A new report says Israel planted explosives in pagers that were sold to Hezbollah, but could smartphones be rigged to explode as well?
Lebanese officials say nine people were killed in the explosions, but could your smartphone be rigged to explode as well?
Speaking to MailOnline, experts reveal whether or not this is a possibility and how to identify a potentially compromised newly purchased smartphone.
Pagers, which are harder to track than cellphones were booby-trapped by Israeli intelligence personnel with explosives that were triggered when a message was received, according to experts.
Dr. Lukasz Olejnik, visiting senior research fellow of Department of War Studies of King's College London, says smartphones could potentially be targeted, but it's not likely.
'Most modern smartphones are constructed in ways that such tampering or planting of an explosive device would be very difficult or nearly impossible,' he said.
If you are 'paranoid', he suggests using an explosive material detector on your phone and buying 'directly from vendors only', such as Apple, rather than second-hand vendors.
Photos from the Middle East show the exploded pagers were made by a Taiwanese pager manufacturer, Gold Apollo which licensed out its brand to a Budapest company called BAC Consulting and was not involved in the production of the devices.
Experts believe the pagers were rigged with explosives somewhere along the supply chain before they ended up exploding on the hips of Hezbollah members.
South Florida cyber security expert Alan Crowetz says this type of hack would be nearly impossible on your cellphone which is constructed in a way that such tampering or planting of an explosive device would be very difficult. He says there's no room inside for an explosive unless the battery is replaced.
Now, Mossad, Israel's national intelligence agency, says it can trace who was wearing the beepers, where they were treated and by whom.
This allows Israel to weed out Hezbollah members from Lebanese residents.