(U.S. Secret Service via SWNS)
By Dean Murray
US federal agents say they have uncovered a clandestine network of electronic devices positioned across the New York City area that posed an imminent threat to senior government officials.
The US Secret Service confirmed it had dismantled the operation, which it described as telecommunications-related and directly targeting its protective missions.
The warning came as world leaders, including President Donald Trump, gathered in Manhattan for the United Nations General Assembly.
Investigators discovered more than 300 SIM servers and some 100,000 SIM cards stashed at multiple locations, most of them within 35 miles of the UN headquarters. The equipment was allegedly being used to mount co-ordinated threats against government figures.
The US Secret Service said: "In addition to carrying out anonymous telephonic threats, these devices could be used to conduct a wide range of telecommunications attacks. This includes disabling cell phone towers, enabling denial of services attacks and facilitating anonymous, encrypted communication between potential threat actors and criminal enterprises.
"While forensic examination of these devices is ongoing, early analysis indicates cellular communications between nation-state threat actors and individuals that are known to federal law enforcement."
(U.S. Secret Service via SWNS)
US Secret Service Director Sean Curran said: "The potential for disruption to our country’s telecommunications posed by this network of devices cannot be overstated.
"The US Secret Service’s protective mission is all about prevention, and this investigation makes it clear to potential bad actors that imminent threats to our protectees will be immediately investigated, tracked down and dismantled."
The US Secret Service said that given the timing, location and potential for significant disruption to New York telecommunications posed by these devices, the agency moved quickly to shut down the network.
The US Secret Service’s Advanced Threat Interdiction Unit, a new section of the agency dedicated to disrupting the most significant and imminent threats to its protectees, is leading the investigation, which remains ongoing.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Justice, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the NYPD, as well as other state and local law enforcement partners, provided technical advice and assistance in support of the operation.