· A Blount County,
Tennessee woman was convicted September 22 for her role in running a $46
million Ponzi scheme that resulted in losses of more than $18 million to
investors. – Knoxville News Sentinel See item 7 below in the Financial
Services Sector
· Federal
officials announced September 22 that $3.59 billion in federal funds will be
distributed among more than 40 projects to improve public transportation
systems that were damaged by Hurricane Sandy. – U.S. Department of
Transportation
12. September
22, U.S. Department of Transportation – (National) Transportation
secretary announces nearly $3.6 billion to make transit systems more resilient
in New York, New Jersey, and beyond. The U.S. Transportation Secretary
announced September 22 that $3.59 billion in federal disaster relief funds will
be distributed among more than 40 projects across several States to improve
public transportation systems that were damaged by Hurricane Sandy. The
developments will work to make the transit systems more resilient in order to
withstand the impact of future natural disasters. Source: http://www.fta.dot.gov/newsroom/news_releases/12286_16152.html
· Two former
Peanut Corporation of America executives and a broker were found guilty in a
Georgia federal court September 19 on charges related to a 2009 Salmonella
outbreak that sickened more than 700 individuals and was linked to 9 deaths. – Food
Business News
14. September
22, Food Business News – (Georgia) Guilty verdicts in Peanut
Corporation of America trial. Two former Peanut Corporation of America
executives and a broker to the company were found guilty in a Georgia federal
court September 19 on charges related to a 2009 Salmonella outbreak that
sickened more than 700 individuals and was linked to 9 deaths. Source: http://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/news_home/Food_Safety_News/2014/09/Guilty_verdicts_in_Peanut_Corp.aspx?ID={C0335C4E-2895-4871-BC8C-256E692D3EA7}
· Hundreds of
people were evacuated from One Boston Place in Massachusetts September 22 due
to a fire that broke out in pipe insulation and filled at least two floors with
smoke. – Boston Globe
26. September
22, Boston Globe – (Massachusetts) Boston high-rise evacuated due
to smoky fire. Hundreds of people were evacuated from One Boston Place, a
44-story office building in Boston, September 22 due to a fire that broke out
in pipe insulation and filled at least two floors with smoke. A ventilation
system was used to clear the smoke and employees were allowed to return to
their offices over 2 hours later. Source: http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/09/22/boston-high-rise-evacuated-due-smoky-fire-injuries-reported/sZnVWDYT2cdF5ZjVxTPXiI/story.html
Financial Services Sector
5. September 22, WGGB 40 Springfield – (Massachusetts) ‘Skimming’ suspect arrested at East
Longmeadow bank. A Washington man was arrested September 21 when he
illegally entered a TD Bank branch in East Longmeadow to retrieve two skimming
devices that he installed on an entry access point and an ATM at the location
in order to steal personal and financial information from customers. The bank
is working with law enforcement to notify all customers impacted by the
devices. Source: http://www.wggb.com/2014/09/22/skimming-suspect-arrested-at-east-longmeadow-bank/
6. September 22, Associated Press – (New Jersey) Bank teller admits role in tax check
fraud scheme. A Middlesex woman pleaded guilty September 22 to her role in
a tax check scheme that defrauded the U.S. Treasury Department out of more than
$900,000 while she worked as a teller at a bank in Perth Amboy. The former
employee would receive income tax return checks from her conspirators and cash
the checks against unknowing third-party accounts at the bank. Source: http://www.nbc40.net/story/26595530/bank-teller-admits-role-in-tax-check-fraud-scheme
7. September 22, Knoxville News
Sentinel – (Tennessee) Businesswoman
convicted in $46 million Ponzi scheme. A Blount County woman was convicted
September 22 for her role in running a $46 million Ponzi scheme that resulted
in losses of more than $18 million to investors. The woman worked with six
co-conspirators to trick investors into buying bogus annuities from a fake
business over the course of 10 years. Source: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/local-news/businesswoman-convicted-in-46-million-ponzi-scheme_94762554
8. September 22, U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission – (Florida) Wells Fargo advisors
admits failing to maintain controls and producing altered document, agrees to
pay $5 million penalty. Wells Fargo Advisors LLC agreed to pay a $5 million
penalty September 22 to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
charges claiming that the company failed to maintain adequate controls to
prevent insider trading. The agreement was reached after the SEC charged a
former Wells Fargo broker for trading on nonpublic information obtained from a
client ahead of that customer being acquired by a private equity firm. Source: http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370543012047
Information Technology Sector
22. September
23, Techworld – (International) DDoS attackers turn fire on ISPs
and gaming servers. NSFOCUS researchers determined gaming hosts and Internet
service Providers (ISP) have been the focus for distributed denial of service
(DDoS) attacks in 2014, rising in the first half to 10 percent and nearly 15
percent of attacks respectively. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/article/2687127/security/ddos-attackers-turn-fire-on-isps-and-gaming-servers.html
23. September
23, Help Net Security – (International) jQuery.com compromised to
serve malware via drive-by download. RiskIQ researchers found and reported
that jQuery.com, the official Web site of the cross-platform JavaScript library
of the same name, was compromised and redirected its visitors to a site hosting
the RIG exploit kit and delivered information-stealing malware. The attack was
discovered September 18 and the site’s administrators removed the malicious
script. Source: http://www.net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=2869
24. September
22, Threatpost – (International) Kyle and Stan malvertising
network nine times bigger than first reported. Researchers found nearly
6,500 malicious domains are involved in the Kyle and Stan malvertising network
and over 31,000 connections were made to the domains, nine times larger than
originally reported by Cisco. The campaign is unique in its ability to infect
Windows and Mac OS X software differently and can drop ads on larger Web sites.
Source: http://threatpost.com/kyle-and-stan-malvertising-network-nine-times-bigger-than-first-reported
Communications Sector
25.
September 23, KVVU 5 Henderson –
(Nevada) Cut line disrupts Century Link service for some. Phone,
Internet, landline 9-1-1, and Prism TV services were disrupted for Century Link
customers in the Las Vegas and Mt. Charleston areas September 23 after a
construction crew cut a fiber optic line. Technicians worked to restore
service. Source: http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/26605574/cut-line-disrupts-century-link-service-for-some