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Yesterday, various regions of Lebanon witnessed a series of simultaneous explosions, after a major Israeli cyber attack on the Lebanese Hezbollah communications system, and the explosion of the automatic pager devices, which resulted in the death of 9 people, including a child, and the injury of 3,600, including 200 critical cases, according to official data. Amidst security shock over the method of the hack, official sources said that most of the injuries were to the hand and face, and among the injured was the Iranian ambassador, Mojtaba Amani.
Israeli sources said the explosions lasted for about half an hour, adding that Israel had hacked into Hezbollah’s wireless communications system and blown it up. Communications experts said that what happened was a virus was inserted into the pager software, making it operate at a very high speed, which led to the battery exploding.
Lebanese sources said the explosive devices were part of a new shipment the group had received in recent days. A Hezbollah official said hundreds of fighters have such devices, and speculated that malware may have caused the devices to overheat and explode. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the explosion was the “biggest security breach” the group had suffered in nearly a year. There has been no official Israeli claim of responsibility for the attack, but Israeli sources said Israel carried it out.
