That Secret Service SIM farm story is bogus
That Secret Service SIM farm story is bogus
This article debunks the Secret Service's claim that a recently discovered SIM farm represents a major national security or espionage threat. The author, Robert Graham, argues it is merely a normal criminal enterprise involved in sending spam and masking call origins. He criticizes major news outlets like the New York Times for uncritically repeating the government's narrative and quoting "experts" who he claims are part of government propaganda, rather than providing an accurate assessment of the situation. Graham explains that SIM farms are common and can be operated by individuals, not just state actors, and while they can sometimes overload cell towers, they do not pose the sophisticated threat suggested by official statements.
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it's odd to read the sentence: who are you going to trust? them or me, "the hacker".
there is a lot to unpack there. but it's a valid statement. trust is hard to give, but we should give it. and we shouldn't give it freely.
NYT shouldn't be given a free pass. they have many contributors, their business model has been evolving and their standards have been degrading.
a hacker's incentive to call out BS seems pretty solid and the description of the technologies used match what I understand to be true.
in the end, it's a lot of nuance and perhaps the NYT author just had to write a piece and is just quoting people.
but if this is happening across all major media players it's a slow burn that fuels the misinformation that we decry about ...
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