Technologically Triggered Terror: The weaponisation of electronics in modern warfare

This week, Lebanon was shaken by coordinated attacks, marking the latest occurrence in a longstanding trend of using booby-trapped electronics in conflicts.

Booby-trapped electronics are devices like phones or gadgets that have hidden explosives inside them, designed to detonate when used, causing harm to the person handling them.

On Tuesday, September 17th, an attack triggered pagers to explode across Lebanon and Syria, injuring thousands and killing at least 12 people, including a 9-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy.

On Wednesday, September 18th, a second wave of bombings occurred when explosives hidden in handheld radios went off across the country. Reports say the blasts killed nine people and injured 300 others.

Israel, which is largely believed to be responsible for both attacks, allegedly rigged pagers used by Hezbollah members with explosives. A similar tactic was also used with their hand-held radios.

The explosions seem to be the result of supply-chain attacks. This means the devices were either altered or swapped with rigged ones, containing explosives and a detonator, before reaching the intended targets.

Hezbollah, which also blames Israel for the exploding devices, had reportedly shifted to using pagers for communication on a large scale, in an attempt to avoid Israeli surveillance.

According to reports from The Intercept, the scope of the coordinated attacks was surprising, but the method of converting an electronic device into a bomb is not new.

In fact, U.S. military documents show that this tactic has been used for at least 50 years.

The U.S. Army’s Field Manual 5-31, first published in 1965 and titled "Boobytraps," describes these devices as explosives set up to go off when someone unknowingly touches something that looks safe or does something that seems harmless.

The 130-page manual includes detailed wiring diagrams and drawings for setting up booby traps in a variety of everyday items, such as office equipment like desks and early phone directories, kitchen tools like pots and kettles, and even things like televisions and beds.

The manual also explains a World War II booby-trapped communication headset, which had an electric detonator attached to the terminals. Plugging the headset into an active communication line would trigger the explosion.

An earlier version of the "Boobytraps" field manual from the same year shows a diagram of a desk phone fitted with an explosive charge in its base.

The manual explains that "a fake telephone can be created to explode when someone tries to use it." This diagram was removed in the later edition of the manual.

Another Army manual from 1966, TM 31-200-1, titled “Unconventional Warfare Devices and Techniques,” mentions that although the "test history" of the booby-trapped headset is unclear, the idea seems "feasible." It also states that even a small amount of explosives going off close to the ear can cause significant injury.

Nearly 30 years later, in 1996, Israel's security agency, Shin Bet, reportedly used a similar method to detonate a small explosive near the ear of Yahya Ayyash, a key bomb-maker for Hamas.

Since Ayyash often used his friends' phones, those planning his assassination were able to get a tampered phone to a relative of one of his childhood friends.

According to reports, when Ayyash picked up a phone that had been rigged with explosives, aerial surveillance intercepted the call, and Shin Bet remotely triggered the device, killing him.

It's not just communication devices that have been turned into explosives; other types of electronics have also been used in the same way.

Explosive devices have been made from more than just communication gadgets. Many other types of electronics have also been turned into explosives.

A 2010 issue of Inspire, a magazine published by Al Qaeda, featured an article by Ikrimah Al-Muhajir from the "Explosives Department." In the article, he detailed how explosives were hidden inside a printer's ink cartridge, according to a report by The Intercept. The article explains that bomb-makers used a Nokia cellphone circuit to help the device go through airport security without being detected.

Al-Muhajir explained that the chemical structure of the printer's toner was similar to the explosive material used, making it harder to detect. He also mentioned that the cellphone’s circuitry was chosen because it blended well with the printer's internal components, making the hidden explosives even less noticeable.

Two explosive devices were found because of intelligence about the plan. By the time they were discovered, these devices had already been placed on several planes undetected.

In 2023, Ecuadorian journalists received USB sticks that had been rigged with explosives. When one was plugged into a computer, it exploded, injuring a TV presenter. The USB sticks were reported to contain RDX, the same explosive material used in the assassination of Ayyash.

After the coordinated attacks in Lebanon, more information may come out about how the explosive devices were set off. For now, the key point is that electronic communication devices aren't just vulnerable to surveillance — they can actually be turned into weapons.