The U.S. Secret Service, investigating threats to three people, including one person with "direct access" to President Donald Trump, discovered a plot to take down the New York City telecommunications system. The agencies involved are being tight-lipped about the incident because a foreign government was said to be involved. The news broke on Tuesday morning as the United Nations (UN) General Assembly kicks off its General Debate with World Leaders prepared to give speeches.
While the Secret Service wasn't sure that the attack on New York City's telecom system was connected in any way with the UN meetings, the Secret Service felt that it should not take any chances, especially in light of the political climate in the U.S. at the moment. As a result, it is actively investigating other locations to see how widespread the plot is.
Equipment was discovered that could have paralyzed the area's interconnected telephone systems
The Secret Service and the New York Police Department (NYPD) said that last month they seized 100,000 cellphone SIM cards and hundreds of servers in the New York City area. Authorities are still trying to determine what all of that equipment was supposed to do and if there was a specific target. One report said that there was enough equipment discovered to send 30 million anonymous texts per minute, enough to paralyze the Big Apple's telecom system.
Are you concerned by this report?
Yes. It sounds ominous.
69.77%
No. It seems that the Secret Service is on top of things.
16.28%
I don't know what to think.
13.95%
All of the confiscated equipment was discovered within 35 miles of the UN, and agents believe that the gear was used by nation-state actors to send encrypted messages to organized crime groups, cartels, and terrorist organizations.
The servers could have been used to make multiple calls and texts, overwhelming local networks. The special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s New York field office, Matt McCool, said, "It can’t be understated what this system is capable of doing. It can take down cell towers, so then no longer can people communicate, right? .... You can’t text message, you can’t use your cell phone. And if you coupled that with some sort of other event associated with UNGA (UN General Assembly), you know, use your imagination there, it could be catastrophic to the city."
What the equipment could have been used for
McCool added that "This network had the power to disable cell phone towers and essentially shut down the cellular network in New York City."
A photo disseminated by the Secret Service showed stacks of SIM cards from MobileX, an MVNO that uses the Verizon network for connectivity. It was founded by Peter Adderton who also founded Boost Mobile. Mobile X released a statement this afternoon about the photo:
"We are aware of recent reports that MobileX SIM cards, along with those of other providers, were recovered during a federal investigation. Our platform is designed to be easy to use and cost-effective, qualities that unfortunately can also attract occasional bad actors. MobileX has robust safeguards in place to identify and block automated or bulk usage, and we shut down suspicious activity on our network every day."
"Like all wireless providers, we occasionally see bad actors attempt to misuse our services. Our technology and processes are specifically designed to detect and stop any misuse in order to protect both the network and legitimate customers. We are fully prepared to cooperate with the authorities should they reach out."
Recommended Stories
Image shows stacks of MobileX SIM cards confiscated by the Secret Service. | Image credit-Secret Service
Investigators say that they do not believe there is a direct threat to the UN talks. The BBC reported that the equipment could have texted every person making up the population of the U.S. in only 12 minutes. By overwhelming the system with texts, the seized gear could have disabled cell towers and launched distributed denial of service attacks that might have blocked the dispatch of first responders in the event of a massive attack against the city.
"Iconic Phones" is coming this Fall!
Good news everyone! Over the past year we've been working on an exciting passion project of ours and we're thrilled to announce it will be ready to release in just a few short months.
"Iconic Phones: Revolution at Your Fingertips" is a must-have coffee table book for every tech-head that will bring you on a journey to relive the greatest technological revolution of the 21st century. For more details, simply follow the link below!
Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
A discussion is a place, where people can voice their opinion, no matter if it
is positive, neutral or negative. However, when posting, one must stay true to the topic, and not just share some
random thoughts, which are not directly related to the matter.
Things that are NOT allowed:
Off-topic talk - you must stick to the subject of discussion
Offensive, hate speech - if you want to say something, say it politely
Spam/Advertisements - these posts are deleted
Multiple accounts - one person can have only one account
Impersonations and offensive nicknames - these accounts get banned
To help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts:
New accounts created within the last 24 hours may experience restrictions on how frequently they can
post or comment.
These limits are in place as a precaution and will automatically lift.
Moderation is done by humans. We try to be as objective as possible and moderate with zero bias. If you think a
post should be moderated - please, report it.
Have a question about the rules or why you have been moderated/limited/banned? Please,
contact us.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed:
To help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts: