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 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.
68.42%
No. It seems that the Secret Service is on top of things.
26.32%
I don't know what to think.
5.26%
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 United Nations in NYC. | Image credit-United Nations
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."
Investigators say that they do not believe there is a direct threat to the UN talks.
This is breaking news and will be updated
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