When I was still a university sophomore, I chanced upon an article containing information about the e-bomb as a means of terrorism. Firstly, an e-bomb is... from its name, a bomb. But the first two characters often used in day-to-day tech jargon such as e-mail, e-book, and e-commerce changes the story. 

An e-bomb is a bomb that destroys electronics, more effectively so on those with low power ratings. 

How does it do it? Simple. It  puts to good use one of Maxwell's equations that describes a changing magnetic flux inducing an electric field. If this induction is performed on a magnitude hundreds of times greater than normal, the resulting electric field can impress a potential exceeding all the electronics' power ratings and (even worse) protection circuits, breaking down to failure.

The e-bomb is fundamentally an explosively-pumped flux compression generator, typically referenced as an EPFCG or HEMP generator by many texts. Studies have been conducted on it since the early 1900s, and is part of the military arsenal of most developed countries. Fortunately, its lethality poses no threat to life, and only to electronics. It helps in warfare by disabling an enemies means of electronic communication, obviously by destroying sensitive electronics inside transmitters and receivers.

Can terrorists manufacture such a bomb? Yes, given they get some crucial parameters right.

To manufacture such a bomb, a one-time power source, a coil, a core conductor, and explosives will be needed (some parts were deliberately left out for tech-savvy readers). A power source supplies high amounts of current to the coil initially building up a high intensity magnetic field. This power source can be a lower stage EPFCG or a capacitor bank (Marx bank). The core conductor will be loaded with explosives in its interior, and upon detonation will, starting from one side, short the turns of the coil from one end to the other. This propagated "shorting" compresses the initially built-up high intensity magnetic field. In the end, the bomb will be physically destroyed (like all other bombs) when flux compression is finished. This crudely generated compressed flux will induce a high intensity electric field and potential on conductors in the order of kilovolts (depending on magnetic field intensity) and will destroy any low-power electronics within its vicinity.

Fortunately, there is a countermeasure for this kind of attack. Recall high school physics on electric fields and conductors having null electric fields enclosed in a charged conductor. For example, a charged sphere has an electric field of 0 at its interior. Then, if some electronics is covered with this  sphere, the high intensity induced electric field would fall on the sphere, while the electric field inside remains at equilibrium. Such an enclosure is popularly known as a Faraday Cage. 

For practical communications equipment like routers, switches, and so on, Faraday Cages are not feasible because such protection would render these devices useless. Wires going out of communications equipment can serve as antennas, unless extensive measures are taken (like covering the whole room with a faraday cage).

Recent reports state components required to build an e-bomb have a price ballpark figure of around 400 to 2000 euros. No complex manufacturing process is required to build one. Risk of radical terrorist groups manufacturing such weapons is very real.

On the bright side, EPFCGs aren't that evil and threatening. They can actually serve as an adhesive for  materials, sticking them together in a matter of nanoseconds. Their effectiveness is optimized when a nuclear fusion reaction is used for the explosion. My knowledge on nuclear EPFCGs is limited and mandates further research. 


I made a follow-up post on EPFCGs and a literature available for download by following the link below: [for educational purposes only, material credibility based only on theory]