This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
As President Donald Trump prepares to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York City Tuesday, the U.S. Secret Service announced it "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, which represented an imminent threat to the agency's protective operations."
The agency says this protective intelligence investigation led to the discovery of more than 300 co-located SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards across multiple sites.
"In addition to carrying out anonymous telephonic threats, these devices could be used to conduct a wide range of telecommunications attacks," according to a news release.
"This includes disabling cell phone towers, enabling denial of services attacks and facilitating anonymous, encrypted communication between potential threat actors and criminal enterprises.
"While forensic examination of these devices is ongoing, early analysis indicates cellular communications between nation-state threat actors and individuals that are known to federal law enforcement."
Secret Service Director Sean Curran indicated: "The potential for disruption to our country's telecommunications posed by this network of devices cannot be overstated."
The Secret Service says the devices were concentrated within 35 miles of the global meeting of the United Nations General Assembly now underway in New York City.
"Given the timing, location and potential for significant disruption to New York telecommunications posed by these devices, the agency moved quickly to disrupt this network," the agency said.
