how to disrupt/prevent the functioning of a digitail device

There are reports of jammers for mobile phones.

Thanks for useful information, interesting article.

But my original query, sorry if i failed to elaborate correctly, was - is it possible (at least in theory) to disbale a digital device like an embedded system in a car? In case of cell phone jammer as the article stated only interfere with the input signals, phone is otherwise fully functional. Any other means by which it may stop functioning, like if somehow RAM contents get corrupted?

-Neo

Neo wrote: ...

Google for NEMP, LEMP or TEMPEST.

Regards Markus Mandl

A beam of neutrons or hard roentgen does wonders.

Vadim

Yes. A sufficiently high-energy EM pulse will always do it. The trick is to a) reach that "sufficiently high" energy density, and b) to control it such that it only disturbs the circuit, instead of just melting it.

As a mean example, a commercial welding laser delivers at least one thousands Watts of raw electromagnetic power (a.k.a. infrared light), focussed to less than a square millimeter of beam spot area. And rest assured that it *will* melt pretty much everything that gets in its way, certainly including whatever electronic circuit you try it on. It may take a while, but it'll do it.

And then there's radioactivity, i.e. high-energy radiation, coming as gamma rays or particles. Nuclear and particle physicists can kill any piece of electronics they want, just by putting it into a maliciously chosen spot somewhere around their machines. An 820 GeV proton, e.g., easily penetrates everything short of one meter of concrete, and will effect all materials it passes. These guys have to go to considerable lengths just to keep this from happening on a regular basis, actually.

For reasons like the above, it's a serious challenge to operate any electronics in outer space, where there's nothing to protect them from cosmic radiation except what you can carry as part of the spacecraft.

Yes.

Are you asking if you read that somewhere?

A ball peen hammer works nicely. A $100 kitchen microwave would probably ruin most techno-widgets, as would sufficiently energetic ionizing radiation.

It induces enough voltage/current in the device to fry it.