U.S. Secret Service Seizes 300 SIM Servers, 100K Cards Threatening U.S. Officials Near UN

The U.S. Secret Service said it dismantled a network of devices across the New York tri-state area that threatened U.S. government officials and posed an imminent national security risk. The agency reported more than 300 co-located SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards across multiple sites within a 35-mile (56 km) radius of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City.

Aside from anonymous threats, the devices could be weaponised to disrupt telecommunications, including disabling cell towers or conducting a denial-of-service, and to enable encrypted communication between potential threat actors and criminal enterprises. The Secret Service noted early evidence points to cellular communications between nation-state actors and individuals known to federal law enforcement, though it did not specify who they are.

CNN and NBC News reported that the network anonymously conveyed assassination threats against senior U.S. officials, and that empty electronic safehouses were rented around the area, including Armonk, Greenwich, Queens and across the river in New Jersey, according to the article. According to U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran, the potential disruption to our telecommunications could not be overstated, and the protective mission will be to prevent and dismantle imminent threats to protectees.