E-Bomb Deployed

Several news organizations are reporting that an e-bomb was used in last night's bombing of the main Iraqi TV station by US forces. The potential deployment of electromagnetic pulse weapons was the sibject of frequent speculation in the days leading to Persian Gulf II. The technology behind these weapons has been of interest to some data center operators.

In the heyday of the data center building boom, a Wired magazine story about Exodus raised the specter of the EMF weapon, which in theory could penetrate concrete walls and ruin the equipment and data inside - thus subverting the multiple layers of physical security put in place by Exodus and other leading data center providers. The technology even figured as a plot device in the remake of "Ocean's Eleven," in which Don Cheadle's character uses an EMF pulse to knock out the electric power and surveillance equipment at several Las Vegas hotels.

So did the e-bomb live up to its billing? Details are sketchy, but it appears that Iraqi TV was back on the air again only hours after the strike.