man who passed JEE Advanced with AIR 1, completed B.Tech from IIT Bombay, is now pursuing…
Meet man who started as intern at Nike, is now its CEO after 32 years, his salary is Rs...
ENG vs AUS: Travis Head breaks Rohit Sharma's 6-year-old ODI record
IND vs BAN: Virat Kohli refuses to take DRS despite inside edge, Rohit Sharma's reaction goes viral
Meet man, whose father's death encouraged him to quit IAS job, create multi-crore company, he is...
Why you shouldn't cook your vegetables in ghee? Know here
AAP demands government accommodation for outgoing Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, says he is...
'Samples highly adulterated, we will...': Tirupati Temple Trust issues first statement on laddoo row
Viral video: Snake emerges out of AC vent in classroom; what happened next?
Elon Musk, Oracle CEO once begged this company to take their money, know what had happened
IND vs BAN: Why Shakib Al Hasan was biting a mysterious thread while batting? Know here
What's the story behind Ravindra Jadeja's sword celebration, why he does it?
NEET UG 2024: CBI files second-chargesheet against six accused in paper leak case
PM Modi to begin 3-day US visit tomorrow: know what's on agenda
'Maybe the time has come to...': Pawan Kalyan makes HUGE statement amid Tirupati Laddoo row
Rug Utsav 2024: Exquisite journey through Jaipur Rugs' handcrafted artistry
'Office was filled with…': Ashneer Grover on why he left EY in one day despite having package of Rs…
Who is Jani Master? Stree 2, Pushpa, Jailer choreographer, National Award-winner arrested for...
Stree 2 choreographer Jani Master arrested in sexual assault case in Goa
'Regret missing...': EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani breaks silence on Anna Sebastian Perayil’s death
Ind vs Ban: Ravichandran Ashwin sets world record, becomes first cricketer in history to…
This ragpicker from Noida earns more than IT professionals, the amount will leave you shocked...
'Final farewell to...': Home Minister Amit Shah says this about naxalism
Supreme Court of India's YouTube channel hacked, shows videos promoting cryptocurrency XRP
Shama Sikandar says a superstar improvised a scene to hug her 'inappropriately': 'He wanted to...'
Anil Ambani’s big move after making RPower debt free, Reliance Infra seeks to raise Rs…
PM-KISAN 18th Installment likely to be released soon, eligible farmers must ensure these 5 things...
Mpox outbreak: This town famous for gold mines is virus hot spot with 6000 people...
iPhone 16 series sale starts today: Here's how you can get your phone delivered within 15 minutes!
What is Amazon founder's Jeff Bezos's empty chair rule for meetings? Know here
Meet Dhruvi Patel, Gujarat NRI crowned Miss India Worldwide 2024, she aspires to become...
Mpox Outbreak: Second Mpox case confirmed in India, patient recently travelled from...
This factor for brain stroke is as dangerous as smoking, study finds
Engineering graduate kills sex worker, cuts her body into pieces, stuffs body in suitcase over…
MS Dhoni's daughter Ziva studies in this school, know area covered, amenities, fees is Rs...
This startup from Shark Tank might end long queues at fuel stations by…
Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson Agastya Nanda invests in this latest food venture in...
BIG relief for Delhi-NCR commuters as new highway might reduce travel time...
Could your phone be next bomb? Scary truth about remote explosions
Mumbai to Pune in 2 hrs with new expressway, Atal Setu to play crucial link
Haryana Assembly Elections 2024: AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal to kick-start poll campaign today
Bangladesh pacer Hasan Mahmud joins Dale Steyn to record rare feat in IND vs BAN 1st Test
Meet woman, who scored 97% in class 12, secured 705 out of 720 marks in NEET exam, her AIR is...
PM Modi to visit Maharashtra today, to unveil major initiatives for...
iPhone 16 series sale starts today: Check price in India, bank offers, cashbacks, offers and more
This Indian palace has been underwater for 221 years, remains undamaged, it is located in...
DNA TV Show: Row over fat-containing laddus in Tirupati Temple
Kolkata rape-murder case: Junior doctors to end protest, resume emergency services from...
Salman Khan's security breached, case registered against biker following actor's car
Sarfaraz Ahmed trolls Babar Azam in Champions One-Day Cup, star batter responds with century
After reducing debt, Anil Ambani's company now approves Rs 3014 crore...
Legends League Cricket 2024: Full schedule, squads, live streaming - All you need to know
India reacts to report on diversion of Indian defence exports to Ukraine, says, ‘it is…’
Tata Group-owned app to deliver iPhone 16 models in 10 minutes, service starts from…
WORLD
On Tuesday, September 17th, an attack triggered pagers to explode across Lebanon and Syria, injuring thousands and killing at least 12 people, including a 9-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy.
TRENDING NOW
This week, Lebanon was shaken by coordinated attacks, marking the latest occurrence in a longstanding trend of using booby-trapped electronics in conflicts.
Booby-trapped electronics are devices like phones or gadgets that have hidden explosives inside them, designed to detonate when used, causing harm to the person handling them.
On Tuesday, September 17th, an attack triggered pagers to explode across Lebanon and Syria, injuring thousands and killing at least 12 people, including a 9-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy.
On Wednesday, September 18th, a second wave of bombings occurred when explosives hidden in handheld radios went off across the country. Reports say the blasts killed nine people and injured 300 others.
Israel, which is largely believed to be responsible for both attacks, allegedly rigged pagers used by Hezbollah members with explosives. A similar tactic was also used with their hand-held radios.
The explosions seem to be the result of supply-chain attacks. This means the devices were either altered or swapped with rigged ones, containing explosives and a detonator, before reaching the intended targets.
Hezbollah, which also blames Israel for the exploding devices, had reportedly shifted to using pagers for communication on a large scale, in an attempt to avoid Israeli surveillance.
According to reports from The Intercept, the scope of the coordinated attacks was surprising, but the method of converting an electronic device into a bomb is not new.
In fact, U.S. military documents show that this tactic has been used for at least 50 years.
The U.S. Army’s Field Manual 5-31, first published in 1965 and titled "Boobytraps," describes these devices as explosives set up to go off when someone unknowingly touches something that looks safe or does something that seems harmless.
The 130-page manual includes detailed wiring diagrams and drawings for setting up booby traps in a variety of everyday items, such as office equipment like desks and early phone directories, kitchen tools like pots and kettles, and even things like televisions and beds.
The manual also explains a World War II booby-trapped communication headset, which had an electric detonator attached to the terminals. Plugging the headset into an active communication line would trigger the explosion.
An earlier version of the "Boobytraps" field manual from the same year shows a diagram of a desk phone fitted with an explosive charge in its base.
The manual explains that "a fake telephone can be created to explode when someone tries to use it." This diagram was removed in the later edition of the manual.
Another Army manual from 1966, TM 31-200-1, titled “Unconventional Warfare Devices and Techniques,” mentions that although the "test history" of the booby-trapped headset is unclear, the idea seems "feasible." It also states that even a small amount of explosives going off close to the ear can cause significant injury.
Nearly 30 years later, in 1996, Israel's security agency, Shin Bet, reportedly used a similar method to detonate a small explosive near the ear of Yahya Ayyash, a key bomb-maker for Hamas.
Since Ayyash often used his friends' phones, those planning his assassination were able to get a tampered phone to a relative of one of his childhood friends.
According to reports, when Ayyash picked up a phone that had been rigged with explosives, aerial surveillance intercepted the call, and Shin Bet remotely triggered the device, killing him.
It's not just communication devices that have been turned into explosives; other types of electronics have also been used in the same way.
Explosive devices have been made from more than just communication gadgets. Many other types of electronics have also been turned into explosives.
A 2010 issue of Inspire, a magazine published by Al Qaeda, featured an article by Ikrimah Al-Muhajir from the "Explosives Department." In the article, he detailed how explosives were hidden inside a printer's ink cartridge, according to a report by The Intercept. The article explains that bomb-makers used a Nokia cellphone circuit to help the device go through airport security without being detected.
Al-Muhajir explained that the chemical structure of the printer's toner was similar to the explosive material used, making it harder to detect. He also mentioned that the cellphone’s circuitry was chosen because it blended well with the printer's internal components, making the hidden explosives even less noticeable.
Two explosive devices were found because of intelligence about the plan. By the time they were discovered, these devices had already been placed on several planes undetected.
In 2023, Ecuadorian journalists received USB sticks that had been rigged with explosives. When one was plugged into a computer, it exploded, injuring a TV presenter. The USB sticks were reported to contain RDX, the same explosive material used in the assassination of Ayyash.
After the coordinated attacks in Lebanon, more information may come out about how the explosive devices were set off. For now, the key point is that electronic communication devices aren't just vulnerable to surveillance — they can actually be turned into weapons.