What Are Pagers, and Can They Be Hacked or Exploded?

Hundreds of Hezbollah members and Lebanese civilians were admitted to hospitals with various injuries following the explosion of their pagers. According to sources close to the Lebanese resistance and official news agencies, the explosions resulted from an Israeli hack.

What is a Pager?

Pagers, known for providing instant and direct communication, are one of the oldest portable communication devices that played a significant role in enabling fast communication across various sectors.

Despite the tremendous advancements in mobile phone technology, pagers remain widely used in critical fields like healthcare and emergency services due to their reliability and simplicity in transmitting short text messages and alerts.

How Do Pagers Work?

Pagers operate using radio frequency communication technology. This system transmits messages and signals via radio frequencies through a network of towers or transmission stations to the user’s pager.

• • Radio Wave Transmission: Pagers receive short text messages or notifications transmitted via radio waves. When someone wishes to send a message to a pager user, it is encrypted and sent from the service provider to the nearest transmission tower, where the pager decrypts and displays it.

• • Dedicated Frequencies: Each pager operates on a specific frequency and has a unique identification number (Capcode) that allows it to receive its designated messages.

Pagers do not require SIM cards since they rely on unique identification numbers and are equipped with radio antennas to receive signals without connecting through cellular towers.

Which Model Exploded?

After analyzing the wreckage of some of the exploded devices shared by social media users, “Arabi21” identified the model used by some Hezbollah members as the Rugged Pager AR924, manufactured by Taiwanese company “Apollo Gold.” However, it cannot be confirmed that all the exploded devices were of the same model.

The Rugged Pager AR924 is known for being a durable and reliable device, designed specifically for use in tough environments. It features shock, dust, and water resistance, making it ideal for emergency and heavy industry sectors.

Additionally, the device has a clear display for messages, two dedicated buttons for quick navigation, a loud audio alert, and a vibration feature to notify users in noisy environments. The AR924’s long-lasting lithium-ion rechargeable battery can last for up to 85 days of continuous operation and fully charges in just two and a half hours.

Can It Be Hacked?

Hacking pagers is not easy due to their simplicity and lack of internet connectivity, as they rely on radio signals. However, access to the messaging system can be breached. Experts, along with the Lebanese news agency, reported that the explosions resulted from Israeli hacking.

Damaging the battery would require access to the pager’s internal electrical system, which is not possible via radio communication. Modern pagers are equipped with safety systems that prevent damage from overcharging or overheating.

This means hacking requires a highly advanced system.

Magen Margalit, the vice president of digital at the Israeli software development company CodeValue, stated that older pager models operate on an analog system, making them harder to hack. However, modern digital models have become more susceptible to hacking and remote control.

Speaking to Channel 12 in Hebrew, Margalit said that once wireless communication devices are hacked and controlled, the frequencies can be manipulated, false messages sent, and physical vulnerabilities in the device’s electronic components can be exploited, potentially leading to battery explosions.

In a related incident, Topaz Luk, an advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, posted on social media hinting at Israel’s responsibility for the pager explosions in Lebanon before deleting the post. Later, Netanyahu’s office distanced itself from the advisor’s statement.

Israel’s Army Radio suggested that if Tel Aviv was behind the pager explosions, it was in response to Hezbollah’s plot to target a former security official, which Israel’s security service, the Shin Bet, foiled.

What’s the Other Theory?

A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that the pagers that exploded were part of a shipment recently imported by Hezbollah, containing a thousand devices. It appears that the devices were “hacked at the source.”

On platform X, Charles Lister, an expert at the Middle East Institute (MEI), stated that “based on video recordings… it’s clear that a small plastic explosive was hidden beside the battery and remotely detonated by sending a message.”

In his view, this indicates that “Mossad breached the supply chain.”

Military analyst Ilia Manieh, based in Brussels, pointed to a “major security flaw in Hezbollah’s procedures,” explaining that Israeli agents had undoubtedly infiltrated the production process and added an explosive element and a remote detonator to the pagers without raising suspicion.

Mike Demino, a former CIA security expert and analyst, noted that the agents were able to insert explosive devices among Hezbollah’s equipment, either by posing as suppliers or by directly injecting the devices at some point in Hezbollah’s supply chain, taking advantage of vulnerabilities in transport trucks and commercial ships.

Another theory came from Riad Kahwaji, a security analyst based in Dubai. He suggested that “Israel controls a large portion of the world’s electronics industry, and it’s likely that one of its factories produced the explosive devices that detonated today and shipped them.”