Secret Service takes down network that could have crippled New York cell service
US agency dismantled hidden telecom network that would have unleashed chaos ahead of UN general assembly
While close to 150 world leaders prepared to descend on Manhattan for the UN general assembly, the US Secret Service was quietly dismantling a massive hidden telecom network across the New York area - a system investigators say could have crippled cell towers, jammed 911 calls and flooded networks with chaos at the very moment the city was most vulnerable.
The cache, made up of more than 300 sim servers packed with over 100,000 sim cards and clustered within 35 miles (56km) of the United Nations, represents one of the most sweeping communications threats uncovered on US soil. Investigators warn the system could have blacked out cellular service in a city that relies on it not only for daily life but for emergency response and counter-terrorism.
Continue reading...