The Secret Service on Tuesday dismantled an illicit network of electronic devices in the New York tristate area that could have been used to shut down cell networks as world leaders gather in Manhattan for the U.N. General Assembly.
Perpetrators used the devices 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 a statement. The network consists of “more than 300 co-located SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards across multiple sites” within 35 miles of where more than 100 foreign leaders and their entourages are meeting.
“In addition to carrying out anonymous telephonic threats,” the agency’s statement goes on, “these devices could be used to conduct a wide range of telecommunications attacks. This includes disabling cell phone towers, enabling denial of services attacks and facilitating anonymous, encrypted communication between potential threat actors and criminal enterprises.”
“This network had the potential to disable cellphone towers and essentially shut down the cellular network,” Matt McCool, the top agent at the Secret Service’s New York City field office, said in a video statement. “To be clear, these recovered devices no longer pose a threat to the New York tristate area. We will continue working towards identifying those responsible and their intent, including whether their plan was to disrupt the U.N. General Assembly and communications of government and emergency personnel during the official visit of world leaders in and around New York City.”
Early forensic analysis of the devices “has identified ties to at least one foreign nation, as well as links to criminals already known to U.S. law enforcement officials, including cartel members,” the New York Times reported, citing Secret Service officials. Cybersecurity expert James Lewis told the paper that only a handful of nations—such as Russia and China—possess the capabilities to mount an operation on this scale.
While McCool said the Secret Service had dismantled the New York City threat, he had a warning for the rest of the country, the Times reported: “This is an ongoing investigation, but there’s absolutely no reason to believe we won’t find more of these devices in other cities.”
President Donald Trump and more than 140 foreign leaders, including French president Emmanuel Macron and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, are attending the meeting. During his Tuesday address to the body, Trump criticized the United Nations over its left-wing bent, saying the organization “has such tremendous potential” but is “not even coming close to living up to that potential.”
