Thursday, January 24, 2013


Daily Report

Top Stories

 • Tens of thousands of customers throughout Michigan experienced power outages due to strong winds that began January 19. – Midland Daily News
1. January 22, Midland Daily News – (Michigan) High winds take out power. Tens of thousands of customers throughout Michigan experienced power outages due to strong winds that began January 19. While most had their power restored by January 21, many schools and business remained closed and crews worked to remove downed trees from roadways. Source: http://www.ourmidland.com/news/local_news/article_55bc1dce-9b86-5766-b22a-007e2667bafd.html

 • Siemens Industry, Inc. initiated a recall of about 57,000 Q-Series Temperature and Humidity Sensors due to an overheating issue that poses a fire hazard. – U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

4. January 22, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission – (National) Siemens recalls temperature and humidity sensors for schools, hospitals and other buildings due to fire hazard. Siemens Industry, Inc. initiated a recall of about 57,000 Q-Series Temperature and Humidity Sensors due to an overheating issue that poses a fire hazard. Source: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml13/13720.html

 • A Detroit doctor and two associates pleaded guilty to a seven-year, $13.2 million Medicare scam. – Madisonville SurfKY News; Federal Bureau of Investigation

13. January 22, Madisonville SurfKY News; Federal Bureau of Investigation – (Michigan) Mentally disabled used to scam government. A Detroit doctor and two associates pleaded guilty to a seven-year, $13.2 million Medicare scam. Source: http://surfky.com/index.php/news/national/25569-mentally-disabled-used-to-scam-government

 • A fire at Beale Air Force Base caused more than $10 million in damages to a 38,000-square-foot civil engineering building January 21. – Marysville Appeal-Democrat

16. January 22, Marysville Appeal-Democrat – (California) Beale fire damage estimates exceed $10M. A fire at Beale Air Force Base caused more than $10 million in damages to a 38,000-square-foot civil engineering building January 21. Source: http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/damage-122757-beale-estimates.html

Details

Banking and Finance Sector

Nothing to report

Information Technology

19. January 23, Help Net Security – (International) DNS attacks increase by 170%. A report by Radware outlines several new distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack methods and threats, including encrypted layer attacks and server-based botnets. Source: http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=14285

20. January 23, Softpedia – (International) Twitter fixes bug that allowed third-party apps to access DMs without permission. Twitter corrected a vulnerability that allowed third-party apps to access direct messages (DM) without user authorization after a researcher reported the issue to the company. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Twitter-Fixes-Bug-That-Allowed-Third-Party-Apps-to-Access-DMs-Without-Permission-323420.shtml

21. January 23, Help Net Security – (International) Most exploit kits originated in Russia, say researchers. Solutionary SERT released their Q4 2012 Quarterly Research Report which analyzed commonly used exploit kits, finding that many target older but still useful vulnerabilities, and that 70 percent of the reviewed exploit kits originated in Russia. Source: http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=14286

22. January 22, Softpedia – (International) Cybercriminals compromise legitimate websites to distribute SMS trojans. Researchers at Webroots discovered a campaign designed to distribute Android malware via Web site redirects or imitations of legitimate sites and apps. The malware then sends SMS messages to premium rate numbers. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Cybercriminals-Compromise-Legitimate-Websites-to-Distribute-SMS-Trojans-323642.shtml

23. January 21, IDG News Service – (International) Twitter has disruptions after hectic time during inauguration of U.S. President. Twitter reported service interruptions over a span of 6 hours January 21 amid high levels of messages related to the U.S. presidential inauguration. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/012213-twitter-has-disruptions-after-hectic-265998.html?source=nww_rss

Communications Sector

24. January 23, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner – (Alaska) Overflow floods ACS equipment building north of Fox. Employees from the Alaska Communication Services worked January 22 to restore phone and Internet service to roughly 160 customers in the Fox area after one of their buildings was filled with water that seeped in from a nearby creek. Source: http://www.newsminer.com/article_bf850cb8-653e-11e2-a93c-001a4bcf6878.html

25. January 22, Miami Herald – (National) Some AT&T customers experienced U-verse outages in south Florida. AT&T’s U-verse service was restored January 22 after service went down for several hours for customers across the U.S. Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/22/3194710/some-att-customers-experienced.html

26. January 22, New Castle News – (Pennsylvania) Thick telephone cables cut, stolen in Pulaski. Thieves severed roughly 350 of telephone cables, cutting off service to Verizon customers in Villa Maria January 22, the second such incident in the past week. Source: http://www.ncnewsonline.com/opinion/x1303525701/Thick-telephone-cables-cut-stolen-in-Pulaski