Complete DHS Report for May 8, 2014
Daily Report
Details
• A man was arrested May 2 in Hackensack, New
Jersey, after a traffic stop led to a search of the man’s apartment where
thousands of blank payment cards, forgery equipment, and other suspicious items
were found. – Bergen County Record See item 4
below in the Financial Services Sector
• Both sides of the 15 Freeway in Hesperia,
California, reopened May 6 after a 34-hour closure due to a fire on the
Ranchero Road overpass that was accidentally started when a contractor was
using a blowtorch. – San Bernardino Sun
8. May 7, San Bernardino Sun – (California) All lanes of 15 Freeway in Hesperia
reopened after bridge fire. Both sides of the 15 Freeway in Hesperia,
reopened May 6 after a 34-hour closure due to a fire on the Ranchero Road
overpass that was accidentally started when a contractor was using a blowtorch.
Source: http://www.dailybulletin.com/general-news/20140507/all-lanes-of-15-freeway-in-hesperia-reopened-after-bridge-fire
• Detroit Public School officials announced
the closure of 10 schools in the city due to issues with the public lighting system
which caused the schools to lose power. – WWJ 62 Detroit
13.
May 7, WWJ 62 Detroit – (Michigan) 10
Detroit schools closed due to power outages. Detroit Public School
officials announced the closure of 10 schools in the city due to issues with
the public lighting system which caused the schools to lose power. Source: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/05/07/10-detroit-schools-closed-due-to-power-outages/
• Officials believe an Illinois community
college student and a member of the U.S. Navy conspired to hack into the
computer systems of more than 30 public and private organizations in order to
steal identities, obstruct justice, and damage a protected computer. – KSDK
5 St. Louis
14.
May 6, KSDK 5 St. Louis –
(International) Area college student accused in government hacking. Officials
believe an Illinois community college student and a member of the U.S. Navy
conspired to hack into the computer systems of more than 30 public and private
organizations including the U.S. Navy, the U.S. National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, as well as a number of universities nationwide.
Investigators reported that the pair hacked into computer systems to steal
identities, obstruct justice, and damage a protected computer. Source: http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/crime/2014/05/06/daniel-krueger-government-hacking/8762447/
Financial Services Sector
4. May
7, Bergen County Record – (New Jersey) A Hackensack traffic stop
leads cops to a fraud arrest. A man was arrested May 2 in Hackensack after
a traffic stop led to a search of the man’s apartment where thousands of blank
payment cards, forgery equipment, and other suspicious items were found. Police
stated that they believed the man is connected to a multi-million dollar fraud
operation. Source: http://www.northjersey.com/news/a-hackensack-traffic-stop-leads-cops-to-a-fraud-arrest-1.1010671?page=all
5. May
7, Carbondale Southern Illinoisan – (Illinois) Two indicted on
bank, wire fraud charges. Two individuals from New York were indicted in
federal court in Benton, Illinois, May 5 for allegedly committing bank and wire
fraud that netted them $6.1 million by concealing their ownership interests to
banks when obtaining financing. Source: http://thesouthern.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/two-indicted-on-bank-wire-fraud-charges/article_c46a657f-d7e8-572a-a5dd-18d0807dbbfd.html
6. May
6, Long Island Newsday – (New York) 5 LIers indicted in $30M
mortgage fraud. The head of Garden City-based HTFC Corp. and 5 others were
charged May 6 for allegedly inflating the value of 19 properties in Nassau and
Suffolk counties, obtaining mortgages based on the fraudulent values, and then
reselling the mortgages in order to obtain around $30 million. Source: http://www.newsday.com/long-island/30-million-bank-fraud-run-out-of-htfc-corp-in-garden-city-leads-to-6-indictments-court-papers-say-1.7935665
7. May
6, WXIA 11 Atlanta – (National) ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’
spouse guilty in fraud case. An Atlanta man pleaded guilty May 6 to
participating in a fraud scheme which used stolen checks to defraud over 50
victims of $2.3 million. The group also used fraudulent claims against the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development using stolen identities in 11
States and obtained fraudulent auto loans. Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2014/05/06/reality-show-cast-member-guilty-in-fraud-scheme/8784677/
Information Technology Sector
19. May 7, Softpedia – (International) Syrian Electronic Army hijacks WSJ
Twitter accounts. Hacktivists affiliated with the Syrian Electronic Army
group gained control over four Twitter accounts belonging to the Wall Street
Journal May 6 for a time before the owners of the accounts regained control.
Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Syrian-Electronic-Army-Hijacks-WSJ-Twitter-Accounts-440924.shtml
20. May 7, Softpedia – (International) Ruby on Rails updated to prevent
hackers from stealing files from application server. Updates for three
versions of Ruby on Rails were released, closing a serious vulnerability that
could allow an attacker to retrieve arbitrary files from the Rails application
server using a specially crafted request. Users were advised to update their
installations as soon as possible. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ruby-on-Rails-Updated-to-Prevent-Hackers-from-Stealing-Files-from-Application-Server-441003.shtml
21. May 7, Threatpost – (International) CryptoLocker ransomware moves to
Android. A security researcher reported that an Android variant of the
CryptoLocker ransomware is being sold by the group responsible for the Reveton
ransomware. The ransomware is spread when users visit compromised domains that
use social engineering to prompt them to install a malicious APK that contains
CryptoLocker. Source: http://threatpost.com/cryptolocker-ransomware-moves-to-android/105937
22. May 6, Threatpost – (International) Dropbox patches shared links privacy
vulnerability. Dropbox closed a vulnerability in its shared links feature
that could potentially allow third party access to shared documents. Source: http://threatpost.com/dropbox-patches-shared-links-privacy-vulnerability/105924
23. May 6, SC Magazine – (International) CryptorBit demands $500 Bitcoin
ransom. A researcher at KnowBe4, LLC identified a new ransomware known as
CryptorBit that encrypts victims’ files and demands a ransom, similar to the
CryptoLocker ransomware. Source: http://www.scmagazine.com/cryptorbit-demands-500-bitcoin-ransom/article/345713/
Communications Sector
24.
May 7, Mt. Vernon Register-News –
(Illinois) Charter suffers outage. Southern Illinois Charter
Communications customers experienced a service outage for several hours May 6
after a main switch in a fire panel for equipment malfunctioned, causing
technicians to replace the switch. Source: http://www.register-news.com/local/x2117376700/Charter-suffers-outage
For
another story, see item 14 above in Top Stories