The United States Secret Service has successfully busted a huge and illegal telecom scheme that spanned the NY metro area. According to special agent in charge Matt McCool, this operation was incredibly well-funded and highly organized. That greatly concerned local officials, as it posed an extreme threat to the city’s cellular communications. The national text network would not be able to deliver more than 30 million text messages per minute. This massive influx of messaging threatened to shutdown emergency services as well, such as 911 calls.
The chase across Los Angeles was massive in scale and used high-end equipment. It presented with more than 300 SIM servers, which serviced more than 100,000 active SIM cards. The systems formed a defensive ring tactically arranged within a 35-mile radius of the UN. This issue introduces questions about their ability to black out cellular service across large swaths of the city.
In his keynote remarks, McCool did not mince words about the dire state of affairs. He emphasized, “It can’t be overstated what that system can do.” It’s able to destroy cell towers, so then immediately people can’t communicate, correct?… You can’t text message, you can’t be on your cellphone. If you add to that a third event associated with the UN general assembly—then it gets crazy. Now, picture that same level of devastation to a thriving and bustling city!
As the most bombastic headlines suggested, the investigation uncovered that more than 100,000 SIM cards were already active, with thousands more in the queue to be activated. McCool especially emphasized that operators were getting ready to double and even triple the network’s capacity. This network had monumental implications. It would have flooded communication networks with confusion at pivotal times.
The Secret Service’s investigation was fueled by forensic analysis suggesting that nation-state actors had utilized this network to send encrypted messages. According to the Siena’s Communications, targets of these communications were reportedly foreign organized crime syndicates, foreign drug cartels, and foreign terrorist organizations.
Sean Curran, an official with the Secret Service, highlighted prevention as an integral part of their protective mission. He continued that this investigation should serve as a clear warning to those who would pose a threat if you threaten your protectees, we will investigate you, find you, and take you down. This declaration further highlights the agency’s resolve to eliminate threats that pose to national security and public safety.
The operation sounds almost like a carbon copy of things done recently in the United Kingdom. They’re fighting back against threats from alleged “SIM farms.” In a proactive move, the UK Home Office announced a ban on the possession or supply of these SIM farms without a legitimate reason.
The Secret Service won a significant victory by eliminating this telecom infrastructure. This action reinforces their ongoing battle against highly developed criminal and terrorist operations. Now investigators are left with an impossible burden. They have to do forensic analysis on an estimated 100k cellphones and that is just for this busted operation.
“Then we need to examine 100,000 cellphones,” McCool continued. This involves looking at every phone call, every text message and all communication between them to figure out where those numbers go.”