- A mass communications network was discovered in New York
- The network is made of 300 servers containing 100,000 SIM cards
- Only part of the network was implemented, with more discovered equipment ready to be added to the network
The United States Secret Service has discovered and dismantled a telecommunications network in New York that organized criminals may have used to communicate with foreign actors sponsored by the State.
The huge network was composed of more than 300 servers that housed 100,000 simged Sim cards, and allegedly had the potential to interrupt telephone networks throughout the tristic area and facilitate encrypted communications.
The United Nations General Assembly is currently in progress in New York, and the Secret Service has suggested that the network could have been used “to make multiple threats related to telecommunications aimed at senior government officials of the United States.”
Advanced Threat Interdiction Unit
The 300 servers located were located at 35 miles from the United Nations and could have been involved in “disabled cell phone towers, allowing attacks of denial of services and facilitating anonymous communication and encrypted between possible actors of threats and criminal companies.”
An investigation is currently ongoing and is being carried out by the new unit of interdiction of advanced threats of the Secret Service, which “is dedicated to interrupting the most significant and imminent threats to our protected.”
While the network included 100,000 active SIM cards that were used in encrypted communications, the secret service also said there were many more waiting to be deployed.
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Matt McCool, a special agent in charge of the New York Field Office of the Secret Service, said: “You cannot underestimate what this system is capable of doing. It can tear down cellular towers, so then people can no longer communicate, right? [the UN general assembly]You know, use your imagination there, could be catastrophic for the city. “
The Secret Service has been investigating threats against high US officials of telecommunications networks, which led to the discovery of the SIM cache network.
Multiple US officials have been attacked in the supplantation and attacks of ‘Smishing’ in recent months.
SIM cards will be analyzed for telephone calls and text messages, with the network capable of sending more than 30 million messages in a single minute, McCool said, stating that the network was highly organized and would have cost millions of dollars to be built.
“The potential for interruption in the telecommunications of our country raised by this network of devices cannot be exaggerated,” added Sean Curran, director of the Secret Service.
“The United States Secret Service Protection Mission has to do with prevention, and this research makes possible the possible actors that imminent threats to our protected will be investigated, tracked and dismantled immediately.”
