By Sean Doherty
DoubleSided: Bombs Found in Printer Cartridges en Route to the U.S.
You may have been horrified when we reported on the Australian couple that discovered a snake in their printer. Recently, the news revealed yet a new danger lurking in printers: bombs.
In October, authorities in England and in the United Arab Emirates intercepted printers (en route to Chicago from Yemen) that included bombs wired to cell phones hidden in the toner cartridges. The cell phones were rigged to trigger the alarm or timer functions to detonate the bombs, which each contained 300 and 400 grams of PETN, an industrial explosive.
The bombs were hidden so well that at first bomb experts failed to locate the danger, even when sniffer dogs assisted the investigation. Fortunately, forensic experts took a second look.
If you are at all worried about discovering a bomb in your next printer cartridge, rest assured that officials have put new security rules in place banning all cargo from Yemen and Somalia and prohibiting toner and ink cartridges weighing more than one pound from passenger flights. European Union ministers are in discussion to ban cargo security from airports with inadequate security measures.
Here's hoping your printer goes vroom when you send it a print job — and not boom.
About DoubleSided
We all have our idiosyncrasies. So do printers as it turns out. In our DoubleSided feature, we explore the lighter side of printers as well as the esoteric and bizarre. We also peer into the future of printing. From fabbers to printing on toast, you'll find it all here.
We all have our idiosyncrasies. So do printers as it turns out. In our DoubleSided feature, we explore the lighter side of printers as well as the esoteric and bizarre. We also peer into the future of printing. From fabbers to printing on toast, you'll find it all here.