US Foils Threat Near UN – Potential Communications Disruption

A US Secret Service operation in New York City thwarted a large-scale “telecommunications” threat hours before the US President's address to the UN General Assembly.

Authorities uncovered a hidden network including over 100,000 SIM cards and approximately 300 servers/routers. The network had the capability to send a massive volume of encrypted messages and potentially “disable” cell towers.

Sean Curren, Director of the US Secret Service, emphasized that the investigation demonstrates threats against their protectees will be investigated and disrupted immediately.

Investigators estimate the network could send up to 30 million SMS messages per minute. The investigation is ongoing, with initial indications linking state actors to individuals known to federal authorities.

Matt McCool, Special Agent in Charge of the Secret Service in New York, noted that the system is now offline and no evidence has been found linking it to a specific attack against the UN event, but it could have shut down the mobile network in New York City.