Monday, September 30, 2013



  
Complete DHS Daily Report for September 30, 2013

Daily Report

Top Stories

 • Nine companies based in Japan and two executives will plead guilty and pay more than $740 million for their roles in separate price fixing schemes on more than 30 automotive products. – U.S. Department of Labor

5. September 26, U.S. Department of Justice – (International) Nine automobile parts manufacturers and two executives agree to plead guilty to fixing prices on automobile parts sold to U.S. car manufacturers and installed in U.S. cars. Nine companies based in Japan and two executives agreed September 26 to plead guilty and pay more than $740 million for their roles in separate schemes to fix prices on more than 30 automotive products sold to U.S. car manufacturers. The price fixing affected more than $5 billion in automotive parts sold to U.S. manufacturers. Source: http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/nine-automobile-parts-manufacturers-and-two-executives-agree-to-plead-guilty-to-fixing-prices-on-automobile-parts-sold-to-u.s.-car-manufacturers-and-installed-in-u.s.-cars

 • The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced an emergency asset freeze against MRI International and its owner for allegedly running an $800 million Ponzi scheme targeting thousands of investors. – U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission See item 7 below in the Banking and Financial Sector

 • The U.S. Department of Justice’s inspector general announced that agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lost track of at least 420 million cigarettes and misused some of the $162 million in profits through unauthorized investigations. – Associated Press

34. September 25, Associated Press – (National) US: ATF misplaced 420 million cigarettes in stings. The U.S. Department of Justice’s inspector general announced September 25 that agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives acted without authorization and conducted several undercover investigations of illegal tobacco sales, lost track of at least 420 million cigarettes, and misused some of the $162 million in profits from the investigations. The inspector general recommended stricter guidelines for documenting, tracking, and reviewing proceeds from the bureau’s undercover tobacco stings. Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-atf-misplaced-420-million-cigarettes-stings-151426820--politics.html

 • Enbridge Inc. discussed plans to repurpose about 40 percent of the Ceresco Dam in Michigan after purchasing the dam. – Associated Press; Battle Creek Enquirer

48. September 27, Associated Press; Battle Creek Enquirer – (Michigan) Pipeline company responsible for 2010 oil spill in SW Michigan buys dam along Kalamazoo River. Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge Inc. discussed plans to repurpose about 40 percent of the Ceresco Dam in Michigan September 26 after purchasing the dam. The company is working to fulfill an order by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for additional dredging to clean up the Kalamazoo River after more than 800,000 gallons of oil spilled into it when an underground pipeline ruptured in 2010. Source: http://www.tribtown.com/view/story/86858bee1d6e4ed2af176ca4aa8e3b20/MI--Oil-Spill-Enbridge

Details

Banking and Finance Sector

6. September 26, Reuters – (International) U.S. SEC charges ex-ChinaCast execs with fraud, insider trading. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission September 26 charged the former CEO and former president of China-based ChinaCast Education Corp. for allegedly illegally transferring $41 million to a subsidiary and then outside the company and for allegedly engaging in insider trading to avoid losses of $200,000. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/26/sec-chinacast-idUSL2N0HM1N120130926

7. September 26, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – (International) SEC freezes assets in Ponzi scheme targeting investors in Japan. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission September 26 announced an emergency asset freeze against Las Vegas-based MRI International and its owner for allegedly running an $800 million Ponzi scheme targeting thousands of investors, primarily living in Japan. Source: http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370539844572

8. September 26, Las Vegas Review-Journal – (Nevada) Las Vegas man convicted in $15 million mortgage fraud scheme. A Las Vegas man was convicted September 26 of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud for his role in a $15 million mortgage fraud scheme. The man was the tenth and final defendant convicted in the scheme that ran between 2005 and 2007. Source: http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/crime-courts/las-vegas-man-convicted-15-million-mortgage-fraud-scheme

9. September 26, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – (Connecticut) SEC charges accountant for Madoff clients in role in creating false books and records. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission September 26 charged a Connecticut resident and longtime accountant at Bernard L. Madoff Securities LLC with allegedly assisting in the company's Ponzi scheme by creating inaccurate trade confirmations and fake data and records to deceive clients. Source: http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370539845290

10. September 25, Reuters – (National) Citigroup to pay Freddie Mac $395 million to settle flawed mortgage claims. Citigroup agreed September 25 to pay $395 million to Freddie Mac to settle claims of flaws in 3.7 million mortgages it sold to Freddie Mac between 2000 and 2012. Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/26/citigroup-freddie-mac_n_3991796.html

Information Technology Sector

38. September 27, Help Net Security – (International) Cybercriminals exploit most news within 22 hours. Commtouch Security Lab found that campaigns designed to spread malware by exploiting news stories had began exploiting a story on average about 22 hours after an event during the last 3 months. Source: http://www.net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=2602

39. September 27, Softpedia – (International) Over 70% of WordPress installations are vulnerable to hackers. Researchers at WP WhiteSecurity found that over 70 percent of the Alexa top 1 million WordPress Web sites are vulnerable to attacks due to outdated WordPress installations. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Over-70-of-WordPress-Installations-Are-Vulnerable-to-Hackers-386828.shtml

40. September 27, Softpedia – (International) Unique Vintage hacked, server infected with malware since January 2012. Unique Vintage notified customers that personal and credit card information was compromised after they identified malware on their systems that had been in place since January 2012. The compromised information is comprised of names, email addresses, phone numbers, and credit card numbers. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Unique-Vintage-Hacked-Server-Infected-with-Malware-Since-January-2012-386718.shtml

41. September 26, Threatpost – (International) Cisco IOS update patches eight vulnerabilities. Cisco released an update for its internetwork operating system (IOS) infrastructure product that closes 8 vulnerabilities, 5 of which are denial of service (DoS) vulnerabilities, with the remaining 3 involving different components in the device. Source: http://threatpost.com/cisco-ios-update-patches-eight-vulnerabilities

42. September 26, Ars Technica – (International) Apple fixes a pair of lock screen bugs with iOS 7.0.2 update. Apple released an update for its iOS 7 mobile operating system which closes two lock screen issues that could allow access to the Photo app or allow calls to be made. Source: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/09/apple-fixes-a-pair-of-lockscreen-bugs-with-ios-7-0-2-update/

Communications Sector

43. September 27, WECT 6 Wilmington – (North Carolina) Thousands of AT&T customers impacted by internet outage. An AT&T representative reported two hardware outages in the Wilmington area September 26 impacted Internet services for approximately 11,000 people for several hours. The service has since been restored. Source: http://www.wect.com/story/23539720/att-internet-outage-impacts-thousands-of-customers