5 ms·

> Hack the backend server, send a coordinated page to all the pagers at the same time. You likely don’t even need to hack anything if you coordinate based on t

by koolba 2y ago

> Hack the backend server, send a coordinated page to all the pagers at the same time. You likely don’t even need to hack anything if you coordinate based on time. A built in clock would eliminate the need for any external signal and work in a, no pun intended, dead zone. If the pager itself is hacked, the software could also pretend to receive a page a moment before detonation to maximize the chance the device is held with the receiver in the open.

ars 2y ago
It wasn't time based. Videos show the pager making some kind of signal or message that caused the person holding it to look at it.
- anigbrowl 2y ago
  That doesn't follow. You could have a timer that causes the pager to vibrate as if it had received a message or an alarm had rung. That would make the attack simpler, in that one wouldn't also have to compromise (or risk leaving traces in) the phone system to activate thousands of pagers.
  - rocqua 2y ago
    I'd imagine a backup timer, with the ability to trigger early if required for strategic or tactical purposes. I almost surprised this wasn't coordinated with (or saved for) an incursion into Libanon. That seems to be something Israel wants to do, and this would be a great way to disrupt the defense at the most critical moment.
    - ars 2y ago
      A timer is too risky. The was done months in advance - what if the war was over? I think this was meant for intelligence gathering - now that they know who the important operatives are, you go backwards using video and see where they went and who they talked to.
      - throwaway81523 2y ago
        Seems easier to install a transmitter and GPS in the supposedly receive-only device. Then it could actually track people and show where they had been. It could store up readings and only transmit while the device was in motion at around walking speed, with signal strength above Y. That means the person was probably outdoors and moving, thus probably ot being swept by bug detectors. Well maybe not any more, now that everyone is thinking that way ;).
    - anigbrowl 2y ago
      Oh I think it's absolutely preparation for an incursion, as are today's follow-up attacks.
  - blantonl 2y ago
    Pagers just simply have an address (called a Cap Code) to receive messages. It's like a mailbox number. A pager can be programmed with usually up to 4 Cap Codes at a time. If I was speculating on what happened, I would bet that the pager had 3 Cap Code addresses programmed, the mailbox cap code the owner of the pager expected to have for receiving messages, a cap code that was the same programmed in all the pagers to that functioned normally to received messages, and then the 3rd cap code programmed in all the pagers that when receiving a specific message triggered the explosive. The folks responsible simply sent a message to the 2nd cap code to get all the pagers to go off, presumably to get the targets to get the pagers out and look at them, and then immediately the trigger message next to the 3rd cap code to detonate the explosive.
- koolba 2y ago
  I’m saying even that could be time based to ensure it does not depend on the signal being received. Just pretend you got a message and add a delay of a couple seconds.
  - ars 2y ago
    It could be, but it would be very risky. These pagers would have been distributed months in advance. How could you possibly know the perfect time to set them off? And since pagers are already receiving remote messages, it doesn't make sense to do it any other way.
grotorea 2y ago
Is the pager thing really recent? Because if this was done before the current war they couldn't have known when they wanted it to explode.
- llm_nerd 2y ago
  https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/pagers-drones-how-hezbollah-aims-counter-israels-high-tech-surveillance-2024-07-09/ https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/pagers-drones-how-...
make3 2y ago
if you physically control the pager I don't even think it's called hacking anymore. you can change the hardware and software willy nilly. put an extra SIM that you control in there, and call it. put a radio receiver. a timer. heck, a dog whistle audio detector, you blow it and they blow up. infinite possibilities.
- CydeWeys 2y ago
  I mean they probably did hack to some degree the default software/hardware in the pager to get it to do something nonstandard. I doubt they have access to the full source code and build stack of the OG pager, so even just modifying the software running on it to do something different is indeed a hack.
- blantonl 2y ago
  Pagers don't have SIMs, they are simply programmed with a "Cap Code" which is basically the address of the pager. Pagers can be programmed with multiple cap codes, and can function differently based on which cap code address receives a message. For instance, a single cap code could be programmed to just vibrate the pager, vs an audible alert. Pagers are sent out via very high power distributed transmitters as one way transmissions simulcasted transmissions. The format is typically: [CAP CODE] - Message That's literally it.
bilinguliar 2y ago
It most likely just received a code message that triggered the device.

by koolba 2y ago

ars 2y ago

It wasn't time based. Videos show the pager making some kind of signal or message that caused the person holding it to look at it.

anigbrowl 2y ago
That doesn't follow. You could have a timer that causes the pager to vibrate as if it had received a message or an alarm had rung. That would make the attack simpler, in that one wouldn't also have to compromise (or risk leaving traces in) the phone system to activate thousands of pagers.
- rocqua 2y ago
  I'd imagine a backup timer, with the ability to trigger early if required for strategic or tactical purposes. I almost surprised this wasn't coordinated with (or saved for) an incursion into Libanon. That seems to be something Israel wants to do, and this would be a great way to disrupt the defense at the most critical moment.
  - ars 2y ago
    A timer is too risky. The was done months in advance - what if the war was over? I think this was meant for intelligence gathering - now that they know who the important operatives are, you go backwards using video and see where they went and who they talked to.
    - throwaway81523 2y ago
      Seems easier to install a transmitter and GPS in the supposedly receive-only device. Then it could actually track people and show where they had been. It could store up readings and only transmit while the device was in motion at around walking speed, with signal strength above Y. That means the person was probably outdoors and moving, thus probably ot being swept by bug detectors. Well maybe not any more, now that everyone is thinking that way ;).
  - anigbrowl 2y ago
    Oh I think it's absolutely preparation for an incursion, as are today's follow-up attacks.
- blantonl 2y ago
  Pagers just simply have an address (called a Cap Code) to receive messages. It's like a mailbox number. A pager can be programmed with usually up to 4 Cap Codes at a time. If I was speculating on what happened, I would bet that the pager had 3 Cap Code addresses programmed, the mailbox cap code the owner of the pager expected to have for receiving messages, a cap code that was the same programmed in all the pagers to that functioned normally to received messages, and then the 3rd cap code programmed in all the pagers that when receiving a specific message triggered the explosive. The folks responsible simply sent a message to the 2nd cap code to get all the pagers to go off, presumably to get the targets to get the pagers out and look at them, and then immediately the trigger message next to the 3rd cap code to detonate the explosive.
koolba 2y ago
I’m saying even that could be time based to ensure it does not depend on the signal being received. Just pretend you got a message and add a delay of a couple seconds.
- ars 2y ago
  It could be, but it would be very risky. These pagers would have been distributed months in advance. How could you possibly know the perfect time to set them off? And since pagers are already receiving remote messages, it doesn't make sense to do it any other way.

grotorea 2y ago

Is the pager thing really recent? Because if this was done before the current war they couldn't have known when they wanted it to explode.

llm_nerd 2y ago
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/pagers-drones-how-hezbollah-aims-counter-israels-high-tech-surveillance-2024-07-09/ https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/pagers-drones-how-...

make3 2y ago

if you physically control the pager I don't even think it's called hacking anymore. you can change the hardware and software willy nilly. put an extra SIM that you control in there, and call it. put a radio receiver. a timer. heck, a dog whistle audio detector, you blow it and they blow up. infinite possibilities.

CydeWeys 2y ago
I mean they probably did hack to some degree the default software/hardware in the pager to get it to do something nonstandard. I doubt they have access to the full source code and build stack of the OG pager, so even just modifying the software running on it to do something different is indeed a hack.
blantonl 2y ago
Pagers don't have SIMs, they are simply programmed with a "Cap Code" which is basically the address of the pager. Pagers can be programmed with multiple cap codes, and can function differently based on which cap code address receives a message. For instance, a single cap code could be programmed to just vibrate the pager, vs an audible alert. Pagers are sent out via very high power distributed transmitters as one way transmissions simulcasted transmissions. The format is typically: [CAP CODE] - Message That's literally it.

bilinguliar 2y ago

It most likely just received a code message that triggered the device.