The U.S. Secret Service on Tuesday said it dismantled a network of electronic devices located across the New York tri-state area that were used to threaten U.S. government officials and posed an imminent threat to national security. The agency did not identify the individuals involved or the officials targeted, but described the operation as a critical preventive measure in safeguarding protectees.
The protective intelligence investigation led to the discovery of more than 300 co-located SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards across multiple sites, the Secret Service said in a release.
Officials said the devices were concentrated within a 35-mile (56-kilometer) radius of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City, highlighting the potential leverage such systems could have in disrupting communications during a peak international gathering.
In its assessment, the Secret Service described the equipment as capable of weaponizing telecommunications – ranging from disabling cell towers to triggering a denial-of-service and enabling encrypted communications between threat actors and criminal enterprises.
Early evidence pointed to cellular communications between nation-state threat actors and individuals known to federal law enforcement. The agency did not identify the actors or the nations involved.
CNN, NBC News and The New York Times reported that the network anonymously conveyed assassination threats against senior U.S. officials and that authorities found empty electronic safehouses in Armonk, New York; Greenwich, Connecticut; Queens, New York; and across the river in New Jersey.
“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.”
Authorities said the investigation remains ongoing as agents analyze the full scope of the devices and the individuals involved.