What Do We Know About 'BAC', the Manufacturer of the Exploded Pagers in Lebanon?

The simultaneous explosions on the evening of September 17, which affected thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, have sparked widespread curiosity about the manufacturer of these devices and how this basic communication equipment was acquired by this proxy group of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The names of two companies, one in East Asia and the other in Central Europe, have become intertwined with the long-standing crisis between Israel and Hezbollah; one claimed to be a 'victim' of the events, while the other took its website offline in Europe and did not respond to media inquiries. Of the approximately four thousand injured in these explosions, which occurred simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria within less than an hour, the condition of over 200 individuals has been reported as 'critical,' and some reports indicate that around 500 people have lost vision in one or both eyes. Following this unprecedented event, numerous reports in global media have been published regarding the reasons for these explosions: from the sudden overheating of the rechargeable lithium batteries of the pagers to the simultaneous sending of messages to them, or the embedding of several grams of explosives during their manufacture. The New York Times reported that a message sent at 3:30 PM in the name of the 'Hezbollah leadership' triggered the simultaneous explosion of the equipment. When the head of the Taiwanese company 'Gold Apollo' was speaking with reporters in his office in Taipei on September 28, denying his company's responsibility for the previous day's explosions in Lebanon, security forces entered the company to conduct an investigation and speak with its managers. Shu Ching-Kuang, the founder and president of 'Gold Apollo,' told reporters who had rushed to his office in Taiwan, 'The exploded product is not produced by our company. We only provide the brand name for approval. We have no involvement in the design or production of the product.' Gold Apollo was established in 1995 and has only 40 employees. Mr. Shu emphasized that he has no information on how the pagers were turned into explosive devices. Ching-Kuang stated that 'Gold Apollo' had approved the product manufactured by the European company 'BAC.' Initially referring to Hungary as the location of this company, he later limited his responses to mentioning the European origin of the manufacturer, and his press conference was cut short after the arrival of Taiwanese security forces. The address of 'BAC' is located in a residential neighborhood, with its name only affixed to the glass door on an A4 paper. Associated Press reported that the pagers were manufactured in a factory in Budapest, Hungary, under the license of 'Gold Apollo,' which had the rights to distribute products in specific regions of the world. 'Gold Apollo' emphasized that its agreement with 'BAC' lasted three years. Nevertheless, Ching-Kuang refrained from providing the text of the agreement to reporters. He insisted that his company is itself a 'victim' of this event and is 'ashamed' of it, stating, 'We may not be a large company, but we are responsible.' A Lebanese security source said that Hezbollah ordered five thousand devices for safer communication among its forces and had distributed them among its members in recent months as the group's leadership believes that mobile phones allow for easy tracking. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that its investigations indicate that the design and manufacture of the pagers were entirely with the company 'BAC,' and only the trademark and brand were under the Taiwanese company. Associated Press quoted security experts it interviewed, stating that 'the batteries of these pagers were likely half explosive material and half real batteries, with a very small electric detonator with high explosive power embedded in them.' These experts noted that the complexity of this attack indicates that the perpetrator is a state actor that has been gathering information for a long time. Israeli officials did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The website of 'BAC' went offline shortly after the mysterious explosions in Lebanon and Syria. 'Gold Apollo' issued an official statement in both English and Chinese, denying the production of these pagers in Taiwan. The statement indicated that Gold Apollo had collaborated with a Hungarian company named 'BAC Consulting Kft' in recent years, and under this agreement, all design and production processes were conducted under the supervision of the Hungarian company in Budapest, with Gold Apollo only allowing its brand name to be used for these products. The statement directly referenced model AP924, emphasizing that the Taiwanese company had no role in the design, production, or sale of this model. The website of the Hungarian company 'BAC,' identified as the main distributor of these pagers, went offline hours after the explosions in Lebanon and Syria. The head of 'Gold Apollo' in Taiwan mentioned that there were sometimes issues regarding financial commitments between his company and 'BAC.' He stated, 'The payments were very strange; they came from the Middle East. The official address of the company in Hungary was also a private house in Budapest.' The Hungarian website does not mention the Taiwanese company among its partners and collaborators. According to information obtained by Radio Farda, the Hungarian company 'BAC' is a shell company with no trace of its normal activities. Visiting the website of 'BAC' provides little information, only indicating that this company is a 'consulting' firm based in Budapest, Hungary. The company was registered on May 19, 2022, and has only one member: an individual with the apparent name Kristina Rosaria Barsoni-Arcidiacono, who is the director, founder, and sole employee of the company. However, the company's LinkedIn account states that 'BAC' has between two to ten employees. The homepage of 'BAC's website, before it went offline, stated that the company's activities were of a 'consulting' nature and indicated that it had made profits of approximately $16,000 and $50,000 in the past two years. The value of the company's fixed assets at the end of the last calendar year was only $320. The director of this company did not respond to Radio Farda's email request for comments regarding the exploded pagers in Lebanon. However, Kristina Rosaria confirmed in a phone conversation with NBC News that this company collaborates with 'Gold Apollo.' When asked about the pagers and their explosions in Lebanon, she replied, 'I do not manufacture pagers. I am just an intermediary. I think you are mistaken.' On the 'BAC' website, before it went offline, there was little information about completed or ongoing projects or clients, but there were general statements about 'extensive activities' in various fields. The 'European Union' was described as one of the company's clients, but little detail was available regarding specific projects or purchases by this 'client.' The image used for this 'client' was also a publicly available photo taken from the internet. Investigations into 'BAC's assistance in developing technology in the 'Bridge Communication' project in Asia, mentioned on the company's website, did not provide much detail. Another 'client' of the company was referred to as the 'European Board,' but referring to the page of this project contained only promotional and managerial content. Meanwhile, the LinkedIn page of 'BAC' refers to conducting environmental, political, and development projects in broad and complex areas, without mentioning 'production.' Ms. Arcidiacono-Barsoni on that page spoke of providing 'in-depth consultations' in management to clients and offering strategic and planning services. Reuters also reported that they contacted an individual at the address of the company in the suburbs of Budapest, who stated that the company has no physical presence at that location. Several sources told Reuters that the plan for the pager explosions had been in the works for months. A senior Lebanese security source identified a photo of the model pager AP924, which, like other pagers, receives and displays text messages wirelessly but does not have the capability for phone calls. Two sources familiar with Hezbollah's operations told Reuters earlier this year that Hezbollah fighters used the pagers as a low-tech communication method to avoid being tracked by Israel. However, a senior Lebanese source stated that these devices had been altered by Israeli intelligence 'at the production level.' This source said, 'Mossad injected a range into the device that contained an explosive material that received a code. Identifying it by any means is very difficult, even with any device or scanner.' This source stated that 3,000 of these pagers exploded when an encrypted message was sent to them, and their explosives were activated simultaneously. Another security source told Reuters that up to three grams of explosives had been hidden in the new pagers, and Hezbollah had not identified them for months. Associated Press quoted security experts it interviewed, stating that 'the batteries of these pagers were likely half explosive material and half real batteries, with a very small electric detonator with high explosive power embedded in them.' These experts noted that the complexity of this attack indicates that the perpetrator is a state actor that has been gathering information for a long time. Israeli officials did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The Taiwanese Minister of Economy emphasized that his country would assist in the investigation into the pager explosions, stating that this equipment was not sent from Taiwan to Lebanon but was only sent to the US and Europe. Oleg Brodet, a cyber lab expert from Ben-Gurion University in southern Israel, stated on Wednesday to Yedioth Ahronoth that all evidence indicates that the sabotage of this equipment was not a months-long operation but had been worked on for years; especially since all parts are not made in one factory, and there is a complex supply chain of components. Eyal Pinko, a former Israeli military official, told Yedioth Ahronoth that what happened in Lebanon is not a science fiction story, and many countries have such capabilities. Dr. Pinko recalled that 14 years ago, the Stuxnet virus crippled Iran's enrichment facilities. Guido Olimpio, a security commentator for the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, believes that 'manipulating technological equipment is a long-standing tradition of Mossad in the war against terrorism and Israel's enemies.' Hours before the explosions, the Israeli cabinet officially added a focus on the northern front to the ongoing war objectives, allowing tens of thousands of Israeli citizens who have been displaced from their homes in northern areas for about a year to return to their homes in 'safety.' Many local officials in evacuated Israeli cities told Israeli media that this event, while a tactical achievement, has not yet helped achieve the strategic goal of returning the displaced. Many commentators in Israeli media have questioned if their country was behind the explosions and shocked Hezbollah, why this opportunity was not used to deliver serious military blows to this group on Lebanese soil. Why does Hezbollah use 'pagers'? The explosions revealed the identities of Hezbollah members. The explosions, besides affecting Hezbollah's public forces, apparently revealed some of the cadre of this group allied with Tehran, who until now had been hidden, and no local residents or their friends and neighbors were aware of their membership and activities for this group. Amid Israel's complete silence regarding any possible responsibility in this event and while the US has denied any connection, Hezbollah has declared this a 'change in the rules' and vowed revenge. It is unclear how Hezbollah, primarily recognized as a terrorist group in the West, placed these orders with companies allied with the US in Taiwan or Hungary, or what factors and companies in Lebanon or the region assisted this group in acquiring this large shipment of pagers. Hassan Nasrallah has long referred to mobile phones as 'listening devices' and has urged all his forces to stay away from them. He repeated this warning after the killing of Foad Shukr, Hezbollah's main commander, in an Israeli targeted operation on August 1 of this year. The Wall Street Journal reported that following the hacking of Hezbollah's internal communications network, a message that Foad Shukr had correctly 'trusted' told him to move from the second floor of his office building in Dahiyeh, Beirut, to the seventh floor, and upon reaching the seventh floor, he was hit by a missile fired from an Israeli fighter jet; Israel confirmed Shukr's killing at the highest levels, including Benjamin Netanyahu.