Re: Encryption is now illegal? (Re: U.S. Secret Service shuts down NYC cellular disruption network)

[Kurtis Heimerl via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org>]

Yes, you can't trust the current administration's announcements. These
sorts of setups are not used for jamming or disrupting cell networks (you'd
just use a jammer), instead they are used for tunneling international VoIP
traffic onto national cellular lines, allowing for (admittedly illegal)
cheaper calls.  Or sometimes pokemon go account farming (though then you'd
expect them to be mobile).

On Wed, Sep 24, 2025 at 4:39 AM Mel Beckman via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org>
wrote:

> It's one thing if they discovered a criminal enterprise that was actually
> using this equipment as their communications hub,
>
> But that’s precisely what the SS says:
> “The U.S. Secret Service dismantled a network of electronic devices
> located throughout the New York tristate area that were used to conduct
> multiple telecommunications-related threats directed towards senior U.S.
> government officials,…”
>
> and
>
> “….early analysis indicates cellular communications between nation-state
> threat actors and individuals that are known to federal law enforcement.”
>
> They dismantled a network that they found were actively prosecuting
> threats.
>
> This wasn’t just some hacker’s randomly assembled kit of penetration
> tools. This clearly cost a lot of money to set up and maintain.
>
>  -mel
>
> On Sep 24, 2025, at 2:13 AM, nanog--- via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org>
> wrote:
>
> Upon actually reading the article, this looks overblown, typical of the
> current regime.
>
> Having a lot of SIM cards, a lot of phones, having phones in a rack-mount
> form factor, and plugging SIM cards into things that are not phones are not
> illegal.
>
> The fact that a cellphone network could be overloaded by a lot of phones
> doesn't make it illegal to have a lot of phones. Even if it /does/ overload
> the cellphone network, AFAIK it's still not illegal unless that was your
> intention.
>
>
> Their other justification is even worse:
>
> "These devices could be used for... facilitating anonymous, encrypted
> communication between potential threat actors and criminal enterprises" -
> MEGA YIKES. So they're outlawing encryption now? Anything that can send
> communication can send encrypted communication. It's one thing if they
> discovered a criminal enterprise that was actually using this equipment as
> their communications hub, as I believe the law allows them to seize stuff
> used for a crime regardless of its other uses. But only in America (and
> Russia, Iran, North Korea) can they legally seize stuff just because it
> /could hypothetically/ be used for a crime, and then not give it back.
>
>
>
> On 23/09/2025 18:46, Mel Beckman via NANOG wrote:
> The U.S. Secret Service announced today that it dismantled a network of
> electronic devices located throughout the New York tristate area that were
> used to conduct multiple telecommunications-related threats directed
> towards senior U.S. government officials, which represented an imminent
> threat to the agency’s protective operations.
>
>
> The SS say they discovered more than 300 co-located SIM servers and
> 100,000 SIM cards across multiple sites, and while the photo they provide
> shows gear set up in what looks like an apartment, it could be that
> interlopers have infiltrated actual Internet colo facilities.
>
>
> As a colo operator, I’ve turned away more than a few sketchy potential
> customers due to their flakey stories requesting rooftop or window antenna
> locations. Be on the lookout.
>
>
>
>
> https://www.secretservice.gov/newsroom/releases/2025/09/us-secret-service-dismantles-imminent-telecommunications-threat-new-york#:~:text=NEW%20YORK%20–%20The%20U.S.%20Secret,SIM%20cards%20across%20multiple%20sites
> <https://www.secretservice.gov/newsroom/releases/2025/09/us-secret-service-dismantles-imminent-telecommunications-threat-new-york#:~:text=NEW%20YORK%20%E2%80%93%20The%20U.S.%20Secret,SIM%20cards%20across%20multiple%20sites>
> .<
> https://www.secretservice.gov/newsroom/releases/2025/09/us-secret-service-dismantles-imminent-telecommunications-threat-new-york#:~:text=NEW%2520YORK%2520%E2%80%93%2520The%2520U.S.%2520Secret,SIM%2520cards%2520across%2520multiple%2520sites
> .>
>
>
>
>  -mel beckman
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