Pagers exploding due to cyber attack Elaborate Espionage or CyberPunk Dystopia

A simple investigation

On this day some new had broken out, hezbollah members had been targetted by an israeli attack in which caused their pagers to suddenly and randomly “explode” as they are in the posession of its members, many vidoes are circulating on the internet as of right now

DISCLAIMER

Skip to the conclusion if you dont wanna read all of this

I am NOT a chemist or in any way knowledgable interms of electronics, this post was made by using purely research and some critical thinking to show how e asy disinformation campagins can go. I would like to add I do not ASSOCIATE nor am I related to any military group or bias, my opinions are my own and im calling bullshit on israels claims interms of technical shit and proving this was NOT a cyber attack, if it was well… May god help us all.

Very useful side note

side note:
This post basically re-affirms my blog with jake williams the previous head of Research & Development in the United states NSA saying “these explosions aren’t just battires”, ill still post it eitherway because im bored and its annoying seeing people fall for propaganda and fear mongering
https://www.wired.com/story/pager-explosion-hezbollah/

What are these pagers and why is hezbollah using them?

A pager is a small device you carry around that works like a personal radio. When someone wants to send you a message, they dial a special number linked to your pager. The message gets sent out through radio waves to lots of pagers at once, but only your pager, with your specific code, picks up and shows the message. Your pager might beep or vibrate to let you know the message has arrived, and it will display the message on a small screen. Inside, the pager has a battery, a screen, and a little motor that vibrates when you get a message. It’s like a simple phone that only receives messages, and the battery lasts a long long time.

Hezbollah is essentially cutting the cord on using cellphones because it is a “Safer” method to basically call for emergencies, whether it is OPSEC safe or not, you be the judge.

Insides of a pager

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A more simplified IRL version of that image

As you can see these batteries on point 7 are PRETTTYYYYYY small compared to the one that had overheated above in the blog.

Goods

The advantages of pagers could be useful for Hezbollah members or any group operating in challenging environments. The long range of pagers allows members to communicate effectively in remote or mountainous areas, where cellphone signals may be weak or unavailable, ensuring reliable contact during operations. Fast message delivery ensures quick communication without delays, which is cruc ial during urgent situations. Additionally, the fact that pagers don’t have transmitters ma kes them less likely to interfere with sensitive equipment and less detectable by surveillan ce systems, potentially helping them maintain a lower profile compared to using cellphones, which can be tracked more easily.

Bads

Given the disadvantages, pagers become mostly useful for emergency meetings or situations where immediate response isn’t required. The one-way communication limits their ability to coordinate in real time, and the lack of message de livery confirmation means members might miss critical information if they’re out of range or their pager is off. The need to resend messages repeatedly makes pagers less reliable for ongoing communication. However, for broadcasting emergency meeting alerts, pagers still ser ve a purpose, as they can quickly reach members even in remote areas, ensuring they receive the message when it’s critical to gather without needing an immediate reply.

What are lithium ion batteries and how are they involved?

Lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable and used in many devices like phones and laptops. They work by moving tiny particles called lithium ions between two parts inside the battery when it’s charging and discharging. When you charge the battery, the ions move from one side to the other and store energy. When you use the battery, the ions move back, releasing energy to power your device. Unlike older batteries, lithium-ion batteries can be recharged many times and don’t need to be fully emptied before charging again. They are lighter and store more energy t han other types of batteries, but they also have safety features to prevent overheating or fires.

Goods

Lithium-ion batteries have several advantages. They are more reliable than older batteries and don’t need to be fully drained before recharging. They’re also lighter and can store more energy compared to other rechargeable batteries. Since they don’t contain toxic materials like some older batteries, they’re better for the environment. Over time, they’ve improved, especially in electric cars like Tesla, where newer batteries can store more energy, last longer, and give cars a longer driving range before needing a recharge.

Bads

Lithium-ion batteries have a few disadvantages. They store less energy than gasoline, so electric cars take longer to charge compared to refueling a gas car. There are also safety concerns because these batteries can overheat, catch fire, or even explode if overcharged or damaged, though safety features help prevent this. Sometimes, gases build up inside the battery, causing it to swell, which can lead to failure. While these fires have gotten attention, gasoline cars actually catch fire more often. Researchers are working on safer materials to reduce these risks in the future.

Overheating conditions?

If a lithium-ion battery overheats, the normal movement of ions inside it gets disrupted, which can cause the battery to get even hotter. This can happen if the battery is overcharged, damaged, or short-circuited. As the temperature rises, the heat causes more instability, leading to a dangerous cycle where the battery gets hotter and may eventually catch fire or explode if the safety features don’t stop it in time.

source: https://www.explainthatstuff.com/how-lithium-ion-batteries-work.html

Intermission

Now that the pagers are out of the way lets move on to the next topic at hand, muh fucken CYBERSECURITY.

are we in the Cyber Punk future ?

While there are research papers from the University of florida documenting the usage of “voltage noise” to manipulate wireless charger and even making phones overheat its still not effective enough to send a “HACK” simply because to overload certain wireless devices like phones and even making FOB’s explode But…

This is after modifying the ALREADY hardware built thermal protection which means that SOMEHOW they have to disable that physically, which also gives the implication that it was a supply chain attack

source: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2402.11423

But what about the battery exploding?

even if this IS a cyber attack (spoiler alert its not), all of this electromagnetic and cybersecurity fearmongering can be EASILY disuaded with 1 simple factor as to why these pagers cant explode. Energy.

Look at the cases in which phone batteries explode like the samsung note 7 which had MANY instances of which it was “exploding” (in reality catching fire) , the most minimal of research into said battery can show that these batteries are EASILY over 3500~ mAh so it makes sense how they have that potential to be scary and hurt poeple

What about the pagers?

source: https://store.jtech.com/jtech-rugged-pager-nimh-battery-3-pack/

these pagers are a MEASILY 300~ mAh, pagers are relatively a low energy tool that do NOT need that much energy to function and somehow you want me to believe they can “explode” the same way they do in those videos like bombs?, this is what a lithium battery for a phone looks like usually when it overheats, focus on the keyword. overheats

source: https://cdn4.explainthatstuff.com/lithium-ion-battery-failure.jpg
So now you can see how suspicious it is that even a phone’s battery that overheats and fails does not explode in the same way those pagers did

Ermmm wheres the proof?

Lets take a look at the samsung note 7 for example, the samsung note 7 had a MASSIVE issue with the battery where it would heat up and then “explode”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fL9qaZXalE&pp=ygUZc2Ftc3VuZyBub3RlIDcgYnVybmluZyB1cA%3D%3D

assessing the damage and the fire that can be seen, even if a phone where to blow up. it would cause some tissue damage and level 3 burns sure, but if a phone could NOT kill someone then how can that pager kill someone? simple. Something called RDX exists

RD- what now?

RDX, also known as cyclotrimethylene trinitramine, is a type of plastic explosive. It is a yellowish-white, odorless, and highly stable crystalline powder. RDX is a key component in various plastic explosives, including Composition C-4, a widely used military-grade explosive

A few grames of this would literally be enough to open up your skull and kill you, here is an example of plastic C4 being used against a phone (yes its timed too)

https://youtu.be/61PUSq69f30?t=290

As can be seen in the video, this seems much MUCH more similar to the pager exploding rather than the samsung note 7 “exploding” (inreality just burning up)

How does that explain the remote detonation?

Well as far as I can assume it was probably as everyone else also speculates, firmware hacking done. now how did they do firmware hacking so fast? well… they didnt, this attack vector is not something new and has been done multiple times by israel specifically against a hamas operative under the name “the engineer” known for his work in creating suicide bombs, he was later assassinated by israel;

“Shin Bet agents gave him a cell phone and told him it was bugged so they could listen in on his conversations. They did not tell him that it also contained 15 grams of RDX explosive. Hamad gave the phone to his nephew Osama, knowing that Ayyash regularly used Osama’s phones.

At 08:00 on 5 January 1996, Ayyash’s father called him and Ayyash answered. Overhead, an Israeli plane picked up their conversation and relayed it to an Israeli command post. When it was confirmed that it was Ayyash on the phone, Shin Bet remotely detonated it, killing him instantly”

Conclusion

So what now? the point of this blog is to prove that it was NOT a cyber attack and that I can say with 100% confidence and im sure other security professionals can say the same and/or already have. The conditions for an attack like this are extremely difficult to achieve and would most likely be an edge case scenario that would DEFINITELY NOT cause this. furtheremore if this where the case then we would be seeing much MUCH more highly political individuals getting respawned this specific way.

So what is it? (My humble opinion)

I really dont know, what really came to mind and what makes the most sense as of now is that it could be a combination of techniques. Namely Frequency overloading in combination with maybe a tampered battery that causes overheating and a massive BOOM OR… It could be as simple as a wrapped plastic explosive hidden in the case of the pager and triggered by some israeli cell maybe? who knows its too early to tell and not much information has come out yet

Closing note:

If you disagree with me then you are completely justified to, everyone has their opinions and this was simply me stating out mine. If you want to have a conversation, disagree or have anything that might help reach to the actual truth of what had occurred. please do contact me on linkedin

Thank you for reading <3
have a nice day fuckwit don’t forget to turn your brain on