00:00A massive communications network threatening the New York tri-state area has been taken down, Secret Service agents say.
00:08The network, involving more than 300 servers and 100,000 SIM cards, was discovered during an investigation into threats against senior U.S. officials just as world leaders were heading to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
00:23The devices, found about 35 miles from the U.N. building in Manhattan, were capable of shutting down cell towers and enabling encrypted communications among criminal groups and foreign operatives, according to authorities.
00:37We want to identify, locate, and take down these criminals that are setting up these networks. My message to them is, if you're involved in this, we're coming for you.
00:47In the spring, a new unit was formed to track down the people behind these threats and determine if they were credible.
00:54Working with Homeland Security and other federal agencies, Secret Service investigators traced the network, analyzed communications, and shut it down.
01:02It can send out 30 million text messages a minute, encrypted, anonymous, which means that it could theoretically text the entire nation in 12 minutes.
01:13It could also launch denial-of-service attacks, blocking phone lines like never before.
01:19Forensic analysis is still underway, but early findings show the network connected foreign operatives with individuals already known to federal law enforcement.
01:28Read more right now on the Straight Arrow News mobile app or head to san.com.
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