Secret Service Dismantles Weaponized SIM Farms Designed To “Shut Down” NYC Cell Networks

Hours before President Donald Trump’s address to the United Nations General Assembly, the U.S. Secret Service announced that it had dismantled a massive, decentralized SIM farm network, just 35 miles from New York City, hidden inside five abandoned apartment buildings. The telecommunications stealth weapon was capable of paralyzing regional cell networks through denial-of-service attacks.

Key Details from the Secret Service Report:

Investigators seized 300 SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards across multiple sites.

The devices enabled anonymous threats, encrypted communications, and could launch telecom attacks such as:

• Disabling cell towers
• Denial-of-service attacks
• Secure communication for criminal enterprises

Early analysis shows links between nation-state actors and known criminals.

CBS News described the seizure as the largest of its kind, noting the network was scattered across abandoned apartment buildings at more than five sites, roughly 35 miles from New York City.

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“This network had the potential to disable cell phone towers and essentially shut down the cellular network in New York City,” Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Matt McCool stated in a video released in the report by the agency.

Beyond DDoS attacks, the SIM farms could also support psychological warfare operations such as:

• Mass disinformation campaigns
• Emergency false alerts (e.g., fake evacuation texts)

CBS, citing multiple officials briefed on the probe, reported that early findings suggest the network was used for communications between foreign governments and individuals already known to U.S. law enforcement.