16 comments

[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 38.5 ms ] thread
If true, the tech requirements imply they could do this in any other country, or worldwide.
I'd like more details. Did they really hack the phones? Or use the towers to call the phones with a message.

Hacking every cellphone sounds unrealistic.

Making a call to every phone connected to a tower sounds plausible.

"Those who do not will be hunted" just feels gross. There's something sinister there
That's alluding to Nazi and Palestinian criminals that Israel hunted all over the world for decades. One by one, setting up their meetings with the creator. There was even a movie about one hunt it's called "Munich", directed by Spiellberg - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0408306/ . Great movie!
Sounds like boomer-speak for they sent one of those full-screen SMS messages (aka 'flash SMS') with a link to a livestream.

You guys read too much Tom Clancy.

If spammers can do it and send me links to phishing sites so can one of the most technologically-proficient governments. You really think they would waste multiple 0-days on some bullshit like this?

Every phone in Israel got a special message when missiles from Iran were fired. No application, no nothing, just by the virtue of being connected to to an Israeli phone cell tower (it worked even on imported phones)

My understanding that it is a standard feature, this is how earthquake warning works in Japan.

Point being there is no "hacking" involved. Standard feature

How come the more I hear about what Israel or Israeli companies can do with our devices makes me just not want to use a device at all? Maybe my tinfoil hat is too tight? Why are they so bold with their abilities while other countries are not? Are they just that much better, or are other nation states just better at keeping quiet?
I feel kind of weird that Netanyahu was allowed to give a speech from the UN HQ. It’s rather like allowing Putin to do so.
You don't have to hack anything if you control ip routes. A simple redirect like a captive portal could accomplish something like this. Israel can either own the gateways or own the spectrum.
No one has mentioned that "hacked" appears nowhere in the tweet and seems to be editorializing on the part of the submitter.
Besides the reality of this or not, the order of events is misleading. If they were able to do so, then the taking of control happened long ago (and maybe not just in Gaza), and used this opportunity to send that message to them. And that wasn't the main goal of taking control.