Expert: Preparation for Hezbollah pager explosions likely took months

The mysterious pager explosions on Tuesday that wounded more than 3,600 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah terrorists, were the result of extensive planning, according to an Israeli cyber expert. The operation involved embedding components within the beepers that could translate signals into ignition and detonation, he said.

“In the world of cyber, there’s a concept known as the supply chain,” said Oleg Brodt, director of research, development, and innovation at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s Cyber Labs.

“Many attacks occur by compromising the supply chain,” he told Maariv. “An electronic device, like a beeper, contains numerous components, and each one could be infected with malware. This malware could be designed to raise the device’s temperature, cause a malfunction, ignite it, or even trigger an explosion.”

This type of operation was familiar in intelligence circles and requires significant cooperation from organizations involved in the manufacturing process, Brodt said, adding that these groups ensure that the malicious components are embedded or replaced without being detected by quality control.

“In such cases, it’s essential to make the changes to the device without raising suspicion during the quality inspection,” he said.

Kill switch

One potential method used is a feature known in the cyber world as a “kill switch.” In this scenario, malicious software is designed to detonate the device at a specific time or in response to a particular message sent to the beeper.

“It’s possible to set up a nonstandard message – something unusual or even gibberish – broadcast to hundreds or thousands of devices at once, causing simultaneous ignition and explosion,” Brodt said. “The radio waves received by the device are translated into a unique message that triggers a chain of events leading to the explosion.”