Mobile phone server with 100,000 SIM cards seized in New York
300 SIM card servers and 100,000 SIM cards were discovered around the UN headquarters in New York. Their purpose is unclear.
The UN complex in Manhattan as seen from 1st Avenue
(Image: Daniel AJ Sokolov)
Over 300 SIM card servers with 100,000 SIM cards have been discovered and confiscated in New York and New Jersey. This was announced by the US Secret Service. The devices were installed at several locations within a radius of 35 miles (a good 56 kilometres) of the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan. High-ranking diplomats and politicians from all over the world are currently meeting there for the UN General Assembly.
"The potential for disruption to our country's telecommunications from this network of devices cannot be overstated," says Sean Curran, head of the Secret Service. A press release mentions possible encrypted communications and possible denial of service (DOS) attacks to temporarily disable mobile phone base stations, but not actual attacks. The investigating authority does not provide any information on the actual purpose of the confiscated equipment.
Beschlagnahmte SIM-Server (5 Bilder)
Secret Service (gemeinfrei)
)In the densely built-up area of Manhattan, mobile phone cells are densely spaced and have a short range. Attackers with many connections could overload individual cells, but could hardly cause large-scale network outages across several network operators. This is all the more true as the SIM servers in question were reportedly distributed across various locations in an area of around 10,000 square kilometres. On a typical working day, there are around four million people in Manhattan, almost all of them with mobile phones; countless devices there are also equipped with SIM cards.
Ideal for spam calls
The systems are ideal for fraudulent calls of all kinds. For years, North American network operators have been using the SHAKEN and STIR signing methods to combat spam calls with spoofed numbers. Fraudulent call centres can now connect to SIM card servers in New York and New Jersey via the Internet and initiate telephone calls that are correctly signed by the mobile phone provider. If a sufficient number of people complain, the individual SIM card may be blocked, but that still leaves 99,999 for the next illegal call.
Such systems can also be used to circumvent eavesdropping interfaces outside the USA. An encrypted voice-over-IP connection is switched to the SIM server, which then places a domestic call. This does not help against the interception interfaces in the US telephone network itself, but US services are bound by conditions when monitoring domestic calls, whereas they are allowed to more or less freely intercept international calls. The system also makes it more difficult to trace calls.
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According to the information provided, the investigators also discovered the systems through tracing: There had been several calls in the spring with threats against high-ranking government officials – and protecting them is the Secret Service's job (in addition to fighting financial crimes, note). As a result, investigators, also with the support of US intelligence services, had observed "communications between foreigners and persons known to the authorities" that had travelled via the SIM servers.
The Secret Service did not provide any information on the exact date of the "recent" access. No arrests have been made so far, says an official in a video, and the investigation is continuing. The investigators now have to analyse data from 100,000 SIM cards.
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