The U.S. Secret Service announced on Tuesday that it has dismantled a network of electronic devices throughout the New York tristate area that could be used to shut down the cellular network in New York City.
Secret Service officials also said that the devices were used to conduct multiple telecommunications-related threats directed at senior U.S. government officials.
The investigation – which began this spring – led to the discovery of over 300 co-located SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards across multiple sites. Notably, the devices were concentrated within 35 miles of the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, which is now underway in New York City.
“These devices allowed anonymous, encrypted communications between potential threat actors and criminal enterprises, enabling criminal organizations to operate undetected,” Matt McCool, the head of the Secret Service New York Field Office, said in a video statement on Tuesday morning. “This network had the potential to disable cellphone towers and essentially shut down the cellular network in New York City.”
Officials said that the recovered devices could be used to conduct a variety of telecommunications attacks, including disabling cell phone towers and enabling denial-of-service attacks that overwhelm a system with fake communications traffic.
McCool said that the devices no longer pose a threat to the New York tristate area, and officials are working to identify those responsible for the operation and their intent.
“This is an open and active investigation, and we have no arrest to announce today. Rather, this announcement is designed to safeguard critical infrastructure and responsibly provide the public what we can at this time,” he said.
The U.S. Secret Service’s Advanced Threat Interdiction Unit, a new section of the agency, is conducting the investigation.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Justice, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the New York City Police Department, as well as other state and local law enforcement partners, have provided technical assistance and support for the investigation.
“The potential for disruption to our country’s telecommunications posed by this network of devices cannot be overstated,” said U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran. “The U.S. Secret Service’s protective mission is all about prevention, and this investigation makes it clear to potential bad actors that imminent threats to our protectees will be immediately investigated, tracked down and dismantled.”