Death from non-AI technology. To avoid targeting your cell phones, buy everyone a pager with built in explosives? Did they (whoever they are) have to call 2,800 phone numbers simultaneously?

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2024/09/remotely-exploding-pagers.html

Remotely Exploding Pagers

Wow.

It seems they all exploded simultaneously, which means they were triggered.

Were they each tampered with physically, or did someone figure out how to trigger a thermal runaway remotely? Supply chain attack? Malicious code update, or natural vulnerability?

I have no idea, but I expect we will all learn over the next few days.

EDITED TO ADD: I’m reading nine killed and 2,800 injured. That’s a lot of collateral damage. (I haven’t seen a good number as to the number of pagers yet.)

EDITED TO ADD: Reuters writes: “The pagers that detonated were the latest model brought in by Hezbollah in recent months, three security sources said.” That implies supply chain attack. And it seems to be a large detonation for an overloaded battery.

This reminds me of the 1996 assassination of Yahya Ayyash using a booby trapped cellphone.

EDITED TO ADD: I am deleting political comments. On this blog, let’s stick to the tech and the security ramifications of the threat.

Has too much falsehood resulted in a “boy who cried wolf” reaction?

https://www.bespacific.com/technology-election-ai-qanon-disinformation-html/

How A.I., QAnon and Falsehoods Are Reshaping the Presidential Race

The New York Times [unpaywalled]: “This year’s presidential election has been polluted with rumors, conspiracy theories and a wave of artificial intelligence imagery. Former President Donald J. Trump has continued to sow doubts about election integrity as his allies across the country have taken steps to make election denial a fixture of the balloting process. How worried should voters be? To better understand the role that misinformation and conspiracy theories are playing this year, The New York Times asked three authors of new books about disinformation and social media to share their views and predictions. The risk that violence could spring from election denialism seems as pressing as in the weeks after the 2020 election, when Trump supporters — incensed by false claims of voter fraud — stormed the Capitol building, they argue. But the day-to-day churn of falsehoods and rumors that spread online may be getting largely drowned out by the billions spent on political advertising. In a series of emails with The Times, the authors laid out their predictions for the year. These interviews have been edited for length and clarity…”