A massive illegal electronic device network capable of crippling cell towers and jamming 911 calls across New York City was uncovered by the Secret Service — just as world leaders prepared to descend on Manhattan for the UN General Assembly, officials said Tuesday.

“It can take down cell towers, so then no longer can people communicate, right? …. You can’t text message, you can’t use your cell phone. And if you coupled that with some sort of other event associated with UNGA, you know, use your imagination there, it could be catastrophic to the city,” Matt McCool, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s New York field office, said.

“Given the timing, location and proximity and potential for significant disruptions to the New York telecoms system, we moved quickly to disrupt this network.”

WATCH: Secret Service foils NYC mobile network plot; 100,000 SIMs, 300 servers seized

U.S. Secret Service dismantles imminent telecommunications threat in New York tristate area

NEW YORK – The U.S. Secret Service dismantled a network of electronic devices located throughout the New York tristate area that 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.

This protective intelligence investigation led to the discovery of more than 300 co-located SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards across multiple sites.

In addition to carrying out anonymous telephonic threats, 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.

While forensic examination of these devices is ongoing, early analysis indicates cellular communications between nation-state threat actors and individuals that are known to federal law enforcement.

“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.”

These devices were concentrated within 35 miles of the global meeting of the United Nations General Assembly now underway in New York City. Given the timing, location and potential for significant disruption to New York telecommunications posed by these devices, the agency moved quickly to disrupt this network. The U.S. Secret Service’s Advanced Threat Interdiction Unit, a new section of the agency dedicated to disrupting the most significant and imminent threats to our protectees, is conducting this investigation. This investigation is currently ongoing.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Justice, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the NYPD, as well as other state and local law enforcement partners, provided valuable technical advice and assistance in support of this investigation.

This is an ongoing investigation.

The hidden electronic maze was so powerful, it could have sent an encrypted and anonymous text to every human being in the United States within 12 minutes, McCool said. It could have overwhelmed cell towers, toppling New York City’s cell service and preventing every Manhattan resident from accessing Google Maps.

The electronic safe houses were found in places including Armonk, New York; Greenwich, Connecticut; Queens, New York; and across the river in New Jersey – essentially forming a circle around New York City’s cellular network infrastructure, officials briefed on the investigation said.

The Secret Service hasn’t announced any arrests connected to the operation. But its early forensic analysis suggests foreign governments and criminals in the US have used the network to run their organizations, McCool said.

“That includes cartels, that includes human traffickers, that includes terrorists,” he told CNN. “It is absolutely well funded and well-organized.”

The network has been taken down and is no longer a threat to New York, law enforcement officials said.

But, McCool cautioned, “It would be unwise to think that there’s not other networks across the country.”

Investigators discovered the trove of devices — including more than 300 co-located SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards – at multiple locations within 35 miles of the United Nations.

“The potential for disruption to our country’s telecommunications posed by this network of devices cannot be overstated,” Secret Service Director Sean Curran said.

It began when the Secret Service traced swatting threats against elected officials. Swatting is the act of making a false, emergency report to police in order to provoke an armed law enforcement response—such as a SWAT team—at a targeted person’s or location’s address. Swatting is a dangerous and potentially deadly activity that wastes emergency resources and puts innocent people at risk of trauma, injury, or death.

The hidden network was found as part of a sweeping Secret Service probe that kicked off in the spring following telecommunications-related threats targeting senior US government officials, according to investigators.

The operation was capable of chaos far beyond masking swatting calls to potentially disabling cell phone towers, disrupting emergency services and enabling spies, hackers and organized crime.

An underground server network capable of crippling communications systems in New York City and the tri-state area has been shut down, officials said.

The United States Secret Service announced Tuesday, Sept. 23, that the organization had dismantled a network of electronic devices that 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.”

More than 300 co-located SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards were discovered as part of the investigation at a variety of locations throughout the tri-state area, including one in Westchester County, CNN reported.

CNN: Instead, they found a vast and stunning network of more than 100,000 SIM cards and 300 SIM servers – the largest seizure ever of such devices by the Secret Service – all concentrated within 35 miles of New York City.

The servers could be commanded remotely to create massive amounts of phone traffic in a stealthy and unceasing operation that switched out SIM cards quickly to keep federal law enforcement off its trail.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

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