The US Secret Service dismantled a sophisticated and illicit communications network in the New York area capable of disrupting cellular networks and emergency services, officials announced. Discovered ahead of the UN General Assembly, the operation involved over 100,000 SIM cards and 300 servers, capable of anonymously sending up to 30 million text messages per minute. While there’s no direct evidence that the network aimed to target the UN event, its scale suggests potential foreign espionage. Investigators linked the network to at least one foreign nation and known criminals. The probe continues, with authorities warning similar setups may exist in other cities. They write:

The Secret Service found and seized an illicit network of sophisticated equipment in the New York region that was capable of shutting down the cellular network as foreign leaders prepared to gather nearby for the annual U.N. General Assembly, the agency announced on Tuesday.

Officials said the anonymous communications network, which included more than 100,000 SIM cards and 300 servers, could interfere with emergency response services and could be used to conduct encrypted communication. One official said the network was capable of sending 30 million text messages per minute, anonymously. The official said the agency had never before seen such an extensive operation. […]

The conference draws more than 100 foreign leaders and their staffs and has been described as the Super Bowl of spy games. The scale of the equipment discovered suggests the network could be part of a nation’s surveillance operation, experts said. […]

James A. Lewis, a cybersecurity researcher at the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington, said that only a handful of countries could pull off such an operation, including Russia, China and Israel.

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