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Secret Service Dismantles Massive SIM-Server Network Threatening New York Area Telecoms

Investigators have begun a lengthy forensic review of roughly 100,000 SIM-enabled devices to trace the operators.

Overview

  • Agents seized more than 300 SIM-server units and over 100,000 active SIM cards across sites in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
  • Officials say the system could send up to 30 million text messages per minute, with the potential to overload cell towers and block emergency calls.
  • The Secret Service reports no specific plot against the U.N. General Assembly and no known immediate threat to New York City.
  • Early analysis indicates possible use by state-linked actors to relay encrypted communications with criminal and terrorist groups, with no public attribution.
  • The Advanced Threat Interdiction Unit led the takedown with support from DHS, DOJ, the ODNI and the NYPD, and the agency announced the action in a video statement.