Pager blasts in Lebanon: How safe are our mobile devices?

A man reacts while holding a Hezbollah flag during the funeral of people killed after hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon on Tuesday, in a south Beirut district. AFP

How sure are we that our phones won’t explode in our faces? This week’s developments in Lebanon make us raise this question. The next time we buy a mobile communication device, we must ensure it comes from a seller who provides a manufacturer warranty, confirming it has not been tampered with and is free of explosives.
Reports from Lebanon say that at least 12 people, including two children, were killed and about 2800 people suffered injuries when pagers exploded on Tuesday. On Wednesday, 20 more people died and some 450 suffered injuries in a second wave of explosions from wireless communication devices such as walkie-talkies, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

Pagers are simple, one-way communication devices designed to receive short messages or alerts. It was popular in the late 1980s before mobile phones hit the market. They lack the advanced navigation technologies like the Global Positioning System (GPS) that are found in modern smartphones and other devices. In Lebanon, resistance group Hezbollah members use pagers to communicate with each other after they discovered that smartphones with GPS facilities have enabled Israel to zero in on their locations for targeted killings.
What happened in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday is a blatant act of terrorism. It is no different from acts of terrorism that countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are familiar with. The so-called suicide bomber is often an innocent courier. An unemployed youth is paid some money to carry a parcel from point A to B. He does not know that it contains a bomb that will be detonated by a terrorist from a safe distance with the help of a remote-controlled device. In Lebanon, those who carried the pagers and walkie-talkies did not know they were carrying bombs until they exploded in the midst of civilians. This is a gruesome act of terrorism. 
When the pagers and the communication devices exploded, not only the holder but also the people next to him were killed or wounded. Video clips going viral on social media show blasts in crowded public places, roads, and funerals.
Although a universal definition of terrorism is still politically problematic, international law identifies terrorism as an offence committed by a person or a group if that person or group, by any means, unlawfully and intentionally, causes death or serious bodily injury to any person, serious damage to a state or public property, public transportation system, communication system, infrastructure facility, or the environment when the purpose of such an act is to intimidate a population. 
The two days of Israeli terror in Lebanon are a major setback to Hezbollah, already smarting over Israel’s targeted assassinations that had killed the group’s top commanders. Among them was Fuad Shukur, who was killed in an Israeli drone attack on July 30. Hezbollah vowed revenge, but the promised retaliation is yet to come.
Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah was expected to release a televised speech on the latest development that has seriously disrupted communication channels between the leadership and the members. Until they recover and invent a foolproof communication system, they will have to rely on letters written on paper, just as things were before emails, mobile phones, and social media. 
The Lebanese blasts also expose the Israeli-led state terrorism nexus, incorporating, among others, private companies making pagers, smartphones, computers, televisions, radios, and other electronic devices.

It is no more secret that smartphones and smart televisions are virtual spies collecting information about us without our knowledge and permission. 
Tech companies collect data from users, including location, browsing history, and app usage. We innocently believe that they use the data for targeted advertising or to help us with searches. Companies like Facebook, Apple, and Google hand over user data to governments when compelled to. What guarantee do we have that these companies will not share the data about us with spy agencies? Privacy activists accuse some mobile device manufacturers of having backdoors that could be exploited for surveillance.
Remember Pegasus, the world’s most sophisticated spyware developed by Israeli cyber arms manufacturing company NSO Group? Governments can covertly and remotely install the spyware on mobile phones running iOS and Android. Once installed, Pegasus can read text messages, track calls, collect passwords, track location, access the target device’s microphone and camera, and harvest information from apps.
Although the company says the spyware was designed to fight crime and terrorism, human rights activists say governments have used it to surveil journalists, lawyers, dissidents, and human rights activists.
Israel’s cyber army was also accused of causing blasts in Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility in July 2020 and April 2021. 
Israeli’s capabilities apart, what is of major concern is device makers’ role in state terrorism. On Wednesday, Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, which was initially accused of making the pagers for Hezbollah, distanced itself from the controversy and said they were made by Hungary-based BAC Consulting under license. 
Some say that about five months ago, the cargo from Hungary was intercepted by Mossad on its way to Lebanon to introduce 20 grams of pentaerythritol nitrate. Others say the operation was carried out at the production level. 
The attacks have raised Lebanese fears about the use of mobile communication devices. They do not know if they can stay next to their laptops or phones. They do not know what will explode next.
Was it a mere coincidence that some three months ago, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned Hezbollah that Israel could send Lebanon back to the Stone Age if the group wanted a war? 
As Lebanon was shaken by blasts this week, Gallant announced a “new phase in the war,” and redeployed an Israeli army division to the Lebanese border. “We do not want war, but we are preparing for every scenario,” he told reporters. “Hezbollah understands very well that we can inflict massive damage in Lebanon if a war is launched.” 
With its killer sophistication and technological superiority, Israel has now become so cocky that it has asked evacuated citizens to return to their houses in the north, closer to the Lebanese border. The move indicates that Israel believes that Hezbollah is no longer a threat after it taught the militia group a tough lesson.
The pager blasts may be a humiliation to Hezbollah, which entered the war in support of its ally, Hamas, in Gaza. But the group is far from being reduced to the Stone Age. It has a massive arsenal and is capable of defending itself and launching attacks on Israel. Three months ago, in response to Israel’s Stone Age rhetoric, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened a war with “no restraint and no rules and no ceilings” in case of a major Israeli offensive against Lebanon.
What’s next is anybody’s guess.