“Let’s call it Operation Chutzpah,” writes The Wall Street Journal (Sept. 23, 2024). If, as is widely believed, the Mossad detonated pagers and walkie-talkies used by Lebanese Hezbollah terrorists, killing dozens and wounding thousands, it will go down as an intelligence operation for the history books. This strike is the latest in a string of daring operations from the tunnels beneath Gaza to the heart of Tehran by The Startup Nation, as Israel is known in tech circles.
The attacks on Hezbollah this week using explosives planted inside electronics highlight the risks and vulnerabilities of technology supply chains. “Every board, every CEO, government, has now woken up today to the fact that products that we buy could be compromised,” said one CEO. “This is weaponizing of the supply chain.”
Many electronics manufacturers outsource production of relatively low-cost items such as pagers, which makes it difficult to track and verify the source of each piece within the final product. Companies often ship their designs for devices off to contract manufacturers who handle sourcing the components and assembly of the final goods.
“There’s multiple distributors, there’s multiple contract manufacturers, there’s multiple boards, there’s multiple locations. It’s just a really confusing array of people” in electronics supply chains, said a UNC prof in The Wall Street Journal (Sept 22, 2024). The complicated, multistep manufacturing process involving often far-flung suppliers introduces risk that parts inside finished products may be counterfeit or manipulated. The added tiers in outsourced manufacturing make it harder for buyers to know where the goods and their components are coming from.
Supply lines for everything from food and medicines to military material are perpetually targeted in armed conflicts, but this week’s attacks mark an audacious effort to embed itself within Hezbollah’s supply chain. Thousands of pagers carried by members of the terrorist group exploded. Then, the next day, walkie-talkies used by the group blew up in terrorists’ hands across Lebanon. The attack not only damaged communications, but exposed to family and friends that the targeted individuals belonged to Hezbollah.
Western governments have also been cracking down on foreign-made equipment due to national security concerns about spying and cyberattacks. The U.S. just found Chinese cargo cranes used at seaports around the country had embedded technology that could allow Beijing to covertly gain access to the machines.
Classroom discussion questions:
- What can be done by the U.S. and other nations to prevent malware or other tools from damaging critical infrastructure?
- How was Israel able to manage this feat?
and remote-controlled vehicles