Secret Service dismantles ‘telecommunications threat’ in New York City

The U.S. Secret Service said Sept. 23 it dismantled a network of more than 300 SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards around New York City that posed an “imminent threat” to protective operations during the United Nations General Assembly.

The devices “were used to conduct multiple telecommunications-related threats directed towards senior U.S. government officials, which represented an imminent threat to the agency’s protective operations,” the Secret Service said in the statement.

Agents said the devices were concentrated within a 35-mile radius of New York City, where world leaders are gathered this week for the UN General Assembly.

Matt McCool, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s New York field office, said in a video statement that the network “had the potential to disable cellphone towers and essentially shut down the cellular network in New York City.” 

“It can’t be understated what this system is capable of doing,” McCool said, adding that the system could stop people from texting, using their cell phones. 

“And if you coupled that with some sort of other event associated with UNGA, you know, use your imagination there,” he continued. “It could be catastrophic to the city.”

McCool said the devices no longer pose a threat. 

The Secret Service said the devices could have been used to enable denial-of-service attacks, disable cell phone towers, and allow encrypted communication between hostile actors and criminal networks.

A forensic review is ongoing. According to the agency, early analysis “indicates cellular communications between nation-state threat actors and individuals that are known to federal law enforcement."