Secret Service dismantles NYC telecom threat: 'Catastrophic to the city'

The Brief

NEW YORK (AP) - Just as nearly 150 world leaders converged on New York City for the U.N. General Assembly, the U.S. Secret Service uncovered and dismantled a vast and dangerous hidden telecom system operating across the region.

According to investigators, the network had the capacity to jam 911 calls, take down cell towers and cripple the city’s communication infrastructure at its most vulnerable moment.

While no direct plot has been linked to the U.N. event, officials warn the discovery points to a new kind of threat – one aimed at the invisible systems modern cities depend on.

What we know:

The dismantled system consisted of over 300 SIM servers and more than 100,000 SIM cards spread within a 35-mile radius of the United Nations headquarters. Investigators say the netw