After the horrors in Lebanon, most of us started to wonder if the cellphone in our hands was safe. Some of us took solace from the fact that the device did not originate in the western hemisphere.
Otherwise, thoughts went out towards Israel – which hasn’t claimed responsibility for the attacks in Lebanon – and the tech infiltration that already exists in the world.
The attack, an unprecedented security breach that saw thousands of pagers detonate across Lebanon, killed at least 12 people and wounded thousands.
In a report by Reuters, the news agency quoted senior Lebanese source as saying that the devices had been modified by Israel’s spy service “at the production level.”
“The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. It’s very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner,” the source was quoted as saying in the report.
The source said 3,000 of the pagers exploded when a coded message was sent to them, simultaneously activating the explosives.
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Whatever the finer details may be, there is now widespread concern about the safety and security of Western technology. Tesla’s self-driving car and Apple’s new iPhone are some of the products that come to mind.
In July, concerns were raised over Microsoft’s outage that forced flights to be grounded.
Isolated as they may seem, they will all have some sort of long-term effect.
In an age where devices like smartphones, smart cars, and even pagers are integral to daily life, incidents cannot be seen in isolation. The one in Lebanon has especially left people questioning whether the technology they rely on could be weaponised.
Some argue that Israeli access to western technology poses a potential threat. With Israel’s military tactics and alleged use of technology in conflict zones, critics claim that Western countries, especially the US, may be indirectly facilitating these acts by granting access to cutting-edge tech.
Khurram Schehzad, founder and CEO of Alpha Beta Core—a boutique investment banking and strategy advisory firm—believes that the pager explosion in Lebanon marks only the beginning of the potential for technology misuse. He noted that while the technology itself is not new, its application in violent acts is becoming more common.
According to Schehzad, major tech platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Google, and Apple have already been criticised for exploiting user data and breaching privacy. He added that precision AI-based technology, such as drones, has been in use for over six years.
“After Israel’s pager blast carnage, every piece of technology, including smartphones, is now being questioned for its potential lethal use,” Schehzad said, adding that the global implications are profound. He urged for legal action to be taken against Israel in the International Court of Justice, given the significant impact this technology-driven warfare could have on the world.
Where will this lead? How will it end? What is the value of human lives?
Parvez Iftikhar, an international ICT consultant, also weighed in on the incident, explaining that military-grade explosives were used in the pager blast. “A pager alone cannot cause such an explosion. Both the hardware and software were compromised, with explosives embedded into the device,” he explained.
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Iftikhar warned that all countries in conflict particularly with Israel – such as Iran, Lebanon, and Syria – have to be cautious when using such devices. From pagers and smartphones to AI-powered technologies like electric vehicles, all of these could be hacked or maliciously manipulated.
“Hacking can turn these into tools for destruction, potentially causing accidents or worse,” Iftikhar cautioned. “What happened in Lebanon is sheer terrorism, and it’s a wake-up call for the world to take security threats involving technology more seriously.”
The incident in Lebanon also underscores the urgent need for governments and consumers alike to be vigilant about the technology they use and the potential risks it carries. As the digital landscape evolves, so too does the ability for technology to be weaponized in unprecedented ways.
The article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Business Recorder or its owners
The writer is the Head of Digital Content at Business Recorder
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