Tuesday, August 20, 2013



  
Complete DHS Daily Report for August 20, 2013

Daily Report

Top Stories

  CenterPoint Energy reported August 16 it restored power to some of the 103,000 who lostpower following an August 16 storm but the number without electricity was still above60,000. – Epoch Times



2. August 17, Epoch Times– (Texas) Houston: storm leaves more than 100,000 without electricity. CenterPoint Energy reported August 16 that it had restored power to some of the 103,000 who lost power following a storm August 16 but the number without electricity was still above 60,000. Heavy rainfall, hail, and high winds grounded flights at the Bush Intercontinental Airport while the rain flooded some businesses and streets. Source: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/250041-houston-storm-leaves-more-than-100000-without-electricity/

  The State of California and Canadian utility company Powerex reached a $750 millionrefund settlement deal over the Canadian utility overcharging California ratepayers duringthe 2000-2001 energy crisis. – Associated Press



3. August 16, Associated Press – (International) Calif., Canadian utility reach $750M settlement over energy crisis. The State of California and Canadian utility company Powerex reached a $750 million refund settlement deal over the Canadian utility overcharging California ratepayers during the 2000-2001 energy crisis. Source: http://www.scpr.org/news/2013/08/16/38739/calif-canadian-utility-reach-750m-settlement-over/

  A smoky truck fire damaged a beam on the Queensboro Bridge in New York City August16, forcing several parts of the bridge to stay closed for most of the August 17 weekend. –WNBC 4 New York



11. August 16, WNBC 4 New York – (New York) Smoky Truck fire shuts down parts of Queensboro Bridge, causes major delays. A smoky truck fire damaged a beam on the Queensboro Bridge in New York City August 16, forcing several parts of the bridge to stay closed for most of the August 17 weekend. Source: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Queensboro-Bridge-Fire-NYC-Smoke--219929231.html


Fire crews reached 25 percent containment on the 31,000 acre Patch Springs Fire in TooleCounty August 19, allowing the reopening of State Route 199 and the ending of evacuationorders for 70 residents. – KSTU 12 Salt Lake City


23. August 19, KTSU 13 Salt Lake City – (Utah) State Route 199 reopens, Patch Springs Fire 25 percent contained. Fire crews reached 25 percent containment on the 31,000 acre Patch Springs Fire in Toole County August 19, allowing the reopening of State Route 199 and the ending of evacuation orders for 70 residents. Source: http://fox13now.com/2013/08/18/patch-springs-fire-still-ablaze-at-25-containment/

Details

Banking and Finance Sector

5. August 16, Softpedia – (Maryland; Virginia; Washington D.C.) Ten people charged for alleged involvement in Washington DC identity theft ring. Ten individuals were arrested for allegedly running a large identity theft ring in the Washington D.C. area by recruiting employees at several businesses to steal personal information from at least 600 customers. The group then allegedly opened lines of credit in victims' names, with police finding more than 280 fake identification documents during arrests. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ten-People-Charged-for-Alleged-Involvement-in-Washington-DC-Identity-Theft-Ring-375978.shtml

6. August 16, Gothamist – (New York) Pret A Manger employees allegedly stole over $10K in card-skimming scheme. Two former employees at Pret A Manger restaurants in New York City were charged with allegedly stealing over $10,000 in a skimming operation that stole customers' payment card information. Source: http://gothamist.com/2013/08/16/pret_a_manger_employees_allegedly_s.php

Information Technology Sector

29.August 19, SC Magazine – (International) Fake Adobe Flash Player update extension serves salacious spam ads. A fake Adobe Flash Player update extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari browsers has been found in a widespread campaign that injects spam ads onto regular Web sites. Source: http://www.scmagazineuk.com/fake-adobe-flash-player-update-extension-serves-salacious-spam-ads/article/307835/

30. August 19, Help Net Security – (International) LastPass bug leaks plain text passwords. Users of the LastPass password manager were advised to update to the newest version of the software after a bug was discovered that could expose users' passwords if they are using Internet Explorer. Source: http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=15424

31. August 18, Network World – (International) "Jekyll" test attack sneaks through Apple App Store, wreaks havoc on iOS. A research team designed and tested a malware test app for iOS called Jekyll that was able to sneak through Apple's App Store review process and then reassemble itself into malware that can perform a variety of functions even while inside the iOS 'sandbox.' Source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/081913-jekyll-test-attack-sneaks-through-272947.html

32. August 18, Computerworld – (International) Microsoft restores Outlook.com after three-day outage -- sort of. Microsoft resolved a 3-day partial outage of its Outlook email service August 17, though some users still reported issues with syncing their mobile devices to the service. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/081813-microsoft-restores-outlookcom-after-three-day-272946.html

33. August 17, The Register – (International) Google goes dark for 2 minutes, kills 40% of world's net traffic. All Google services including email, YouTube, experienced an outage that lasted between 1 and 5 minutes August 16, causing total Internet traffic to drop by 40 percent during the outage. Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/17/google_outage/

34. August 16, Help Net Security – (International) Firm found using browser plugins to inject unauthorized ads on YouTube. Ad firm Sambreel was found to be using two plugins to inject unauthorized ads into YouTube via two plugins. Malware peddlers have previously been found to use the unauthorized ads to direct users to malicious sites. Source: http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=15419

Communications Sector

35. August 19, Associated Press– (Connecticut) Conn. Police: Cable outage not 9-1-1-worthy. Fairfield Police Department used its social media page to let citizens know a cable outage did not represent an emergency or a police-related concern after the southwestern Connecticut department received several calls August 18 following a Cablevision commercial power outage in the area. Service has been restored in the affected area. Source: http://www.cw56.com/news/articles/local/connecticut/10011460842672/conn-police-cable-outage-not-911-worthy/