Monday, August 18, 2014




Complete DHS Report for August 18, 2014

Daily Report

Top Stories

  · The California Public Utilities Commission agreed August 14 to penalize Southern California Edison $24.5 million for safety violations in a 2011 windstorm that knocked out power to 440,000 customers and caused a power line failure that electrocuted three individuals. – Associated Press

1. August 14, Associated Press – (California) California regulators approve $24.5M penalty against Edison for 2011 outages, electrocutions. The California Public Utilities Commission agreed August 14 to penalize Southern California Edison $24.5 million for safety violations in a 2011 windstorm that knocked out power to 440,000 customers and caused a power line failure that electrocuted three individuals. The utility agreed to the penalty in March after an investigation determined they gave inaccurate information on power restoration and safety standards. Source: http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/08/14/california-regulators-approve-245m-penalty-against-edison-for-2011-outages/

· Authorities closed both directions of Interstate 65 in Franklin, Tennessee, for 3 hours August 15 after a tanker truck ran into an overpass bridge support column and burst into flames, killing the driver and damaging two bridges and requiring them to be closed for months. – Nashville The Tennessean

9. August 15, Nashville The Tennessean – (Tennessee) I-65 bridge closed for months after Franklin tanker explosion kills truck driver. Authorities closed both directions of Interstate 65 from State Route 840 to Highway 96 in Franklin for 3 hours August 15 after a tanker truck carrying unleaded gasoline ran into an overpass bridge support column and burst into flames, killing the driver. Officials stated that the Peytonsville Road bridge and a new bridge under construction alongside the existing bridge will be closed and construction set on the new bridge delayed for months due to the damage. Source: http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/williamson/2014/08/15/franklin-tanker-explosion-65/14097717

· A state of emergency for residents in the city of New London, Connecticut, was lifted 11 hours after a water main break that leaked approximately 8,000 to 10,000 gallons of water per minute was repaired August 14. – WTIC 61 Hartford

18. August 14, WTIC 61 Hartford – (Connecticut) New London water restored. A state of emergency for residents in the city of New London was lifted 11 hours after a water main break was repaired August 14, that caused the water pressure to drop and leaked approximately 8,000 to 10,000 gallons of water per minute. Source: http://foxct.com/2014/08/14/massive-water-leak-in-new-london-could-impact-thousands/

· A man admitted August 14 to stealing over 500 pounds of explosives from a U.S. Forest Service bunker near Red Lodge, Montana, in April 2013. – Billings Gazette

21. August 14, Billings Gazette – (Montana) Wyoming man admits stealing Forest Service’s explosives. A Wyoming man admitted August 14 to stealing over 500 pounds of explosives from a U.S. Forest Service bunker near Red Lodge, Montana, while looking for a campground in April 2013. Source: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/wyoming-man-admits-stealing-forest-service-s-explosives/article_f3473ed2-8bf8-59c4-a0bc-e1328288ebbc.html

Financial Services Sector

3. August 15, Securityweek – (International) New Bugat malware uses HTML injections taken from Gameover Zeus. A researcher from IBM Security reported August 14 that a new variant of the Bugat financial malware (also known as Cridex or Geodo) was spotted infecting computers in the U.K. and the Middle East region. The new variant uses HTML injections and scripts and an attack structure similar to that used by the Gameover Zeus malware and attempts to redirect victims to fake financial institution Web sites in order to steal login information. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/new-bugat-malware-uses-html-injections-taken-gameover-zeus

4. August 15, IDG News Service – (International) Official at digital currency service pleads guilty to money laundering. A Costa Rican national pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on charges related to his role in the operation of digital currency service Liberty Reserve that was shut down by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly laundering $6 billion in funds from various illicit activities. A Liberty Reserve co-founded previously pleaded guilty and charges are being pursued against others involved in the service. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/article/2465882/official-at-digital-currency-service-pleads-guilty-to-money-laundering.html

5. August 14, Reuters – (National) SEC charges Linkbrokers in $18 million securities fraud scheme. New York-based brokerage firm Linkbrokers Derivatives LLC agreed August 14 to pay $14 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges that the firm defrauded customers of over $18 million by charging fees much larger than represented in over 36,000 transactions between 2005 and 2009. Four brokers at the firm were previously charged, with three agreeing to settle the charges for around $4 million. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/14/us-sec-linkbrokers-idUSKBN0GE21J20140814

6. August 14, Softpedia – (International) New Gameover Zeus botnet forming, the US sees most infections. Arbor Networks researchers observed two new variants of the Gameover Zeus financial malware using 8,494 IP addresses to attempt to connect to command and control (C&C) servers in July in order to build a new botnet after a law enforcement and industry takedown of the original botnet. The new variants no longer use the peer-to-peer (P2P) command and control architecture of the original and instead utilize a domain generation algorithm (DGA) to contact C&C servers. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/New-Gameover-Zeus-Botnet-Forming-the-US-Sees-Most-Infections-455112.shtml

7. August 14, Memphis Flyer – (Tennessee) Huge credit card fraud lab uncovered. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Secret Service, and U.S. Marshals Service executed search and arrest warrants on an alleged payment card fraud lab in Millington August 13 and seized 84 credit and gift cards and several skimming devices, blank cards, and documents containing personal information. Two suspects were also arrested during the search and an investigation is ongoing. Source: http://www.memphisflyer.com/NewsBlog/archives/2014/08/14/huge-credit-card-fraud-lab-uncovered

8. August 14, SC Magazine – (National) Vitamin seller website attacked, payment cards and other info compromised. Vitamin seller TheNaturalOnline.com reported August 12 that an undisclosed number of their customers may have had their payment and personal information compromised during a breach of the company’s systems that was identified July 15. The information included names, addresses, email addresses, account passwords, phone numbers, and payment card numbers, expiration dates, and CVV codes. Source: http://www.scmagazine.com/vitamin-seller-website-attacked-payment-cards-and-other-info-compromised/article/366314/

Information Technology Sector

25. August 15, The Register – (International) Don’t think you’re SAFE from Windows zombies just ‘cos you have an iPhone - research. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology reported finding that Apple iOS devices can be compromised with iOS malware after being connected to a Windows computer by exploiting weaknesses in the iTunes syncing process, allowing attackers to steal data, install malicious apps, and replace existing apps. The researchers plan to demonstrate their findings August 20 at the Usenix Security Symposium. Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/15/infecting_ipads_new_how_to/

26. August 15, SC Magazine – (International) 50% of corporate passwords crackable within a few minutes. Trustwave released the results of research that analyzed 620,000 passwords compiled over 2 years and found that around 50 percent of U.S. corporate passwords could be cracked using a brute force method within a few minutes, while 92 percent could be cracked within 31 days. The research found that a longer password containing only letters took much longer to brute force compared to a shorter password that also includes numbers and special characters. Source: http://www.scmagazineuk.com/50-of-corporate-passwords-crackable-within-a-few-minutes/article/366470/

27. August 14, ZDnet – (International) Microsoft’s Visual Studio Online outage hits users worldwide. Microsoft’s Visual Studio Online service experienced a service interruption across multiple regions for around 9 hours August 14. Source: http://www.zdnet.com/microsofts-visual-studio-online-outage-hits-users-worldwide-7000032641/

For additional stories, see items 3 and 6 above in the Financial Services Sector

Communications Sector

28. August 15, KUSA 9 Denver – (Colorado) Colorado Sprint customers affected by outage. Sprint customers around Colorado reported issues with service including data or voice outages and complete blackouts August 15. Source: http://www.9news.com/story/tech/2014/08/15/sprint-outage-affecting-colorado/14098241/