Daily Report
Top Stories
· A North
Carolina man who owns Rex Venture Group was indicted October 24 for allegedly
operating an Internet-based Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of over $850
million between January 2010 and August 2012. – U.S. Attorney’s Office,
Western District of North Carolina See item 8 below in the Financial
Services Sector
· Nearly 62
million gallons of untreated sewage spilled into the Willamette River October
22 after the Portland, Oregon sewer system began to overflow due to heavy
rains. – Portland Oregonian
23.
October 25, Portland Oregonian –
(Oregon) Portland sewage overflow: 61.9 million gallons flowed into
Willamette River on Wednesday. Nearly 62 million gallons of untreated
sewage spilled into the Willamette River October 22 after the Portland sewer
system began to overflow due to heavy rains. A separate incident occurred on
the same day at the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant when a faulty
air pressure valve malfunctioned and sent 300,000 gallons of treated effluent
into the Columbia Slough. Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2014/10/portland_sewage_overflow_619_m.html
· Two students
were killed and 3 others were injured by a gunman who died from a
self-inflicted gunshot wound after opening fire at Marysville-Pilchuck High School
in Washington October 24. – KING 5 Seattle; Associated Press
28.
October 27, KING 5 Seattle; Associated Press –
(Washington) Second victim in Washington school shooting dies. Two
students were killed and 3 others were critically injured by a gunman who died
from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after opening fire at Marysville-Pilchuck
High School in Washington October 24. Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/27/washington-school-shooting/17987021/
· The Federal
Communications Commission issued two phone carriers, TerraCom and its affiliate
YourTel America, a total of $10 million in fines for improperly storing more
than 300,000 customers’ personal information. – Washington Post See item 34 below in the Communications
Sector
Financial Services Sector
5. October
27, Krebs on Security – (International) ‘Replay’ attacks spoof
chip card charges. Three undisclosed U.S. banks reported receiving
fraudulent payment card charges emanating from Brazil that disguise the
fraudulent charges as charges using the Europay, MasterCard, and Visa (EMV)
chip-and-pin system even though the banks have not yet issued EMV cards. The
attacks disguised the charges as originating from EMV cards since some banks
with misconfigured systems may not use the full range of security checks on EMV
card transactions. Source: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/10/replay-attacks-spoof-chip-card-charges/
6. October
24, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – (New Jersey) SEC
charges New Jersey man in insider trading case involving pharmaceutical
companies. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced
October 24 charges against a Livingston man for allegedly receiving and using
insider information on pharmaceutical companies to engage in insider trading
and generate almost $700,000 in illicit profits. The source of the insider
information was previously charged by the SEC and the U.S. Attorney’s Office
for the Southern District of New York also charged both men in parallel
charges. Source: http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370543280408
7. October
24, Chicago Tribune – (National) Former radio host convicted of
mortgage fraud. A former national radio host residing in Durham, North
Carolina, was found guilty October 24 for assisting nearly 30 fraudulent
mortgage loans in the Chicago area in a scheme that cost lenders around $10
million. Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-radio-host-fraud-trial-met-1025-20141024-story.html
8. October
24, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of North Carolina –
(National) ZeekRewards president indicted on federal charges for operating
$850 million Internet Ponzi scheme. A Lexington, North Carolina man who
owns Rex Venture Group, which operated Zeekler and ZeekRewards, was indicted
October 24 for allegedly operating the companies as an Internet-based Ponzi
scheme that defrauded investors of over $850 million between January 2010 and
August 2012. Source: http://www.justice.gov/usao/ncw/pressreleases/2014/Charlotte-2014-10-24-burks.html
For another story, see item 33 below
in the Information Technology Sector
Information Technology Sector
32. October
27, Securityweek – (International) Tor exit node found
maliciously modifying files. A researcher with Leviathan Security Group
identified and reported an exit node on the Tor network that wraps binary files
with malware as the files move through the node. The Tor Project stated that
they set a “BadExit” flag on the node to protect users after it was reported.
Source: http://www.securityweek.com/tor-exit-node-found-maliciously-modifying-files
33. October
24, Dark Reading – (International) Backoff PoS malware boomed in
Q3. Damballa released a report which found that detections of the Backoff
point-of-sale (PoS) malware increased by 57 percent between August and
September. Source: http://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/backoff-pos-malware-boomed-in-q3/d/d-id/1316957
Communications Sector
34.
October 24, Washington Post –
(National) With a $10 million fine, the FCC is leaping into data security
for the first time. The Federal Communications Commission issued two phone
carriers, TerraCom and its affiliated YourTel America, with a total of $10
million in fines for improperly storing more than 300,000 customers’ personally
identifiable information such as their Social Security numbers, home addresses,
phone numbers, data of birth and other personal data online without firewalls,
encryption or password protection, making the information easily accessible to
the public. Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/10/24/with-a-10-million-fine-the-fcc-is-leaping-into-data-security-for-the-first-time/