Unexpected New Years SMS From Mobile Operator May Have Killed Would Be Suicide Bomber
from the happy-new-year! dept
This is just classic. We've heard plenty of stories about bombs that are designed to go off when an SMS text message is received... and we know all too well about annoying and unwanted text messages from your mobile operator. But how about combining the two. Apparently, a planned suicide bombing in Russia was "averted" when the bomb went off early due to an unexpected "happy new years" SMS from the carrier, blowing up the bomb and the would-be suicide bomber at a safe house, far away from Red Square (or anything else) that was the intended target. As Wired notes:If true, the SMS might be the only time that a wireless carrier’s SMS message has ever been useful.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: russia, sms, suicide bomb
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
WOW some people are dumb !
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Preventative medicine
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Preventative medicine
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Preventative medicine
"You are back online - unless you're a bomber"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Preventative medicine
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Preventative medicine
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Preventative medicine
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Preventative medicine
/ˈsɑrkæzəm/ [sahr-kaz-uhm]
–noun
1.
harsh or bitter derision or irony.
2.
a sharply ironical taunt; sneering or cutting remark: a review full of sarcasms.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Preventative medicine
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Preventative medicine
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
There will be an app for that
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: There will be an app for that
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: There will be an app for that
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: There will be an app for that
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Add to checklist
___ Leave phone turned off until bomb is in place.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Suicide Bomber
Wouldn't a button have been a more reliable solution?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Suicide Bomber
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Suicide Bomber
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Suicide Bomber
Handler: Ok, I understand. Would you wear this backpack and go find a spot in this crowded train station with cellular reception?
Bomber: Ok, that I will do.
Handler: Great! Hold on, I just need to adjust this antenna.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Suicide Bomber
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Suicide Bomber
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
!!
Hmmph. Amateurs.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: !!
how hard is that !
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Yea right, like that really happened !!
And LEAVE THE FREAKING THING TURNED ON !!!!.
BTW: suicide bombers do not need remote triggers, they just push a button.
What is he intending to SMS himself ?
Something smells here, and I think its the truth !!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yea right, like that really happened !!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yea right, like that really happened !!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yea right, like that really happened !!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Not rocket scientists
/sarc
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Not rocket scientists
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Darwin
We should expect to see this guy near the top of the 2011 Darwin Awards
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
A smarter way to use SMS
Oh well.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: A smarter way to use SMS
Their method is usually much cruder than this. What they used to do was just open the phone and wire across the speaker terminals. When the phone rings, the bomb goes off. I am guessing they are not much more sophisticated than that now. They are probably using cheap phones that can be purchased anywhere; they are not likely to be using an iPhone or other sophisticated smart phone.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I then went with a friend to try flying two-string kites, which are lots of fun and extremely hard to keep from crashing into the ground when you don't know what you're doing. Keeping it airborne requires careful use of both hands.
So I'm struggling to not wreck my friends kite when my phone starts ringing, and I do this elaborate contortion to try to de-pocket my phone and see what's up with it while keeping the kite in check, and it was...
...an SMS spam.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
New idea for H.S.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
sms filter?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
As a slashdot commenter said:
Now we can all look forward to our government banning anti-spam measures because spam is now a terrorism-fighting tool which must be protected at all costs.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: As a slashdot commenter said:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I dont buy it
You could
1) Set the alarm clock to go off at a certain time.
2) press a button on the phone to make it go "beep".
3) throw away the phone, and press and 20cent push button.
4) install a "safety" switch in series with the speaker line, until that switch is closed the bomb is safe.
Do you really believe that someone who is capable of making a bomb would be that stuped to leave it "ARMED" all the time, with NO safety system.
What, he had the bulk explosives, there, he had the detinator installed into it, he had the Det wired up to the phone, AND the battery, he had the phone ON, and connected to a service provider ???
And you believe this crap ????????????
REALLY !!!!!
More than likely what happened was the explosives became unstable all by themselves, or they made an error during MANUFACTURE, but I just CANNOT see that it would have been caused by a rouge SMS message...
It's just untrue, plainly..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
i dont think so
if it's attached to a bomb, it's going to be destroyed.
if they just found fragments of a phone among the damage.. I mean, come on.. everyone has a cellphone these days. He could have simply put it on top of the bomb and somehow triggered the actual detonator. Or he was talking on the phone when it went off..
I think this is entirely pure speculation.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
curiosities
Wouldn't it be more logical to conclude that most suicide bombers are not even aware that they have a bomb on their person?
Is more logical to assume they all 'hate our freedoms' so much as to kill themselves and others?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
toodous
[ link to this | view in chronology ]