Secret Service Says it Destroyed a ‘Cell Phone Doomsday’ Device in New York City

What Happened?

The U.S. Secret Service announced it has located and destroyed what it calls a ‘cell phone doomsday’ device in New York City. The agency said the network was believed to be behind a series of swatting calls in New York which targeted government officials last year, and that the network could shut down cell service in New York City.

According to Matt McCool, director of the Secret Service’s New York Field Office, ‘These devices allowed anonymous, encrypted communications between potential threat actors,’ which would have allowed those groups to communicate undetected. The Secret Service gave no indications of who was behind the network. 

Why it Matters

The scale and sophistication of the criminal communications network is larger than anything previously encountered by law enforcement officials. According to a Secret Service assessment of the network, ‘it could have sent an encrypted and anonymous text to every human being in the US and stopped everyone in Manhattan from accessing Google Maps.’ The Secret Service also said that its agents seized more than 100,000 SIM cards and 300 SIM servers, which were found in five different safe houses in or around New York City.

New York officials also said they believed the network would have been capable of interfering with first responders, including police, fire, and rescue, by disrupting their communications. Neither city officials nor the Secret Service suggested any possible motives for constructing the network, but there are some obvious possibilities.

Criminal networks that can disrupt first responder communications could use that network to help them carry out criminal activities. For example, during a bank robbery, they could direct police to the wrong location, giving them enough time to get away. Large-scale communications shutdowns could also be used to generate fear, making it a potential tool for terrorist organizations. 

New York is one of the leading financial centers in the world, and criminal groups could use a network like this to facilitate global financial scams. The United Nations headquarters is also located in New York, which means espionage is a potential motive.

The number of resources and technical knowledge needed to build such a network suggests a nation-state could have been behind it. Though the Secret Service did not accuse any country of involvement, it is possible they have leads pointing to the origins of the network they haven’t made public since the investigation is still ongoing. Transnational criminal organizations such as drug cartels also possess deep enough pockets to fund such an operation. 

How it Affects You

The Secret Service indicated that while they haven’t found similar networks in other cities, there is no reason to think they won’t. With the rise of e-commerce and the increasing dependence of modern society on the internet, such networks could be capable of causing serious disruptions and damage to the economy.