Thursday, December 19, 2013



Complete DHS Daily Report for December 19, 2013

Daily Report

 • PSE&G reported that two power outages in New Jersey’s Bergen and Hudson counties that left thousands without power were both caused by upgrade work at a switching station. – News 12 New Jersey

1. December 17, News 12 New Jersey – (New Jersey) PSE&G explains multiple power failures after two widespread outages in a week. PSE&G reported that two power outages in Bergen and Hudson counties that left thousands without power December 13 and December 16 were both caused by upgrade work at a switching station in Ridgefield. Source: http://newjersey.news12.com/news/pse-g-explains-multiple-power-failures-after-two-widespread-outages-in-a-week-1.6631232
 • The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted approval for the restart of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station near Omaha, Nebraska, which has been idled since April 2011. – Omaha World Herald
6. December 18, Omaha World-Herald – (Nebraska) Long-idled Fort Calhoun nuclear plant gets green light to restart. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted approval December 17 for the Omaha Public Power District to restart the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station near Omaha, which has been idled since April 2011 due to flooding on the Missouri River and several safety violations discovered in later inspections. Source: http://www.omaha.com/article/20131217/NEWS/131218891

 • Researchers identified a new ATM trojan that targets machines developed by a major ATM manufacturer and can steal payment card information and perform other tasks. – Softpedia  See item 9 below in the Financial Services Sector

 • A gunman opened fire on the third floor of the Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nevada, killing himself, another individual, and injuring two others. – CNN

17. December 17, CNN – (Nevada) One person, gunman dead in shooting at Reno medical building. A gunman opened fire on the third floor of the Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno December 16, killing himself, another individual, and injuring two others. Source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/17/us/reno-hospital-shooting/

Details

Financial Services Sector

9. December 18, Softpedia – (International) Skimmer trojan targets ATMs made by
one of the world’s largest manufacturers. Researchers at Doctor Web identified a new ATM trojan dubbed Trojan.Skimmer.18 that targets machines developed by a major ATM manufacturer. The trojan is spread by an infected application, captures payment card information, and allows criminals to collect the data and perform other functions on an ATM using a master card. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Skimmer-Trojan-Targets-ATMs-Made-by-One-of-the-World-s-Largest-Manufacturers-410249.shtml

10. December 17, SC Magazine – (International) Report: In 2013, more than one million U.S. computers were infected with banking trojans. Symantec released a report December 17 which found that more than 1 million computers in the U.S. were infected with banking malware during the first three quarters of 2013, the most of the countries included in the report, among other findings. Source: http://www.scmagazine.com/report-in-2013-more-than-one-million-us-computers-were-infected-with-banking-trojans/article/326054/

Information Technology Sector

23. December 18, Softpedia – (International) CERT Poland warns of DDoS botnet targeting Windows and Linux machines. Researchers at Poland’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT Polska) discovered a new distributed denial of service (DDoS) botnet designed to infect systems running Windows and Linux operating systems and that can be used to perform four types of DDoS attacks. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/CERT-Poland-Warns-of-DDOS-Botnet-Targeting-Windows-and-Linux-Machines-410223.shtml

24. December 18, Softpedia – (International) Experts analyzed DGA.Changer malware served in PHP.net attack. Seculert researchers analyzed the DGA.Changer malware that was used in an October attack on PHP.net servers and found that its ability to change it Domain Generation Algorithm (DGA) seed can make it extremely difficult to detect, among other findings. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Experts-Analyzed-DGA-Changer-Malware-Served-in-PHP-net-Attack-410551.shtml

25. December 18, Threatpost – (International) New DDoS bot has a fancy for ferrets. Researchers at Arbor Networks identified a new piece of distributed denial of service (DDoS) malware dubbed Trojan.Ferret equipped with a number of obfuscation and self-preservation capabilities. Source: http://threatpost.com/new-ddos-bot-has-a-fancy-for-ferrets/103226

26. December 18, SC Magazine – (International) Apple’s Mavericks OS release comes with Safari browser patches. Apple included several patches for its Safari browser in its recent release of the Mavericks operating system, closing eight arbitrary code execution flaws and one credential disclosure issue. Source: http://www.scmagazine.com//apples-mavericks-os-release-comes-with-safari-browser-patches/article/326270/

For another story, see item 10 above in the Information Technology Sector

Communications Sector

27. December 17, WLEX 18 Lexington – (Kentucky) Two arrested in Powell County copper theft. Two individuals were arrested December 16 by Powell County deputies for allegedly stealing wire from telephone poles for copper, causing more than $10,000 in damage. Source: http://www.lex18.com/news/two-arrested-in-powell-county-copper-theft