Richard Forno, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Electronic pagers across Lebanon exploded simultaneously on Sept. 17, 2024, killing 12 and wounding more than 2,700. The following day, another wave of explosions in the country came from detonating walkie-talkies. The attacks appeared to target members of the militant group Hezbollah.

The pagers attack involved explosives planted in the communications devices by Israeli operatives, according to U.S. officials cited by The New York Times. Hezbollah had recently ordered a shipment of pagers, according to the report.

Secretly attacking the supply chain is not a new technique in intelligence and military operations. For example, the U.S. National Security Agency intercepted computer hardware bound for overseas customers, inserted malware or other surveillance tools and then repackaged them for delivery to certain foreign buyers, a 2010 NSA internal document showed. This differs from accessing a specific person’s device, such as when Israel’s Shin Bet secretly inserted explosives into a cellphone to remotely kill a Hamas bombmaker in 1996.

Hezbollah, a longtime adversary of Israel, had increased its use of pagers in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. By shifting to relatively low-tech communication devices, including pagers and walkie-talkies, Hezbollah apparently sought an advantage against Israel’s well-known sophistication in tracking targets through their phones.

Cellphones: The ultimate tracker

As a former cybersecurity professional and current security researcher, I view cellular devices as the ultimate tracking tool for both government and commercial entities – in addition to users, criminals and the mobile phone provider itself. As a result, mobile phone tracking has contributed to the fight against terrorism, located missing people and helped solve crimes.

Conversely, mobile phone tracking makes it easy for anyone to record a person’s most intimate movements. This can be done for legitimate purposes such as parents tracking children’s movements, helping you find your car in a parking lot, and commercial advertising, or nefarious ends such as remotely spying on a lover suspected of cheating or tracking political activists and journalists. Even the U.S. military remains concerned with how its soldiers might be tracked by their phones.

Mobile device tracking is conducted in several ways. First, there is the network location data generated by the phone as it moves past local cell towers or Stingray devices, which law enforcement agencies use to mimic cell towers. Then there are the features built into the phone’s operating system or enabled by downloaded apps that may lead to highly detailed user tracking, which users unwittingly agree to by ignoring the software’s privacy policy or terms of service.

This collected data is sometimes sold to governments or other companies for additional data mining and user profiling. And modern smartphones also have built-in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS capabilities that can help with locating and tracking user movements around the world, both from the ground and via satellites. https://www.youtube.com/embed/CxC1KCoGbIM?wmode=transparent&start=0 Your phone contains many sensors that make it useful – and easy to track.

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Mobile devices can be tracked in real time or close to it. Common technical methods include traditional radio direction-finding techniques, using intelligence satellites or drones, deploying “man in the middle” tools like Stingrays to impersonate cellular towers to intercept and isolate device traffic, or installing malware such as Pegasus, made by Israeli cyberarms company NSO to report a device’s location.

Nontechnical and slower techniques of user tracking include potentially identifying general user locations from their internet activity. This can be done from website logs or the metadata contained in content posted to social media, or contracting with data brokers to receive any collected location data from the apps that a user might install on their device.

Indeed, because of these vulnerabilities, the leader of Hezbollah earlier this year advised his members to avoid using cellular phones in their activities, noting that Israel’s “surveillance devices are in your pockets. If you are looking for the Israeli agent, look at the phone in your hands and those of your wives and children.”

Researchers have shown how these features, often intended for the user’s convenience, can be used by governments, companies and criminals to track people in their daily lives and even predict movements. Many people still aren’t aware of how much their mobile devices disclose about them.

Pagers, however, unlike mobile phones, can be harder to track depending on whether they support two-way communication.

Why go low-tech

A pager that only receives messages does not provide a signal that can facilitate tracking its owner. Therefore, Hezbollah’s use of pagers likely made it more challenging to track their operatives – thus motivating Israeli intelligence services’ purported attack on the supply chain of Hezbollah’s pagers.

Using low-tech tactics and personal couriers while avoiding the use of mobile phones and digital tools also made it difficult for the technologically superior Western intelligence agencies to locate Osama bin Laden for years after the 9/11 attacks.

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In general, I believe the adversary in an asymmetric conflict using low-tech techniques, tactics and technology will almost always be able to operate successfully against a more powerful and well-funded opponent.

A well-documented demonstration of this asymmetry in action was the U.S. military’s Millennium Challenge war game in 2002. Among other things, the insurgent Red forces, led by Marine General Paul van Riper, used low-tech tactics including motorcycle couriers instead of cellphones to evade the Blue forces’ high-tech surveillance. In the initial run of the exercise, the Red team won the contest in 24 hours, forcing exercise planners to controversially reset and update the scenario to ensure a Blue team victory.

Lessons for everyone

The preference for terrorist organizations like Hezbollah and al-Qaida to avoid using smartphones is a reminder for everyone that you can be, and likely are being tracked in various ways and for various purposes.

Israel’s purported response to Hezbollah’s actions also holds a lesson for everyone. From a cybersecurity perspective, it shows that any device in your life can be tampered with by an adversary at points along the supply chain – long before you even receive it.

Richard Forno, Principal Lecturer in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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The Polaris Dawn mission has etched its name in the annals of space history, marking a significant milestone in human spaceflight. After a groundbreaking five-day journey, the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, carrying a crew of four astronauts, splashed down safely in the Gulf of Mexico at 3:37 a.m. ET on Sunday. This mission not only showcased the capabilities of commercial space travel but also achieved several remarkable feats, including the world’s first commercial spacewalk.

A Historic Splashdown

The Crew Dragon capsule landed off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida, concluding a mission that saw its crew reach unprecedented heights. Polaris Dawn achieved an orbital altitude of 870 miles (1,400 kilometers), the highest ever reached by humans since the Apollo program, surpassing the previous record set by NASA’s Gemini 11 mission in 1966, which reached 853 miles (1,373 kilometers).

Upon re-entry, the spacecraft faced extreme temperatures of up to 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,900 degrees Celsius) due to the pressures and friction of traveling at 17,000 miles per hour (27,000 kilometers per hour). However, the Crew Dragon’s advanced heat shield ensured the astronauts remained safe and comfortable throughout the descent. Once the capsule hit the water, it bobbed momentarily before rescue crews aboard a vessel dubbed the “Dragon’s Nest” retrieved it, completing a meticulous safety check before the crew disembarked.

Groundbreaking Achievements

The Polaris Dawn crew consisted of mission commander Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur and CEO of Shift4 Payments; former US Air Force pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet; and SpaceX operations engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis. This mission was the first of three planned in the Polaris program, intended to push the boundaries of human spaceflight.

One of the most significant highlights of the mission was the first-ever commercial spacewalk. Conducted on the third day, both Isaacman and Gillis exited the spacecraft in a groundbreaking extravehicular activity (EVA). With the absence of an airlock in the Crew Dragon, the entire cabin was depressurized, exposing all four crew members to the vacuum of space. Gillis, at just 30 years old, became the youngest person to participate in a spacewalk, while the mission set a new record for the number of individuals simultaneously exposed to space, totaling four.

Scientific Exploration

The Polaris Dawn mission also focused on scientific research, particularly studying the effects of space radiation on the human body. By flying through parts of the Van Allen radiation belt, the crew aimed to gather valuable data that could inform future long-duration space missions, including potential journeys to Mars.

The mission kicked off with a rigorous pre-breathing protocol to reduce nitrogen levels in the crew’s bodies, mitigating the risk of decompression sickness during the planned spacewalk. Over the course of the mission, the cabin pressure was gradually decreased from 14.5 to 8.6 pounds per square inch, while oxygen levels were increased to prepare for the EVA.

Breaking Barriers for Women in Space

Notably, Menon and Gillis broke records by flying further from Earth than any women before them. Their participation in this historic mission highlights the increasing role of women in space exploration, paving the way for future generations of female astronauts.

The Polaris Dawn mission represents a pivotal moment in commercial spaceflight, illustrating the potential of private companies to lead the way in exploring new frontiers. As SpaceX continues to innovate and push the boundaries of what is possible, the accomplishments of the Polaris Dawn crew serve as a reminder of humanity’s enduring quest to explore the cosmos.

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Conclusion

The Polaris Dawn mission has set the stage for a new era in space exploration, showcasing the capabilities of commercial ventures and the resilience of the human spirit. As we look forward to the upcoming missions in the Polaris program, the accomplishments of this crew will undoubtedly inspire future explorers to reach for the stars.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/15/science/spacex-polaris-dawn-splashdown-landing/index.html

Sources: Polaris Dawn, SpaceX, Wikipedia, CNN

The science section of our news blog STM Daily News provides readers with captivating and up-to-date information on the latest scientific discoveries, breakthroughs, and innovations across various fields. We offer engaging and accessible content, ensuring that readers with different levels of scientific knowledge can stay informed. Whether it’s exploring advancements in medicine, astronomy, technology, or environmental sciences, our science section strives to shed light on the intriguing world of scientific exploration and its profound impact on our daily lives. From thought-provoking articles to informative interviews with experts in the field, STM Daily News Science offers a harmonious blend of factual reporting, analysis, and exploration, making it a go-to source for science enthusiasts and curious minds alike. https://stmdailynews.com/category/science/

Space enthusiasts and media around the world are gearing up for an exciting Earth-to-space call scheduled with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. This news conference is set to take place aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, September 13, at 2:15 p.m. EDT. The astronauts, who are currently part of Expedition 71/72, will share insights from their experiences in low Earth orbit.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams

NASA will stream the event live on NASA+, the NASA app, and the agency’s website, offering various platforms for viewers to tune in and experience the wonders of space exploration directly from its current pioneers. The coverage promises not only to highlight the astronauts’ daily activities and scientific endeavors but also provide a real-time connection with those orbiting our planet.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were launched into space aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 5, marking its first crewed flight. They arrived at the ISS the following day. Following a decision to bring back the Starliner uncrewed, the duo’s stay has been extended, and they are now slated to return to Earth in February 2025 with the SpaceX Crew-9 mission aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

For media looking to participate in the news conference, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston must be contacted for accreditation by 5 p.m., Thursday, September 12. Media members will need to dial into the conference at least 10 minutes before it begins to ask their questions.

This event offers an invaluable opportunity for the public and the media to engage directly with the astronauts, gaining a deeper understanding of life in space and the ongoing research and operations that continue to push the boundaries of human spaceflight. As Wilmore and Williams continue their critical work on the ISS, this news conference is a much-anticipated chance to connect with the heroes of our final frontier.

To learn more about this event and keep up with the latest news on space station research and operations, visit NASA’s ISS portal.

The science section of our news blog STM Daily News provides readers with captivating and up-to-date information on the latest scientific discoveries, breakthroughs, and innovations across various fields. We offer engaging and accessible content, ensuring that readers with different levels of scientific knowledge can stay informed. Whether it’s exploring advancements in medicine, astronomy, technology, or environmental sciences, our science section strives to shed light on the intriguing world of scientific exploration and its profound impact on our daily lives. From thought-provoking articles to informative interviews with experts in the field, STM Daily News Science offers a harmonious blend of factual reporting, analysis, and exploration, making it a go-to source for science enthusiasts and curious minds alike. https://stmdailynews.com/category/science/

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