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Secret Service Dismantles Massive SIM-Farm Network Near U.N., Citing Risk to NYC Cell Service

Investigators are analyzing about 100,000 seized SIM cards, with early findings pointing to contacts between foreign actors and people known to U.S. law enforcement.

Overview

  • Agents seized more than 300 SIM servers and roughly 100,000 SIM cards across multiple New York–area sites concentrated within 35 miles of U.N. headquarters.
  • Officials say the system could disable cell towers, jam 911 calls, enable denial-of-service attacks, and send up to 30 million text messages per minute.
  • The discovery stemmed from a spring protective-intelligence probe into telecommunications threats directed at senior U.S. officials.
  • The immediate risk has been neutralized and no arrests have been announced, and authorities say they have not identified a specific plot targeting the General Assembly.
  • Homeland Security Investigations, the Justice Department, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the NYPD assisted as agents warned similar networks may exist elsewhere.