U.S. Secret Service agents dismantled electronic devices at multiple New York City locations that could have potentially been used to disable the city’s cellphone network and anonymously convey assassination threats against senior U.S. officials, as well as other criminal activities, the agency announced on Tuesday (September 23).
Secret Service agents discovered more than 300 co-located SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards, as well as 80 grams of cocaine, illegal firearms, computers and cellphones in five locations within the New York City area, which includes the United Nations, where President Donald Trump is scheduled to address the UN general assembly on Tuesday, officials announced.
“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.
The devices could potentially be used in a wide range of telecommunication attacks, which “includes disabling cell phone towers, enabling denial of services attacks and facilitating anonymous, encrypted communication between potential threat actors and criminal enterprises,” according to the Secret Service’s website. The forensic examination into the devices is ongoing, according to the agency.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Justice, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the New York Police Department and other state and local law enforcement partners have all participated in the investigation.
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