Middle East pager attacks ignite fear of supply chain warfare

Private sector companies and public officials alike are still taking stock of the policy implications, but it could motivate governments to further restrict the flow of sensitive technology and encourage companies to move more manufacturing back home or to friendly third countries. “I would imagine there’s a lot of warehouse managers today, and you know, cargo ship owners who are doing a little bit of thinking about the security of their facilities.” The booby-trapped pagers are believed to have been designed with a trigger mechanism, according to Elijah J. Magnier, a Brussels-based political risk analyst who held conversations with Hezbollah operatives. “This is the most extensive, publicly-known physical supply chain attack we’ve ever seen, may even see for a while,” said Dmitri Alperovitch, chair of Washington-based geopolitics think tank Silverado Policy Accelerator and co-founder of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. “Obviously there was some really exquisite intelligence that had to lead to the ability to interdict and plant explosives in thousands of devices.” Daniel Bardenstein, the chief technology officer and co-founder for software supply chain security company Manifest, argued that the attack shows that buyers, whether governments or private entities, must have a clearer understanding of what exactly they’re purchasing and from whom. “While this explosive device is an extreme outcome, it’s easy to envision malicious cyber payloads being inserted in hardware or software for later activation.” Chilukuri argued the tactic could move forward Washington’s push for domestically produced technology as the Biden administration seeks to decrease reliance on foreign adversaries such as China.