Recent explosions in the suburbs of Beirut and the Bekaa Valley have left thousands of handheld walkie-talkies destroyed, raising eyebrows about the origin and authenticity of these devices. The affected walkie-talkies bore labels from Japanese radio communications company Icom, resembling the IC-V82 model.
Icom, however, has distanced itself from the incident. In a statement released on Thursday, Icom confirmed that they ceased production and sales of the IC-V82 two-way radio in October 2014. Additionally, the company halted the production of the necessary batteries for the device. Icom director Yoshiki Enomoto suggested that the severe damage observed around the battery compartments might indicate that the batteries were modified with explosives after procurement.
Ray Novak, senior sales manager for Icom America's amateur radio division, further clarified the situation by stating, \"I can assure you, they are not our products.\" This assertion points towards the likelihood that the walkie-talkies involved in the explosions are counterfeit.
The confusion doesn't end with Icom. Gold Apollo, the company holding the brand name of the pager used in Tuesday's bombing, clarified that it had only licensed the use of its name to Budapest-based BAC Consulting KFT for the AR-924 pager. \"According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions,\" Gold Apollo stated. However, BAC Consulting's Chief Executive Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono denied any involvement in the production of the pagers, stating, \"I don't make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong.\"
Adding to the complexity, Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs tweeted, \"The referenced devices have never been in Hungary,\" distancing Hungary from the incident.
Cybersecurity expert Hadi El Khoury highlighted the vulnerabilities introduced by using technology from Western sources. \"If you don't have your own supply chain then the device in your pocket is not hacker-proof,\" El Khoury told Al Jazeera. He emphasized that reliance on Western technology like Siemens or Microsoft Windows can create weak links in security chains, potentially leading to such dangerous modifications.
This series of events underscores the critical importance of secure supply chains and the risks associated with counterfeit technology in conflict zones.
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Confusion surrounds companies in the Lebanon explosion cases
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