The Secret Service on Tuesday has uncovered and neutralized a clandestine and high-tech telecom threat in New York City ahead of Donald Trump's address in the UN General Assembly.
As per official authorities, the covert telecom network included over 100,000 SIM cards and 300 servers.
Moreover the network is designed to “cripple the telecom systems and carry out anonymous telephonic attacks” during the world’s leaders meeting at the UN.
The potential threat was further capable of sending encrypted messaging and interrupting the emergency communication services.
According to US Secret Service director Sean Curran, “The potential for disruption to our country’s telecommunications posed by this network of devices cannot be overstated.”
“The US Secret Service’s protective mission is all about prevention and this investigation makes it clear to potential bad actors that imminent threats to our protectees will be immediately investigated, tracked down and dismantled,” he added.
As reported by one official, the dismantled network could send up to 30 million text messages per minute.
The devices were discovered within 35 miles of the UN’s headquarters.
In preliminary investigation, no robust evidence was found that linked the telecommunication threat with the upcoming UN event.
Donald Trump is set to address the UN for the first time since 2020.