United Nations SIM Card Farm Incident: Protecting Against Threats to Communications Systems

Following significant communications disruptions during a United Nations meeting in August 2025, a SIM card farm was discovered with the potential to disrupt communications systems across New York City. Such SIM farms can be operated by criminal enterprises or nation state actors to conduct sophisticated scams, including phishing emails, fraudulent text messages, and spoofed caller IDs. They may also be used to overwhelm cellular networks with millions of calls. In addition, this equipment can enable eavesdropping or device cloning, raising concerns about the interception of 911 and public safety communications to misdirect or endanger responders. This session examines warning signs and outlines steps agencies can take to reduce vulnerability to these types of disruptions and attacks.

• Participants will be able to identify the warning signs of a potential SIM Farm disruption or attack and the operational implications and threats.
• Participants will learn strategies agencies can use to overcome infrastructure and network challenges posed by posed by attacks on these systems.
• Participants will gain an understanding of emerging technologies to counter these threats.