After the cyber attack that targeted thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah members on Tuesday, the “supply chains” have become the target of accusations, while it is impossible to secure the supply of various electronic products.
The attack in Lebanon has alarmed governments including the United States as global supply chains for electronics become “more complex,” according to a report in the newspaper. Washington Post.
What happened may add momentum to American efforts made by Washington “to localize the production of more strategic technologies domestically, or through reliable allies,” according to the newspaper.
“This exposes the kind of risks we were facing,” the newspaper quoted Mark Montgomery, former policy director for the US Senate Armed Services Committee, as saying, as hardware and software were being manufactured “in countries of concern.”
It is not yet clear how the pager attack was carried out or with the help of whom, although there are possible leads so far in Taiwan, Hungary and Bulgaria.
It is not yet clear how or when explosives were planted in the communication devices so that they could be detonated remotely. The same question remains about the hundreds of mobile communication devices used by Hezbollah that exploded on Wednesday in a second wave of attacks.
One theory suggests that the pagers were intercepted and rigged with explosives after leaving the factories. Another theory is that Israel planned the entire deadly supply chain.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in the attacks.
Taiwanese company and Hungarian broker
Taiwanese investigators searched four locations on Thursday as part of a local probe into the origin of pagers in the possession of members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Taiwanese company Gold Apollo announced on Wednesday that the pagers that exploded were manufactured by its Hungarian partner, but Budapest announced that BAC Consulting, which was presented as producing the communication devices used by Hezbollah, is a “commercial intermediary with no production site or operations in Hungary,” according to Agence France-Presse.
The New York Times reported Thursday that the Budapest company “was in fact part of an Israeli front,” according to three intelligence officials briefed on the operation. The officials explained that two other shell companies were set up “to hide the real identities of the people making the pagers: Israeli intelligence officers.”
UN agency: Explosives planted in communication devices before reaching Lebanon
Initial investigations by Lebanese authorities into the radios that exploded in Lebanon this week showed they were rigged with explosives before arriving in the country, according to a letter from Lebanon’s mission to the United Nations seen by Reuters.
“Our products are not… end-to-end,” Apollo Gold CEO Hsu Ching-kuang told reporters in Taipei on Wednesday.
The Taiwanese Public Prosecution announced the opening of an investigation into the source of this shipment.
“We have asked the National Security Department of the Investigation Bureau to interview two witnesses and search four locations,” the Taipei prosecutor’s office said Thursday, without revealing which locations were searched and who was questioned.
“Cooperate by providing relevant documents and information,” he added.
Bulgaria and Norway
Bulgaria and Norway on Thursday became new focal points in a global hunt to identify who supplied Hezbollah with thousands of pagers.
Bulgarian authorities said on Thursday that the interior ministry and security services had opened an investigation into the possible connection of a company to the matter. Authorities did not disclose the name of the company being investigated.
Local media reports said that Sofia-based Norta Global Ltd facilitated the sale of pagers to Hezbollah.
Bulgaria’s BTV channel, citing security sources, reported on Thursday that 1.6 million euros linked to the purchase passed through Bulgaria before being transferred to Hungary.
“Fake Company”… How did the “Trojan Horse” enter Hezbollah’s strongholds?
The simultaneous explosions of pagers carried by Hezbollah militants across Lebanon show that Israel has successfully turned advanced technology into a Trojan horse that it is using with great precision in its ongoing struggle against the Iranian-backed group.
The company’s founder declined to comment to Reuters.
The Hungarian news website Telex reported, citing sources, that Norta Global Ltd coordinated the sale.
Norta has a registered office in Bulgaria in an apartment building in the capital, Sofia, that houses nearly 200 other companies, according to a local company registry office. There was no sign of the company’s existence.
Lawyer Vladimir Kuzmanov, who said he represented the company, was present at the headquarters but declined to answer questions when contacted by Reuters on Thursday.
Norta Global’s website content was removed on Thursday.
The site previously contained versions in English, Bulgarian and Norwegian, and advertised services including consulting, technology, recruitment and outsourcing.
International operation takes down network of ‘one of China’s largest spy companies’
The United States and its allies announced that they had succeeded in controlling a network of 260,000 internet-connected devices, including cameras, routers and other equipment, which the Chinese government was using to spy on sensitive organizations in several countries.
“Looking for a flexible company to help you succeed or find the right technology solution for you? Look no further,” the website said, according to copies of it before the change seen by Reuters.
Norta founder Renson Jose is based in Norway. He declined to comment on the pager incident when reached by phone and hung up when asked about the company’s activities in Bulgaria.
Oslo police said they had begun “preliminary investigations into the new information.”
Norway’s domestic intelligence service said it was aware of the situation but declined to comment further.
Amon Goff, CEO of DN Media, where Jose now works, told Reuters he was aware of the reports and had informed police and security services. He said Jose was traveling to the United States.
There is no evidence of a connection between DN Media and Norta.
Ambiguity and supply chains
The mystery surrounding the site where the communications devices that exploded on Tuesday were assembled in different Lebanese regions is further complicated by supply chains that are sometimes difficult to trace.
According to the Washington Post, a large part of the world’s electronics supply chain passes through Taiwan, or other countries in East Asia, while many component suppliers, contractors and even subcontractors share manufacturing and supply chains.
“When you have these global markets, it’s sometimes hard to know exactly where something is coming from,” Daniel Castro, vice president of The Tech Policy Think Tank, told the newspaper.
After decades of economic globalization and free market economics, officials in Washington have begun to warn against relying on foreign manufacturers for everything from batteries to heavy mechanical devices, fearing security risks. This prompted the administration of US President Joe Biden to support the relocation of chip and semiconductor production within the United States, and European governments have launched similar campaigns.
Pager and wireless explosions in Lebanon.. How did they happen technically?
The explosions of booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon have caused panic and astonishment, especially since it is unprecedented, which raises questions about how this operation was carried out from a technical and technological standpoint, and about the possibility of blowing up other devices such as mobile phones and smart phones.
Initial investigations by Lebanese authorities have shown that the communications devices that exploded this week “were booby-trapped before reaching Lebanon,” Lebanon’s permanent mission to the United Nations said in a letter to the Security Council seen by AFP on Thursday.
The text of the letter sent to the Council on the eve of a meeting on the subject stated that “initial investigations showed that the targeted devices were professionally booby-trapped… before arriving in Lebanon, and were detonated by sending electronic messages to those devices.”
The Lebanese mission described the bombings as “unprecedented in their brutality” and undermining diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting in Gaza and southern Lebanon.
She called on the UN Security Council to condemn the attacks ahead of an emergency session scheduled for Friday to discuss the attacks and the dangerous situation in the Middle East.
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