Massive telecom bust in major city is ‘wake-up call’ as foreign adversaries threaten US security: experts

The U.S. Secret Service dismantled a massive telecommunications network hidden throughout the New York City area, forcing investigators to confront a startling reality surrounding threats to national security. 

The bust marks one of the largest communications threats uncovered within the country, with over 300 SIM servers filled with more than 100,000 SIM cards discovered throughout various sites within the tri-state area. The devices possessed the capability to transmit up to 30 million text messages a minute, according to The Associated Press. 

“The potential for disruption to our country’s telecommunications posed by this network of devices cannot be overstated,” U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran said in a statement Sept. 23. “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.”

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Authorities uncovered the network as nearly 150 world leaders were preparing to arrive in Manhattan for the U.N. General Assembly. According to investigators, the devices were concentrated within 35 miles of the global meeting, resulting in a rapid response from authorities working to dismantle the network. 

While officials said they have not found a direct plot to disrupt the assembly, experts said the potential damage could have been catastrophic. 

“I think that it’s a wake-up call,” former NYPD inspector Paul Mauro told Fox News Digital. “The fact that this was happening at this scale, on our soil, in the New York area with the U.N. General Assembly about to kick off tells us that these groups have the resources to do something like this, at this level.” 

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The network was discovered as the Secret Service was investigating several telecommunications threats targeting senior government officials, according to authorities. 

Investigators said the massive scale of electronics was poised to potentially collapse cellular service throughout New York City by jamming phone lines, 911 calls and other methods of communication in an apparent effort to sow chaos throughout the area.

“It seems to me that you have an atomic bomb here that could be pointed at all kinds of cyber assets,” Mauro said. 

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As officials comb through forensic evidence from the trove of devices discovered across multiple states, authorities said they found evidence that the network was constructed by groups outside the country to communicate with cartels, terrorist organizations and other organized crime groups. 

“What happens if they didn’t find it?” former NYPD Lt. Joe Cardinale told Fox News Digital. “It could have been a different scenario. You don’t know if sensitive information would have been compromised through the heads of state that were attending, and that’s what [foreign adversaries] look for. They like to hear what’s going on.” 

Experts also indicated the massive scheme could have leveled the city’s communications system during a time of crisis, potentially exposing a vulnerability for bad actors to exploit – similar to the technology blackouts that occurred during the Sept. 11 attacks. 

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Upon discovering the telecom threat, investigators found over 100,000 SIM cards that had already been activated. However, many devices had yet to be booted up, suggesting the perpetrators were planning to double – or triple – the network’s capacity. 

“If it was for real ‘bad guy purposes,’ as in preparation for an attack, you could have made sure that nobody’s getting the information they need to respond,” Mauro said. “It could have shut down the 911 systems. They probably had the ability to shut down specific areas, so it’s not even like all of New York had to be taken down.” 

Mauro suggested the groups operating the network could have the ability to pinpoint geographic locations to cut off for nefarious purposes, ultimately closing off specific areas to cell networks and help from first responders. 

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“If you are going to run some sort of operation – whether it’s the movement of drugs, movement of money or an attack – you could specify that a particular area of the cell network gets blown out,” Mauro said. “So 911 systems won’t work. No one can call each other, and you can only imagine the rest.” 

As investigators work to determine the source of the sprawling network, Mauro warned the sheer volume of the plot suggests that America’s foreign adversaries are advancing in their threats against the country’s citizens. 

“I’ve never seen anything like this, certainly not at this scale,” Mauro told Fox News Digital. “There’s always phone fraud, cyber fraud, people scanning websites for credit card numbers and things like that, but I’ve never seen a server farm configured on American soil at this level.”