this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2024

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The reason we don’t see exploding battery attacks more often is not because it’s technically hard, it’s because the erosion of public trust in everyday things isn’t worth it. (www.bunniestudios.com)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by cypherpunks@lemmy.ml to c/technology@lemmy.world

81 comments fedilink hide all child comments

edit: after 20 comments, i'm adding a post description here, since most of the commenters so far appear not to be reading the article:

This is about how surprisingly cheap it is (eg $15,000) to buy a complete production line to be able to manufacture batteries with a layer of nearly-undetectable explosives inside of them, which can be triggered by off-the-shelf devices with only their firmware modified.

screenshot of paragraph from the article saying "The process to build such batteries is well understood and documented. Here is an excerpt from one vendor’s site promising to sell the equipment to build batteries in limited quantities (tens-to-hundreds per batch) for as little as $15,000:" followed by a screenshot of "Flow-chart of Pouch Cell Lab-scale Fabrication" showing a 20 step process

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[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 1 points 2 hours ago

It's not just the batteries, you need a way to blow them up remotely and reliably.

This wasn't just some wonky batteries shoved into legit devices. This was an entire operation to make fake pagers and walkie talkies. The batteries were probably the only legit things in them.

Fortunately these are simple devices that you can probably replicate the guts of with a few dollars of off the shelf parts. You're not going to be able to fake an iPhone like this. Cheaper to just drop bombs at that point. And tbh, if it was something expensive like an iPhone, Hezbollah wouldn't have bought a thousand of them.

[–] OpenPassageways@lemmy.zip 1 points 5 hours ago

I'll never look at my phone the same way again

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 45 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

It's also a big ass war crime. And if you did it habitually as anyone other than the West you could expect a visit from the US military. Inside the West you'd likely end up in prison. Except Israel. Israel is just immune to everything because uhhh... Because... Well nobody actually has a good reason.

[–] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 11 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Because people are scared to be seen as an anti-Semite if you are critical of a Jewish state and their wrongdoings.

This is how Jeremy Corbyn got slammed as being an anti-Semite across the media and eventually kicked out of the labour party.

[–] AWittyUsername@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

The jewish chronicle to thank for that.

[–] ashar@infosec.pub 44 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Sending out IEDs that will probably explode in a supermarket and kill civilians is generally considered a war crime. So far 2 kids killed in Beirut by the Israeli bombs in devices.

[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 18 points 19 hours ago

Exterminating the next generation of people who would live on the land they want to steal is the goal.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 52 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Even though your edit clarified it, I wish we’d stop calling them “exploding batteries”. The battery isn’t the explosive, it’s the explosives that were hidden in the device. I’ve already encountered far too many morons describing conspiracies where the big bad government could make your iPhone explode.

[–] jdeath@lemm.ee 1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

but the article is about exploding batteries, no?

[–] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

That's like saying exploding cars when you're really talking about a bomb placed in a car...

[–] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

"A bomb going 80 mph on the highway exploded."

Doesn't give the right information.

And if we're being pedantic, when a bomb explodes, so does everything around it. Exploding doesn't require a chemical reaction. It's the act of tearing apart quickly. So yes, the car exploded.

That's in English though. Other languages may be different.

[–] grudan@programming.dev 7 points 1 day ago

Title felt misleading.

[–] ryathal@sh.itjust.works 18 points 22 hours ago (6 children)

We don't see exploding batteries more because most militaries are better about securing their supply chain.

[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 10 points 21 hours ago

The attack hit many civilians. For militaires it might be feasible to secure their chain. For terror attacks, which this was, it would be far more difficult.

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[–] FarceOfWill@infosec.pub 74 points 1 day ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (10 children)

Jfc Christ Lemmy.

Every single comment misunderstanding the point. The batteries are exploding because there's explosives in them. This does make them exploding batteries. They explode because they are partially made with explosives. Please don't "well actually" this.

No this is not a description of something Israel did, it's a hypothetical way to do a similar attack to show how within reach of idiot terrorists it is.

Raising the idea of doing this so everyone is thinking about it is extremely bad for us all. Thanks Israel.

[–] db2@lemmy.world 29 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Please don't well actually this.

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

[–] 8000gnat@reddthat.com 2 points 5 hours ago

even electronic brain pancake crystal elderly

[–] FarceOfWill@infosec.pub 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Did it really need quotes?
Please don't "well actually" this

[–] randint@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Yes, yes it did. I didn't understand that sentence until I saw this version with quotes.

[–] FarceOfWill@infosec.pub 1 points 3 hours ago

Til I use "well actually" too much. I will edit, thank you for the constructive help with my shitpost

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[–] Tikiporch@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago

I think there may be a couple edits needed in your comment. Reread slowly and get back to us.

[–] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 16 points 1 day ago

No, it doesn't. The battery itself is not the source of the explosion, it's the explosive hidden inside it.

A regular battery cannot be made to explode in this way.

[–] femtech@midwest.social 11 points 1 day ago (4 children)

That does not make them exploding batteries, it had explosives in them. A suicide bomber is not an explosive human.

[–] FarceOfWill@infosec.pub -1 points 5 hours ago

Do bombs explode? Or is it the explosives inside of them that are exploding?

[–] eatthecake@lemmy.world 11 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

A suicide bomber is not an explosive human but they are an exploding human.

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[–] ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

JFC Christ, does anyone know where the nearest ATM Machine is?

[–] FarceOfWill@infosec.pub 3 points 5 hours ago

Jesus Fried Chicken Christ

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[–] therealjcdenton@lemmy.zip 44 points 1 day ago

I don't think terrorists care about the people's trust in everyday things

[–] tal@lemmy.today 10 points 22 hours ago

Context: bunniestudios.com is run by bunnie, the guy who was involved with the hardware side of breaking DRM on the original XBox; he later went into consumer electronics manufacturing.

[–] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 53 points 1 day ago (14 children)

Just to be clear, the pager thing wasn't exploding batteries, they had apparently been modified at the production level to have explosives in them, which could be triggered by the pager system itself.

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