Tuesday, March 18, 2014




Complete DHS Report for March 18, 2014

Daily Report

Details

 • Honda recalled around 900,000 model year 2005 through 2010 Odyssey vehicles due to an issue that could cause the fuel pump strainer to deteriorate prematurely, creating the potential for fuel leaks. – CNNMoney

8. March 16, CNNMoney – (National) Honda Odyssey recall ties 900,000 minivans to fire risk. Honda announced a recall of around 900,000 model year 2005 through 2010 Odyssey vehicles due to an issue that could cause the fuel pump strainer to deteriorate prematurely, creating the potential for fuel leaks. A temporary fix will be offered to customers until replacement parts can be made available during the summer of 2014. Source: http://www.ksat.com/lifestyle/money/Honda-Odyssey-recall-ties-900-000-minivans-to-fire-risk/25004020

 • The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation filed lawsuits on behalf of 38 failed banks against 16 major international banks for allegedly colluding to manipulate interest-rate benchmarks including the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor.) – Bloomberg News See item 10 below in Financial Services Sector

 • Government offices, schools, and airport runways were closed due to a severe winter storm that impacted Mid-Atlantic and Northeast States, and prompted flight cancellations March 17. – Epoch Times

24. March 17, Epoch Times – (National) Winter’s parting shot: Snow closing offices, schools in Mid-Atlantic states. Federal government offices, as well as local government offices, were closed due to a severe winter storm that impacted Mid-Atlantic and Northeast States and prompted school closings due to snowfall March 17. Reagan National Airport closed its runways and several other airports cancelled flights. Source: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/566698-winters-parting-shot-snow-closing-offices-schools-in-mid-atlantic-states/

 • The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced its intention to transition oversight of Internet domain name functions to global stakeholders. – Help Net Security See item 27 below in the Information Technology Sector

Financial Services Sector

10. March 15, Bloomberg News – (International) BofA, Citigroup, Credit Suisse sued by FDIC over Libor rigging. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation filed lawsuits on behalf of 38 failed banks against 16 major international banks for allegedly colluding to manipulate interest-rate benchmarks, including the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) between 2007 and 2011. Source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-03-14/bofa-citigroup-credit-suisse-sued-by-fdic-over-libor-rigging

11. March 14, Sacramento Bee – (California) Bank fraud alleged against former Sacramento Capitals owner. A Sacramento businessman was indicted March 13 on federal charges stating that he allegedly misrepresented the operations of two businesses he owned in order to fraudulently obtain a $4.5 million line of credit. Prosecutors also stated that the businessman is suspected of defrauding investors of as much as $150 million. Source: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/03/14/6236517/wannakuwatte-indicted-on-three.html

12. March 14, U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey – (New Jersey) Tenth defendant admits role in $40.8 million mortgage fraud scheme. A Bayville man who worked as a loan officer at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage pleaded guilty March 14 to engaging in a conspiracy with other defendants to fraudulently discharge over $4.6 million in mortgage loans, part of a larger $40.8 million mortgage fraud scheme involving nine other defendants who previously pleaded guilty. Source: http://www.fbi.gov/newark/press-releases/2014/tenth-defendant-admits-role-in-40.8-million-mortgage-fraud-scheme

13. March 14, WCBS 2 New York City; Associated Press – (New York) Two accused in LIRR ticket skimming scheme plead guilty. Two Romanian nationals living in the Queens area of New York City pleaded guilty March 14 to their role in installing skimming devices and hidden cameras on ticket machines at six Long Island Railroad stations. The two men and three others caused around $70,000 in losses. Source: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/03/14/two-accused-in-lirr-ticket-skimming-scheme-plead-guilty/

Information Technology Sector

27. March 17, Help Net Security – (International) US announces transition of oversight over Internet’s domain name system. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced its intention to transition oversight of Internet domain name functions to global stakeholders. The NTIA requested that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) convene stakeholders and develop a transition proposal as a first step. Source: http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=16530

28. March 17, Softpedia – (International) Google’s public DNS hijacked for 22 minutes. Network monitoring and routing security company BGPmon reported that attackers were able to hijack Google’s public DNS service for 22 minutes March 15 via a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) attack. Networks in Brazil and Venezuela were affected. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Google-s-Public-DNS-Hijacked-for-22-Minutes-432502.shtml

29. March 17, Softpedia – (International) Google addresses Chrome OS vulnerabilities presented at Pwnium 2014. Google released an update to its Chrome OS browser-based operating system, closing seven vulnerabilities that were identified at the Pwnium 2014 competition the week of March 10. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Google-Addresses-Chrome-OS-Vulnerabilities-Presented-at-Pwnium-2014-432533.shtml

30. March 16, The Register – (International) iOS 7 has weak random number generator. Researchers at Azimuth Security found that the random number generator used in the iOS 7 mobile operating system is weak to brute force attacks that could allow attackers to exploit vulnerabilities previously unable to be exploited. Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/16/ios_7_has_weak_random_number_generator/

Communications Sector

31. March 15, KTVB 7 Boise; KGW 8 Portland – (Washington) Copper thieves take Wash. radio station off air. Police are investigating after thieves stole copper wire from an antenna belonging to KLOG 1490 AM Keslo and took the station off air for nearly 12 hours March 12. Source: http://www.ktvb.com/news/regional/250473401.html

32. March 15, Taos News – (New Mexico) Internet outage leads to arrest of alleged Carson burglar. Authorities arrested and charged a man in connection to stealing five industrial-size batteries from a TasoNet Internet service tower in Carson, New Mexico, March 5 and causing a 2 day service disruption. Source: http://www.taosnews.com/news/article_15932266-aafd-11e3-8f63-0019bb2963f4.html

For another story, see item 27 above in the Information Technology Sector