Get the latest tech news

First Israel’s Exploding Pagers Maimed and Killed. Now Comes the Paranoia


The explosion of thousands of rigged pagers and walkie-talkies will likely make Hezbollah operatives fear any means of electronic communication. It’s having the same effect on the Lebanese population.

Schneier compares the end result to the nearly incommunicado state of a hunted figure like Osama bin Laden, who in his final years was reduced to sending messages only via the human couriers who visited his secret compound in Pakistan. Israel's pager- and walkie-talkie-based attacks follow repeated public warnings from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah about the surveillance dangers of smartphones, given Israeli intelligence's well-known hacking prowess. The French-Lebanese security researcher Kobeissi, who now works as the founder and CEO of Paris-based tech firm Symbolic Software, says he's already seen false rumors and misleading videos spread among Lebanese people, suggesting for instance that iPhones, too, are exploding.

Get the Android app

Or read this on Wired

Read more on:

Photo of Israel

Israel

Photo of paranoia

paranoia

Photo of exploding pagers

exploding pagers

Related news:

News photo

How Israel Built a Modern-Day Trojan Horse: Exploding Pagers

News photo

Lebanon now hit with deadly walkie-talkie blasts as Israel declares ‘new phase’ of war

News photo

Israel detonates Hezbollah walkie-talkies in second wave after pager attack