The Secret Service of the United States announced that it neutralized a network with more than 300 SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards in the New York area, which were capable of paralyzing telecommunications systems just before the UN General Assembly began in the city. “In addition to enabling anonymous phone calls containing threats, these devices can be used to conduct a series of attacks against telecommunications,” stated the US Secret Service, responsible for protecting high-ranking American political figures, in its announcement. “This includes disabling cell towers, launching denial-of-service attacks, and facilitating anonymous and encrypted communications between potentially malicious actors and criminal organizations,” it added. According to the New York Times, an official stated that the network could send 30 million messages per minute, anonymously, and emphasized that the service had never seen such an extensive operation before. There is no specific information that the network posed an immediate threat to the session, Secret Service officials said, speaking under condition of anonymity. The service is responsible for security at UN meetings this week.
New York: “The capability of this system cannot be underestimated”
“The capability of this system cannot be underestimated,” said Matt McCool, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s New York office. “You can’t send messages, you can’t use your cell phone. And if you combine that with some other event related to the United Nations General Assembly, you know, if you use your imagination there, it could be catastrophic for the city,” he emphasized.
The Secret Service dismantled a network of more than 300 SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards in the New York-area that were capable of crippling telecom systems and carrying out anonymous telephonic attacks, disrupting the threat before world leaders arrived for the UN General… pic.twitter.com/sZKUeGqvGY
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) September 23, 2025
Officials stated that they have not uncovered a direct plan to disrupt the UN General Assembly and noted that there are no known credible threats to New York City. The forensic analysis is still in its early stages. However, authorities believe that actors from specific countries used the system to send encrypted messages to organized crime groups, cartels, and terrorist organizations, McCool said.
Breaking News: The Secret Service said it had discovered a cache of devices — more than 100,000 SIM cards and 300 servers — that could have disrupted the cellular network ahead of the UN General Assembly. https://t.co/v223Fw9oRs
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 23, 2025
At this stage, authorities have not revealed details about which governments or criminal groups are connected to the network. “We have to conduct forensic investigation on 100,000 cell phones, essentially all phone calls, all text messages, anything related to communications, to see where these numbers lead,” McCool said, noting that the process will take time.
It’s worth noting that the devices were collected within 53 kilometers of UN headquarters.
