Tuesday, January 22, 2013


Daily Report

Top Stories

• More than 146,000 homes and businesses reported power outages in and around Virginia as a result of a snowstorm that hit several States in the Southeast. – Reuters

1. January 18, Reuters – (Virginia; National) More than 146,000 without power in Virginia after snowstorm. More than 146,000 homes and businesses reported power outages in and around Virginia as a result of a snowstorm that hit several States in the Southeast. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/18/utilities-storm-poweroutages-idUSL1E9CI3P220130118

• Interstate 65 in Cullman County was jammed for miles with hundreds of cars and trucks after a snowstorm covered the roadway with up to 4 inches of snow, causing several accidents. – Associated Press

9. January 18, Associated Press – (Alabama) Ala. highway jammed as snow storm crosses south. Interstate 65 in Cullman County was jammed for miles with hundreds of cars and trucks after a snowstorm covered the roadway with up to 4 inches of snow, causing several accidents. Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20130118/us-winter-weather-south/?utm_hp_ref=homepage&ir=homepage

• A National Tuberculosis Controllers Association survey of health departments illustrates that around 80 percent of health facilities that treat tuberculosis (TB) are finding a shortage of drugs that are able to treat the new, resistant strains of TB. – Reuters

16. January 17, Reuters – (National) U.S. faces drug shortages in treating multidrug-resistant TB. A National Tuberculosis Controllers Association survey of health departments illustrates that around 80 percent of health facilities that treat tuberculosis (TB) are finding a shortage of drugs that are able to treat the new, resistant strains of TB. Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-rt-usa-healthtuberculosisl1e9chgno-20130117,0,3943781.story

• A report by the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration states prison inmates filed over 173,00 fake tax returns in 2012 using false information. The Internal Revenue Service halted $2.2 billion in fraudulent returns in 2012, attributing $1.1 billion of it to a claim filed by two inmates. – Associated Press

19. January 17, Associated Press – (National) 2 prison inmates claim $1.1 billion in tax refunds; 173,000 fraudulent prison tax returns uncovered. A report by the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration states prison inmates filed over 173,00 fake tax returns in 2012 using false information. The Internal Revenue Service halted $2.2 billion in fraudulent returns in 2012, attributing $1.1 billion of it to a claim filed by two inmates. Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/18/prison-tax-fraud-billion-refund-inmates_n_2502137.html?1358520561&icid=maing-grid7|maing10|dl17|sec1_lnk3&pLid=258775

Details

Banking and Finance Sector

3. January 17, KFXV 2 McAllen – (Texas) McAllen cloned credit card scheme busted. Police in McAllen arrested two individuals from Mexico for allegedly manufacturing fake credit cards used to empty several ATMs of cash. $200,000 in cash plus machines used to create counterfeit cards were found during their arrest. Source: http://www.foxrio2.com/74760/mcallen-cloned-credit-card-scheme-busted/

4. January 17, Federal Trade Commission – (National) FTC imposes $130M judgment against Ivy Capital Inc. for operating fraudulent business 'coaching' scheme. The Federal Trade Commission imposed a $130 million judgment against Ivy Capital Inc. and related companies and individuals for running a business coaching program that misrepresented good and services it offered, did not disclose or honor its refund policy, and took more than $100 million from customers. Source: http://www.loansafe.org/ftc-imposes-130m-judgment-against-ivy-capital-inc-for-operating-fraudulent-business-coaching-scheme

5. January 17, KTVK 3 Phoenix – (Arizona) FBI seeks bank robber dubbed 'Around Town Bandit'. The FBI asked for public assistance identifying the "Around Town Bandit" suspected of robbing multiple banks in the Phoenix area, including a Desert Schools Federal Credit Union in a Safeway grocery store January 12. Source: http://www.azfamily.com/news/FBI-seeks-bank-robber-dubbed-Around-Town-Bandit-187370041.html

6. January 17, Forbes – (Georgia) SEC charges Georgia man with insider trading in AirTran/Southwest Airlines merger. A Georgia man was charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with insider trading ahead of the 2010 merger of Southwest Airlines and AirTran Holdings, allegedly making almost $160,000 in illicit profits. Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jordanmaglich/2013/01/17/sec-charges-georgia-man-with-insider-trading-in-airtransouthwest-airlines-merger/

7. January 16, Manhattan Beach Patch – (California) Seven arrested for alleged fraud activities. Seven individuals were arrested and charged for their alleged involvement in two fraudulent credit card manufacturing rings after a joint investigation by the U.S. Secret Service and the Manhattan Beach Police. Source: http://manhattanbeach.patch.com/articles/seven-arrested-for-alleged-fraud-activities

See Item 19 above in Top Stories

Information Technology

21. January 18, Help Net Security – (International) Fox-IT analysts demystify the Pobelka botnet. Fox-IT researchers revealed in a report that an individual known as 'Finist' operates the Pobelka botnet, and published details on the botnet's operations and uses. Source: http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=14259&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+HelpNetSecurity+(Help+Net+Security)&utm_content=Google+Reader

22. January 18, Softpedia – (International) FAKEM RATs disguise their traffic as Yahoo! Messenger to avoid detection. A white paper published by Trend Micro detailed the way that a series of remote access trojans known as FAKEM disguises its traffic to appear as that of commonly used applications or HTML to avoid detection. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/FAKEM-RATs-Disguise-Their-Traffic-as-Yahoo-Messenger-to-Avoid-Detection-322227.shtml

23. January 18, Softpedia – (International) Security explorations identifies two vulnerabilities in Java 7 Update 11. Security Explorations researchers discovered a pair of vulnerabilities in the newest version of Java that can allow attackers to perform a complete sandbox bypass. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Security-Explorations-Identifies-Two-Vulnerabilities-in-Java-7-Update-11-322390.shtml

24. January 18, Krebs on Security – (International) Polish takedown targets 'Virut' botnet. Polish authorities moved against 23 domains being used to operate the for-hire Virut botnet. Over 890,000 IP addresses were found to be infected by Virut, and Polish authorities redirected traffic to sinkhole sites while attempting to assist users infected with the botnet's malware. Source: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/01/polish-takedown-targets-virut-botnet/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+KrebsOnSecurity+(Krebs+on+Security)&utm_content=Google+Reader

25. January 18, Softpedia – (International) Red October removal tool released by Bitdefender. A tool designed to remove malware used in the recently-discovered Red October cyberespionage campaign was released by Bitdefender. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Red-October-Removal-Tool-Released-By-Bitdefender-322241.shtml

Communications Sector

26. January 17, WKMG 6 Orlando – (Florida) Outage hits CenturyLink phone customers in Winter Park. Authorities were working to restore land-lines went down for CenturyLink consumers in Winterpark. Source: http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Outage-hits-CenturyLink-phone-customers-in-Winter-Park/-/1637132/18170002/-/13t31dr/-/index.html

27. January 17, Daytona Beach News-Journal – (Florida) Bright House cable back online after software glitch. After a 12 hour loss of service, cable was restored January 17 to all Bright House customers. Source: http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20130117/NEWS/130119782?Title=Bright-House-cable-back-online-after-software-glitch&tc=ar