The U.S. Secret Service announced today that, after a monthlong investigation, it dismantled a massive network of more than 300 SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards operating at multiple sites across New York City and surrounding areas within a 35-mile radius of this week’s United Nations General Assembly.
Officials say the network had the potential to disrupt emergency services, jam cellular networks, enable encrypted communications, intercept U.N. communications, and even send over 30 million anonymous text messages per minute. One official described the scale of the operation as unlike anything the agency has ever encountered.
Investigators believe the size and sophistication of the setup point to a state-backed surveillance effort. Preliminary analysis of the seized SIM cards revealed links to at least one foreign nation and ties to criminal groups, including cartel members already active in the United States. Cybersecurity experts note that only a handful of countries — such as Russia, China, and Israel — would likely have the capability to mount such an operation.
