By KIM BELLARD
In the week where, he said, the famous brand Tupperware declared bankruptcy and researchers at the University of Michigan opened a screen inspired by a squid that does not use electronics, the most startling story has been about, of all things, fences and walkie-talkies.
Now, most of us don’t think about pagers or walkie-talkies these days, and if we did, we certainly didn’t think about exploding. But that’s what happened in Lebanon this week, which members of Hezbollah did. Many people were killed and thousands were injured, many of them innocent. The allegation, not officially confirmed, is that Israel planned the explosion.
I don’t want to talk about the Middle East quagmire, and I condemn the killing of innocent civilians on both sides, but what I can’t ask about is the tradecraft of the whole thing. This is not a casual weekend cyberattack by some guys sitting in their basements; this was years-in-the-making, previously attached, carefully planned the move.
A former Israeli intelligence officer told WaPo that, first, the intelligence agency must determine “what Hezbollah needs, what are the gaps, the shell companies that work, where they are, who is the contact,” then “you have to create a corporate infrastructure, sell to others who sell to others.” It is not clear, for example, if an Israeli planted the device during the manufacturing process or during shipping, or, if the shell company is correct. equal manufacturer or shipping company.
Either way, this is some James Bond type of shit.
Washington Post reported that this is what Israeli officials call a “red button” capability, “meaning devastating enemy penetration that can remain dormant for months if not years before being activated.” One has to wonder what other red buttons are out there.
Many attributed the attack to Israel’s Unit 8200, which is roughly equivalent to the NSA. Article in Reuters describes the unit as “known for a work culture that emphasizes out-of-the-box thinking to solve problems previously not encountered or imagined.” Making fences explode on command definitely falls into that category.
If you’re thinking, well, I don’t carry a pager or a walkie-talkie, and, in any event, I’m not a member of Hezbollah, don’t be so quick to think that you can’t. . If you use any device connected to the internet – be it your phone, TV, car, even your toaster – you might want to think about the red button. And who can control those buttons.
Now, for example, the Biden Administration is proposing a ban on Chinese software used in cars.
“Cars today have cameras, microphones, GPS trackers and other technologies connected to the internet. It doesn’t take much imagination to understand how a foreign adversary with access to this information could pose a serious risk to national security and the privacy of US citizens,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. “In extreme circumstances, a foreign adversary could disable or take control of all vehicles operating in the United States at once.“
“Precedent is important, and I’m just reflecting on the complexity of a world where so many connected devices can be connected,” said Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. The New York Times. In a The Wall Street Journal op-ed, Mike Gallaher, chief of defense for Palantir Technologies, wrote: “Anyone who has control over a part of the technology stack such as semiconductors, cellular modules, or hardware devices, can use it to snoop, not to disable or disable.”
In addition, Bruce Schneier, an expert in security technology, warned: “The international supply chain for computer equipment makes us vulnerable. And we do not have a good way to defend ourselves…Targets are not only terrorists. Our computers are vulnerable, and more and more cars, refrigerators , home thermostats and many other useful things in our orbit. Target is everywhere.”
If all of this seems far-fetched, last week the FBI, NSA, and Cyber ​​National Mission Force (CNMF) released a Joint Cyber ​​Security Advisory detailing how the FBI recently took control of a botnet of 260,000 devices. “The Department of Justice has zeroed in on the Chinese government created hacking group that targets devices from clean Americans and poses a serious threat to our national security,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. The hacking group is called Flax Typhoon, working for a company called Integrity Technology Group, which is believed to be controlled by the Chinese government.
Ars Technica described the network as a “sophisticated multi-tier structure that allows botnets to operate at scale.” This is the second botnet we’ve taken down this year, and you have to wonder how others are keeping it active. None of these attacks are believed to prepare for something that will explode, focusing more on surveillance, but the impact of the malware can cause economic or physical damage.
Unit 8200, meet Flax Typhoon.
Earlier this year Microsoft said Flax Typhoon had infiltrated dozens of organizations in Taiwan, targeting “government and educational agencies, critical manufacturing, and information technology organizations in Taiwan.” Red buttons abound.
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Ian Bogost, contributing author to Atlantictried to reassure, saying that the smartphone “almost certainly” was not just exploded one day. “In theory,” Professor Bogost writes, “people can interfere with the device, during the creation or after. But they have to make a big effort, especially on a large scale. Of course, the same risk applies not only to gadgets, but also to things that produced.
The problem is, there are people who are willing to take on the big business, on a big scale.
We live in a connected world, and it’s getting more and more connected. That has been, for the most part, a blessing, but we have to admit that it can also be a curse, in a very real, very physical way.
If you thought exploding fences were scary, wait until self-driving cars start crashing on purpose. Wait until the TV or laptop starts to explode. Or wait until the nanobots inside you that you thought were helping you suddenly wreak havoc.
If you think red button abilities are scary now, wait until they are created – and controlled – by AI.
Kim is a former emarketing executive at the main Blues plan, editor of the last & lamented Tincture.ioand now a regular THCB contributor
