Ask HN: How can I tell if my electronic devices can be remotely detonated?
15 points by pcthrowaway 10 months ago
I have several cell phones, tablets, walkie talkies, laptops, and more, which recent events have me wondering about the safety of.
Is there a way I can determine if someone in the supply chain has tampered with them such that they can be remotely detonated?
In the recent pager detonations I believe it was determined that Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) was inside the pagers. I haven't heard the same about walkie talkies, but I'm cautiously assuming the mechanism was similar
According to that wikipedia page on PETN[1]:
> Both parcels in the 2010 cargo plane bomb plot were x-rayed without the bombs being spotted. Qatar Airways said the PETN bomb "could not be detected by x-ray screening or trained sniffer dogs". The Bundeskriminalamt received copies of the Dubai x-rays, and an investigator said German staff would not have identified the bomb either. New airport security procedures followed in the U.S., largely to protect against PETN.
If these are undetectable by dogs, is there any method to detect explosive chemicals, such as detection strips, that are available to consumers?
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentaerythritol_tetranitrate
Realistically, you can't. You're at the mercy of the NSA, CIA, and all of the other sufficiently funded and motivated actors. You might even get hit by mistake. This is the world we live in.