US Secret Service shuts down telecom threat against UN General Assembly

The United States Secret Service (USSS) dismantled a telecommunications network threatening to disrupt cellular services in New York City. Over 100 world leaders and delegations are attending the 80th anniversary of the General Assembly in the city.

On Tuesday, officials wrote a statement about investigations that uncovered more than 300 SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards last month across the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. 

According to the Secret Service, the equipment could have disabled mobile towers, flooded networks, and interfered with emergency dispatch systems. The agents found the devices after raiding several locations within 35 miles of the UN headquarters in Midtown Manhattan.

The network could disable cell towers

Per the US security protective services’ statement, the seized equipment could have texted the entire US population in just 12 minutes. It also had the capacity to conduct distributed denial of service attacks, which could block emergency communications in case a terror attack was imminent.

“This was a difficult and complex effort to identify the source of these fraudulent calls and their potential impact on the Secret Service protection mission,” said Special Agent in Charge Matt McCool. “This network had the power to disable cell phone towers and essentially shut down the cellular network in New York City.”

McCool called the scheme “well-organized and well-funded,” for including nation-state threat actors and individuals already known to US law enforcement. Encrypted messages were allegedly exchanged between organized crime groups, cartels, and terrorist organizations.

The telecommunications gear was recovered from so-called SIM farms housed in abandoned apartment buildings in at least five undisclosed sites.

“The potential for disruption to our country’s telecommunications posed by this network of devices cannot be overstated,” Secret Service Director Sean Curran remarked. “This investigation makes it clear to potential bad actors that imminent threats to our protectees will be immediately investigated, tracked down and dismantled.”

Investigations started after threats to US officials

According to agents who spoke to the New York Times, the investigation began after anonymous telephonic threats were made against three US government officials earlier this year. One of the officials who was threatened worked with the Secret Service, while the other two were White House staffers.

CNN reported that the agency first detected the New York-area SIM farm after it was linked to swatting incidents on Christmas Day in 2023. Those incidents involved Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and US Senator Rick Scott.

The cases were tied to two Romanian men, Thomasz Szabo and Nemanja Radovanovic, who were working with an American swatter, Alan Filion, also known as “Torswats.” All three have since been convicted on swatting-related charges.

Ben Coon, head of intelligence at cybersecurity firm Unit 221b, believes there was little foreign state involvement, and the operation is based on financial crimes.

Coon also noted that while the farm discovered by the Secret Service is not the largest in the US, it is one of the most concentrated operations found in such a small geographic area. 

“SIM boxes are illegal in the United States, the hundreds seized must have been smuggled into the country,” he added. Some equipment was shipped from China disguised as audio amplifiers in previous cases.

Highly professional setup discovered

A telecommunications source told tech publication WIRED that SIM farms enable “bulk messaging at a speed and volume that would be impossible for an individual user.” 

Images released by the Secret Service showed racks of neatly arranged telecom equipment, each component numbered and labeled. Cables were carefully laid out and secured, which could mean the operation was handled by well-resourced professionals.

“This looks more professional than many of the SIM farms you see,” said Cathal Mc Daid, vice president of technology at telecom and cybersecurity firm Enea. He reckoned each SIM box contained around 256 ports with corresponding modems.

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