US Secret Service took down a rogue network capable of generating 30m SMS a minute in New York, as world leaders gather in Manhattan for the UN General Assembly
The New York Field Office of the US Secret Service has dismantled “a massive hidden telecom network across the New York area,” according to The Guardian. Investigators said the system could have taken down cell towers, prevented emergency calls and flooded networks with traffic just as the city prepares to host almost 150 world leaders at a United Nations General Assembly.
100,000 rogue SIM cards
Reportedly, more than 300 SIM servers, containing more than 100,000 SIM cards, were spread across a number of sites within 35 miles of the UN in what has been described as the single biggest threat to communications uncovered on US soil. The perpetrators, who are yet to be named, intended to emulate 100,000 cellphones generating calls and texts en masse to overwhelm local networks and disguise encrypted communications by criminals.
For example, Mike McCool, head of the Secret Service’ New York Field Office, was quoted by The Guardian saying that the set-up had the capacity to send up to 30 million SMS a minute.
Broader investigation
The network was found as part of a broader investigation by the Secret Service into interference with telecoms that targets senior government officials. Forensic analysis has only just begun but it is thought the culprits are probably nation-state actors – criminals backed by particular countries – that use encrypted messages to organised crime gangs, cartels and terrorist cells, according to McCool.
Last November, Moody’s Ratings moved telecoms into the Very High Risk category for the first time in its annual cyber heat map. Like other very high risk industries, telecoms are “highly digitized and play a crucial role in the functioning of society and the economy,” the report said. The second factor that contributed to higher cyber risk scores are “below-average cyber risk mitigation practices,” Moody’s said, and a third was being heavily indebted.
