Ensuring electronic safety in the US following pager explosions in Lebanon, Syria – NBC Montana
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by GEOFF HARRIS | The National Desk
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WASHINGTON (TND) — Following the electronic explosions in Lebanon and Syria this week, security experts tell us the U.S. might want to review its policies, especially when it comes to importing similar electronic devices.
Experts say both explosions in Lebanon and Syria were sophisticated, long-planned operations possibly carried out by infiltrating the supply chain and rigging the walkie-talkies and pagers with explosives before being imported.
Dr. Craig Albert, a professor of political science at Augusta University said members of Hezbollah were using pagers to communicate out of fear that Israel could track their cellphones and carry out a targeted attack.
The attack Tuesday was possibly carried out by infiltrating the supply chain and arming the pagers with explosives before being imported to Lebanon, the Associated Press reports. Michael Wallace, a professor at Tulane University said this would take a lot of planning.
When it comes to ensuring the safety of electronics coming into the U.S., Albert said America has different regulatory controls and authorities in place to check if anything was planted in certain devices.
"Especially explosive materials through port authorities and things of that nature," Albert said.
This is why he believes it's highly unlikely a third-party country could intercept the supply chain and interfere with the U.S. infrastructure similarly.
"Not everything is checked but it's checked enough where most people haven't thought of this type of action on such a large scale against the United States," said Albert.
