The U.S. Secret Service said it thwarted a massive telecommunications threat in New York City ahead of the U.N. General Assembly.
“The U.S. Secret Service dismantled a network of electronic devices located throughout the New York tristate area that were used to conduct multiple telecommunications-related threats directed towards senior U.S. government officials, which represented an imminent threat to the agency’s protective operations,” the Secret Service stated in a press release.
“This protective intelligence investigation led to the discovery of more than 300 co-located SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards across multiple sites,” it continued.
“The potential for disruption to our country’s telecommunications posed by this network of devices cannot be overstated,” said U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran.
“The U.S. 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,” Curran added.
NEW: Secret Service dismantled a massive network of more than 300 SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards — capable of crippling telecom systems and carrying out anonymous telephonic attacks.
The takedown came just before world leaders arrived in New York City for the UN General… pic.twitter.com/sShxiCzGes
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 23, 2025
More from the Secret Service:
These devices were concentrated within 35 miles of the global meeting of the United Nations General Assembly now underway in New York City. Given the timing, location and potential for significant disruption to New York telecommunications posed by these devices, the agency moved quickly to disrupt this network. The U.S. Secret Service’s Advanced Threat Interdiction Unit, a new section of the agency dedicated to disrupting the most significant and imminent threats to our protectees, is conducting this investigation. This investigation is currently 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 valuable technical advice and assistance in support of this investigation.
This is an ongoing investigation.
Fox News shared a breaking news alert:
JUST IN: The U.S. Secret Service has dismantled a massive telecommunications network across the New York tristate area that was capable of making threats to senior U.S. officials and could have had devastating effects for the public.
U.S. Secret Service: “This protective… pic.twitter.com/UV1aXAHwlm
— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) September 23, 2025
BBC shared further info:
McCool said the “well-organised and well-funded” scheme involved “nation-state threat actors and individuals that are known to federal law enforcement”.
The unidentified nation-state actors were sending encrypted messages to organised crime groups, cartels and terrorist organisations, he added.
The equipment was capable of texting the entire population of the US within 12 minutes, officials say. It could also have disabled mobile phone towers and launched distributed denial of service attacks that might have blocked emergency dispatch communications.
The devices were seized from SIM farms at abandoned apartment buildings across more than five sites. Officials did not specify the locations.
ADVERTISEMENTThe discovery followed an investigation into anonymous “telephonic threats” directed at three US government officials this spring, unnamed officials told the New York Times.
One of the officials works in the Secret Service and the other two work at the White House, according to the newspaper.
Additional coverage below:
