The takedown of a massive outlaw telecom network in the New York City metro area by the U.S. Secret Service has raised concerns about the security of the nation’s mobile infrastructure.
The Secret Service announced Tuesday that it had 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.
It added that the operation led to the discovery of more than 300 SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards across multiple sites.
In addition to carrying out anonymous telephonic threats, it explained, the “SIM farms” uncovered by the investigators could be used to conduct a wide range of telecommunications attacks, including disabling cell phone towers, enabling denial-of-service attacks, and facilitating anonymous, encrypted communication between potential threat actors and criminal enterprises.
It also noted that early analysis of the SIM information reveals cellular communications between nation-state threat actors and individuals that are known to federal law enforcement.
