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1. Embed this notice
   Kevin Beaumont (gossithedog@cyberplace.social)'s status on Tuesday, 17-Sep-2024 23:01:08 JST Kevin Beaumont

   PSA: pagers are not secure. Messages are sent in effectively plain text and anybody can intercept them.

   • Embed this notice
     Kevin Beaumont (gossithedog@cyberplace.social)'s status on Tuesday, 17-Sep-2024 23:48:24 JST Kevin Beaumont

     in reply to

     With regards to this story - the Beeb do a good job with it.

     There's no credible indication it's some kind of cyber hack. More likely is the supply chain of the pager maker was sabotaged at some point.

     Not in the article but recently, Hezbollah handed out pagers, telling people to swap from mobile phones. All eyes will be on where Hezbollah got said pagers.

     https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd7xnelvpepo

   • Embed this notice
     HistoPol (#HP) 🥥 🌴 (histopol@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 01:15:50 JST HistoPol (#HP) 🥥 🌴

     in reply to

     @GossiTheDog

     #GeoPol

     Well, then blowing up over 2,000 of them worn by #Hizbullah terrorists, at least from an Israeli perspective, was not such a good idea in the long run after all...

   • Embed this notice
     HistoPol (#HP) 🥥 🌴 (histopol@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 01:15:55 JST HistoPol (#HP) 🥥 🌴

     in reply to

     @GossiTheDog

     #GeoPol

     Well, then blowing up over 2,000 of them worn by #Hezbollah terrorists, at least from an Israeli perspective, was not such a good idea in the long run after all...

   • Embed this notice
     Kevin Beaumont (gossithedog@cyberplace.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 01:40:38 JST Kevin Beaumont

     in reply to

     oh no

   • Embed this notice
     Kevin Beaumont (gossithedog@cyberplace.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 02:42:59 JST Kevin Beaumont

     in reply to

     The BBC are reporting the devices may have had explosives inserted into the devices, somewhere along the supply chain. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cwyl9048gx8t?post=asset%3A5f2f95af-e616-4d4b-bffb-f3fcfbbaca51#post

   • Embed this notice
     David Penfold :verified: (davep@infosec.exchange)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 02:52:34 JST David Penfold :verified:

     in reply to

     @GossiTheDog May have? Li-ion chemistry wouldn't explode like that.

   • Embed this notice
     Jamie McCarthy (jamiemccarthy@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 02:52:59 JST Jamie McCarthy

     in reply to

     @GossiTheDog …was that not obviously what happened?

   • Embed this notice
     Jeff Grigg (jeffgrigg@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 05:21:34 JST Jeff Grigg

     in reply to

     • Richard Bairwell
     • VessOnSecurity
     • Samuel Leuenberger

     @Leuenberg @bontchev @rbairwell @GossiTheDog

     It appears that it was mostly injuries:

     "People were seen lying on the pavement with wounds on their hands or near their pants pockets, where the devices were."

     https://thehill.com/policy/international/4884318-pager-attack-lebanon-syria-hezbollah/

     [I saw another report that some people threw the phones when they got hot, shortly before they exploded, avoiding injury.

   • Embed this notice
     Samuel Leuenberger (leuenberg@cyberplace.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 05:21:34 JST Samuel Leuenberger

     in reply to

     • Richard Bairwell
     • Jeff Grigg
     • VessOnSecurity

     @JeffGrigg @bontchev @rbairwell @GossiTheDog "I saw another report that some people threw the phones when they got hot, shortly before they exploded, avoiding injury".

     Good point ! That is more consistent with a thermal loop and a battery explosion.

   • Embed this notice
     Jeff Grigg (jeffgrigg@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 05:21:35 JST Jeff Grigg

     in reply to

     • Richard Bairwell
     • VessOnSecurity
     • Samuel Leuenberger

     @Leuenberg @bontchev @rbairwell @GossiTheDog

     These are the most precise figures that I see:

     "At least nine people, including a girl, have been killed and 2,750 wounded in simultaneous explosions of pagers used by Hezbollah members across Lebanon."

     https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/9/17/israels-war-on-gaza-live-38-killed-as-israel-risks-becoming-pariah

   • Embed this notice
     Jeff Grigg (jeffgrigg@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 05:21:36 JST Jeff Grigg

     in reply to

     • Richard Bairwell
     • VessOnSecurity

     @bontchev @rbairwell @GossiTheDog

     The batteries used in phones and laptops can be overloaded. They may catch on fire and possibly explode. This can be done by software, on the cheaper relatively modern devices.

     Doesn't surprise me at all that Israel might have done this.

   • Embed this notice
     Samuel Leuenberger (leuenberg@cyberplace.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 05:21:36 JST Samuel Leuenberger

     in reply to

     • Richard Bairwell
     • Jeff Grigg
     • VessOnSecurity

     @JeffGrigg @bontchev @rbairwell @GossiTheDog I agree with the "possibly explode" statement, but all exploding ? And on top of that with enough yield to kill people ?
     That's pretty weird. Really looking forward to the postmortem (no pun intended) analysis.

   • Embed this notice
     Jeff Grigg (jeffgrigg@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 05:21:37 JST Jeff Grigg

     in reply to

     • Richard Bairwell
     • VessOnSecurity

     @bontchev @rbairwell @GossiTheDog

     "According to information obtained by LBCI, initial reports suggest the pager server was compromised, leading to the installation of a script that caused an overload. This likely resulted in the overheating of the lithium battery, which then exploded."

     https://www.lbcgroup.tv/news/lebanon-news/796406/understanding-the-pager-and-how-it-can-explode/en

   • Embed this notice
     VessOnSecurity (bontchev@infosec.exchange)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 05:21:38 JST VessOnSecurity

     in reply to

     • Richard Bairwell

     @rbairwell @GossiTheDog By putting explosives inside?

   • Embed this notice
     Richard Bairwell (rbairwell@mastodon.org.uk)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 05:21:39 JST Richard Bairwell

     in reply to

     @GossiTheDog Since seeing the Beeb's article, I have been wondering *how* the hell a pager could explode.

   • Embed this notice
     Kevin Beaumont (gossithedog@cyberplace.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 13:39:04 JST Kevin Beaumont

     in reply to

     US officials briefed on the pager incident say explosives were inserted in the supply chain. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/17/world/middleeast/israel-hezbollah-pagers-explosives.html

   • Embed this notice
     meriksson (meriksson@swecyb.com)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 14:26:08 JST meriksson

     in reply to

     @GossiTheDog If you work with critical infrastructure within the goverment-sector.

     How many opens up and check new switches/routers/appliances before placing them next to everything else protected by many, many, many physical and logical access controls?

     Most dont, warranty seals tend to make people stop at the idea level.

     And we all know warranty seals cant be forged.

     🤷♂️

   • Embed this notice
     Kevin Beaumont (gossithedog@cyberplace.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 19:40:07 JST Kevin Beaumont

     in reply to

     Backdooring thousands of pagers with explosives and then mass detonating those devices indiscriminately to injure often random humans does not feel like something any nation should be doing, supporting or celebrating. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cwyl9048gx8t?post=asset%3A45a99d22-17da-4f84-ae51-4c5b7a17b2aa#post

   • Embed this notice
     Future Past (daysoffuturepast@theblower.au)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 20:06:04 JST Future Past

     in reply to

     @GossiTheDog

     I condemn the attack, but I think "random humans" is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Do you have data on how much of the Lebanese population still use pagers for their communication? Or how many "random humans" were given *these specific* pagers that were allegedly handed out by the hundreds not too long ago?

     Another user compared this to Hezbollah/Hamas bus bombings. Those victims are *actual* random humans. I simply don't see the comparison.

   • Embed this notice
     Jamie McCarthy (jamiemccarthy@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 20:37:44 JST Jamie McCarthy

     • Future Past

     @GossiTheDog @DaysOfFuturePast That video shows literally nobody wounded except the presumed terrorist. The guy standing inches from him was startled

   • Embed this notice
     Jamie McCarthy (jamiemccarthy@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:20:11 JST Jamie McCarthy

     • Future Past

     @GossiTheDog @DaysOfFuturePast Hezbollah has spent weeks firing hundreds of low-accuracy rockets into Israel, including barrages on Sunday and Monday.

     I have a genuine question about yesterday's response: in the history of warfare, has there ever been a large-scale kinetic attack that has been *more* highly targeted?

   • Embed this notice
     System Adminihater (systemadminihater@cyberplace.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 23:18:21 JST System Adminihater

     in reply to

     @GossiTheDog Stop.Fucking.With.People.com

   • Embed this notice
     Kevin Beaumont (gossithedog@cyberplace.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 23:30:09 JST Kevin Beaumont

     in reply to

     BBC reporting walkie talkies are exploding across Beirut, in a brand used by Hezbollah.

     Pretty clear Israel have compromised a, or several, supply chains.

   • Embed this notice
     TheTomas (thetomas@social.toot9.de)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 23:31:35 JST TheTomas

     in reply to

     @GossiTheDog Disagree. Everyone knows what HAMAS is. At the same moment that someone decided to join its ranks and use its information infrastructure, that person signed their own verdict.