Monday, February 4, 2013
Complete DHS Daily Report for February 4, 2013
Daily Report
Top Stories
• A strong storm caused power outages to over
330,000 customers throughout the Northeast. There were also reports of
overflowing dams, weather-related traffic accidents, and a damaged elementary
school roof. – Reuters
2.
January 31, Reuters – (National) Rain,
high winds knock out power in U.S. Northeast. A strong storm caused power
outages to over 330,000 customers throughout the Northeast. There were also
reports of overflowing dams, weather-related traffic accidents, and a damaged
elementary school roof. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/31/us-usa-weather-idUSBRE90T0WG20130131
• A new spearphishing campaign is targeting
directors, vice presidents, and other top management of companies in the
aerospace and defense industry and the U.S. government via a malicious .PDF
file, which, once opened, creates a permanent backdoor and exfiltrates data
from the victim’s computer. – Help Net Security
4. January
31, Help Net Security – (National) Aerospace and defense firms
targeted with clever spear phishing. A new spearphishing campaign is
targeting directors, vice presidents, and other top management of companies in
the aerospace and defense industry and the U.S. government via a malicious .PDF
file, which, once opened, creates a permanent backdoor and exfiltrates data
from the victim’s computer. Source: http://www.net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=2393
• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
charged five former Cay Clubs Resorts and Marinas executives for allegedly
defrauding investors of more than $300 million. – Reuters See item 11 below in the Banking and Finance Sector
• The U.S. Department of State warned American
citizens in Turkey to be cautious after a suicide bomber detonated himself
inside the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, killing one and injuring another. – New
York Times
26.
February 1, New York Times –
(International) Suicide bombing at U.S. Embassy in Turkey kills guard. The
U.S. Department of State warned American citizens in Turkey to be cautious
after a suicide bomber detonated himself inside the U.S. Embassy in Ankara,
killing one and injuring another. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/02/world/europe/2-dead-in-suicide-bombing-at-us-embassy-in-turkey.html?_r=1&
Details
Banking and Finance Sector
5. January
31, Riverside Press-Enterprise – (California) 2 convicted in
$250 million tax fraud scheme. Two California men who formerly operated the
Old Quest Foundation were convicted for filing at least 37 false tax claims,
seeking to defraud the federal government of more than $250 million. Source: http://www.pe.com/business/business-headlines/20130131-banking-2-convicted-in-250-million-tax-fraud-scheme.ece
6. January
31, Associated Press – (New Jersey) 4 charged in alleged NJ mortgage fraud scheme. Four
men were arrested in New Jersey for their alleged role in a $15 million
mortgage fraud scheme involving developer kickbacks. Source: http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/4-charged-in-alleged-NJ-mortgage-fraud-scheme-4240481.php
7. January
31, Federal Bureau of Investigation – (Pennsylvania) Pittsburgh
jury finds Florida broker guilty in $100 million mortgage fraud scheme. A
federal jury found the former operator of First Capital Home Equity guilty of
wire fraud and conspiracy relating to a mortgage fraud scheme that he and
others undertook to obtain more than $100 million in loans. Source: http://www.loansafe.org/pittsburgh-jury-finds-florida-broker-guilty-in-100-million-mortgage-fraud-scheme
8. January
31, South Florida Sun Sentinel – (Florida) Boca McDonald’s
employee stole customer credit card information, police say. A worker at a
McDonald’s restaurant in Boca Raton was charged with skimming customer credit
card information. Police said the man admitted to skimming 30-70 cards per day.
Source: http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-01-31/news/fl-boca-mcdonalds-scammer-arrest-20130131_1_credit-card-boca-raton-police-twitter-ejkomenda
9. January
31, Roseville Patch – (California) ‘Bad Hatter Bandit’ wanted for bank robberies in
Roseville, Natomas. The FBI and local authorities sought the public’s help
in identifying the “Bad Hatter Bandit”, who has robbed three banks in the
Sacramento area. Source: http://roseville-ca.patch.com/articles/bad-hatter-bandit-wanted-for-bank-robberies-in-roseville-natomas
10. January
31, Memphis Commercial Appeal – (Tennessee) DeSoto County
construction firm owner, mayor associate indicated on bank fraud. A
Southhaven contractor was charged with bank fraud for allegedly submitting
false information to obtain a $5 million loan. Source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/jan/31/desoto-county-construction-firm-owner-davis-on/
11. January
30, Reuters – (National) Former Florida real estate executives charged in
Ponzi scheme. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged five
former Cay Clubs Resorts and Marinas executives for allegedly defrauding
investors of more than $300 million. Source: http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Securities/News/2013/01_-_January/Former_Florida_real_estate_executives_charged_in_Ponzi_scheme/
Information Technology Sector
31.
January 31, Softpedia –
(International) Turkish hackers upload malicious browser extension to
official Chrome web store. Kaspersky discovered that hackers are attempting
to distribute malicious browser extensions through the official Google Chrome
store. Google is attempting to remove the malware; similar fake extensions have
been found for Mozilla’s Firefox browser. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Turkish-Hackers-Upload-Malicious-Browser-Extension-to-Official-Chrome-Web-Store-325708.shtml
32.
January 31, Dark Reading –
(International) Hacking the laptop docking station. A researcher built a
prototype piece of hardware that can be placed inside a laptop docking station
to intercept digital, voice, and video data from the computer connected to it.
He plans to present his findings at Black Hat Europe in February. Source: http://www.darkreading.com/mobile-security/167901113/security/client-security/240147566/hacking-the-laptop-docking-station.html.html
33.
January 31, IDG News Service –
(International) Email attack exploits vulnerability in Yahoo site to hijack
accounts. Bitdefender researchers found that a recent email attack campaign
is utilizing a vulnerability in the Yahoo Web site to take over email accounts
and use them to send spam emails. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/013113-email-attack-exploits-vulnerability-in-266317.html
For
another story, see item 4 above in Top Stories
Communications Sector
Nothing to
report