In Lebanon, around 2,800 were injured by exploding pagers belonging to Hezbollah members. Could the same thing happen to your smartphone?
Yesterday, extraordinary images surfaced from Lebanon. Old-fashioned pagers appeared to explode simultaneously. Everything points to Mossad, Israel’s secret service, but it has not yet responded to the attack.
Still, this raises questions, because how could such a pager explode and could it also just happen to your own smartphone? Could this allow hackers to carry out mass attacks on people?
How can pagers explode just like that?
To answer that question, we must first look at how the pagers could have exploded. According to several international sources, including CNN, the explosions were the result of cooperation between the Mossad and the Israeli military.
The New York Times further investigated the blasts. They quote American officials as assuming that Israel put explosives in a shipment of pagers ordered by Hezbollah from the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo. Those explosives would have been placed next to the battery with a switch and therefore not noticeable. To do this, Israel had to intercept the shipment. According to Gold Apollo, Israel did this through a European distributor of the pagers, probably Hungary’s BAC Consulting KFT.
What is a pager?
A pager works by receiving signals wirelessly via radio waves. When a message is sent, the pager captures the signal and emits an audible beep. The screen displays a number or short message. The user can then respond by, for example, calling back a specified phone number or taking action.
The scenario outlined by The New York Times is supported by the images now circulating on social media. These show that the explosions are quite powerful. More powerful than what an exploding battery without explosives can cause.
Can your smartphone explode just like a pager?
Although a pager and a smartphone are two different devices, there are similarities. Besides the fact that both are communication devices, like a pager, you often wear your iPhone or Android device on your body. This makes them ideal targets for a targeted attack.
Yet you don’t have to be very afraid of that. As you see with the pagers, explosives seem to have been added to the devices. Of course, the same could be done with smartphones, but that chance is very small. According to sources, this was a targeted attack by one of the most sophisticated secret services in the world, aimed at a specific group. This would not just happen to civilians.
Your smartphone may well catch fire
Still, your smartphone can indeed catch fire, but this has a different cause than the pagers. It almost always has to do with the battery. Smartphones contain lithium-ion batteries that are balanced by positive and negative electrodes. If something goes wrong with that balance, the battery can catch fire.
Choose a good charger. (Image: Unsplash)
This can have several causes, but by far the most common is due to overheating, often caused by a charger or processor overheating too quickly. These problems during charging often come from poor, cheap chargers that do not meet safety regulations.
Damage to your phone can also cause your device to catch fire. For example, if it is dropped, the internal workings of the battery can be disrupted. Leaving it in the sun for too long can cause a short circuit. It is also possible for your smartphone to overheat due to malware processes caused by malicious software. In addition, batteries deteriorate over time, and truly harmful cases may not appear for years. This can cause a battery or battery to swell, damaging components and causing them to catch fire.
However, there is quite a bit of security built into a smartphone. For example, a smartphone often turns itself off if it gets too hot, or it is not possible to charge it if it is too hot.
Don’t worry too much
In all these cases, it’s mainly about a smartphone catching fire and not a loud explosion like Hezbollah’s pagers in Lebanon. So there is no need to be afraid of that.
5 ways to avoid a burning smartphone
Use original chargers: avoid cheap or non-certified chargers that may cause overheating.
Do not overcharge the battery: unplug your phone as soon as it is fully charged.
Avoid extreme temperatures: Keep your phone out of direct sunlight and cold to avoid battery problems.
Be careful of physical damage: a damaged battery may present a fire hazard.
Delete apps when overheating: Close intensive apps when your phone gets too hot.
Although the chances are slim, it is possible that your smartphone could catch fire. While this may not always announce itself in advance, you can sometimes notice it. Consider the smell of burnt plastic, a distorted smartphone or strange noises. If the device does catch fire while charging, remove the charger immediately.
Never buy cheap batteries, but preferably get them from the brand of the smartphone itself, or have them repaired at an authorized repair point. So always be careful with your smartphone.
