Secret Service Dismantles ‘Imminent’ Electronic Threat Ahead Of Trump UN Speech

The Secret Service said Tuesday that it had dismantled a network of electronic devices in New York that had been used to target senior federal government officials with telecommunications threats. 

The agency said that the network posed a threat to its “protective operations” and that it could have been used to disrupt Tuesday’s meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. Investigators discovered 300 co-located SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards across multiple sites “capable of crippling telecom systems and carrying out anonymous telephonic attacks.” The network is tied to foreign actors and individuals known to law enforcement. The announcement comes just hours before President Donald Trump is set to address the UN.

“The potential for disruption to our country’s telecommunications posed by this network of devices cannot be overstated,” said U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran. “The U.S. 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.”

The Secret Service dismantled a network of more than 300 SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards in the New York-area that were capable of crippling telecom systems and carrying out anonymous telephonic attacks, disrupting the threat before world leaders arrived for the UN General… pic.twitter.com/sZKUeGqvGY

— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) September 23, 2025

The devices were found in the New York Tri-State Area within 35 miles of the UN headquarters. CBS reported that the devices were found in abandoned apartment buildings. 

Secret Service agent Matt McCool said that no arrests had been made and that the agency was still determining everyone who was behind the network. 

“We will continue working toward identifying those responsible and their intent, including whether their plan was to disrupt the U.N. General Assembly and communications of government and emergency personnel during the official visit of world leaders in and around New York City,” he said. 

McCool said the attacks happened in the spring but did not reveal which officials were targeted.

“These devices allowed anonymous encrypted communications between potential threat actors and criminal enterprises, enabling criminal organizations to operate undetected,” he said. “This network had the potential to disable cell phone towers and essentially shut down the cellular network in New York City.” 

Multiple agencies were involved in the investigation, including Homeland Security Investigations, the Justice Department, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the New York City Police Department.