Secret Service agents say they uncovered a massive covert communications network in the New York City area—one that could have taken down cellular service for emergency responders and shut down phones during the busy United Nations General Assembly, reports the New York Times. The operation also could have been used for espionage by foreign operators. However, much remains unknown about the exact purpose of the operation, which involved more than 100,000 SIM cards and 300 servers scattered across multiple locations within a 35-mile radius of UN headquarters.
"It can't be understated what this system is capable of doing," said Matt McCool, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service's New York field office, per the AP. "It can take down cell towers, so then no longer can people communicate, right? .... You can't text message, you can't use your cell phone. And if you coupled that with some sort of other event associated with UNGA, you know, use your imagination there, it could be catastrophic to the city."
Authorities discovered the network after a months-long probe into anonymous threats targeting senior US officials, including one with direct access to President Trump, reports ABC News. Experts say the scale and complexity point to a state-sponsored surveillance, and ABC reports that authorities suspect China is behind it. "My instinct is this is espionage," Anthony J. Ferrante of the cybersecurity firm FTI tells the Times. The Secret Service is combing through seized data and expects to uncover more targeted officials—and possibly more hidden operations in other cities.
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