Complete DHS Report for December 9, 2014
Daily Report
Top Stories
• The New Mexico Environment Department issued
over $54 million in penalties to the U.S. Department of Energy December 6
accusing the agency of more than 30 violations of State permits at the Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant and at Los Alamos National Laboratory. – Associated
Press
14. December
6, Associated Press – (New Mexico) Mishaps at nuke repository
lead to $54M in fines. The New Mexico Environment Department issued over
$54 million in penalties to the U.S. Department of Energy December 6 accusing
the agency of more than 30 violations of State permits at the Waste Isolation
Pilot Plant and at Los Alamos National Laboratory that included mixing
incompatible radioactive waste, failure to notify State regulators about
changes in waste handling procedures, and treating waste without a permit.
Source: http://www.stardem.com/ap/national/article_e977b196-ad26-57b0-8f79-447b2641e4c1.html
• A December 8 fire at the under-construction
DaVinci apartment complex in Los Angeles damaged nearby buildings, including a
city government facility, and shutdown the 110 Freeway for several hours. – Los
Angeles Times
21. December
8, Los Angeles Times – (California) Huge fire in downtown L.A.:
‘It looked like a bomb had just exploded’. Authorities are investigating a
December 8 fire at the under-construction DaVinci apartment complex in downtown
Los Angeles that engulfed almost 1 million square feet and a city block,
damaged nearby buildings, including a city government facility, and shutdown a
portion of northbound and southbound lanes of the 110 Freeway for several hours
while firefighters worked to put out the blaze and hot spots. Source: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-massive-downtown-la-fire-closes-freeways-20141208-story.html
• An intentional chlorine gas leak left 19
people hospitalized and evacuated thousands of people for 2 hours from the
Hyatt hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, December 7 during an annual convention. – Chicago
Tribune
24. December
7, Chicago Tribune – (Illinois) 19 hospitalized, thousands evacuated in
“intentional” gas leak at Rosemont hotel. An intentional chlorine gas leak
left 19 people hospitalized with symptoms of nausea and dizziness, and
evacuated thousands of people for 2 hours from the Hyatt hotel in Rosemont,
Illinois, December 7 during an annual convention. Authorities found a substance
consistent with powdered chlorine in a stairwell at the hotel and
decontaminated the area. Source: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/19-hospitalized-thousands-evacuated-in-intentional-gas-leak-at-rosemont-hotel/ar-BBgswJR
• Two people were killed and twelve others
were poisoned by carbon monoxide at a Streets Rehearsal Studios-rented
warehouse in Passaic, New Jersey, December 6. – WCBS 2 New York City;
Associated Press
25. December 6, WCBS 2 New York City; Associated Press –
(New Jersey) 2 dead, 12 sickened by carbon monoxide poisoning in Passaic
building. Authorities are investigating after 2 people were killed and 12
others were poisoned by carbon monoxide at a Streets Rehearsal Studios-rented
warehouse used as a recording studio in Passaic, New Jersey, December 6.
Source: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/12/06/2-found-dead-in-passaic-building/
Financial Services Sector
4. December
8, Securityweek – (International) New variant of Neverquest
banking trojan targets North America. Researchers with IBM Trusteer
reported December 5 that they have observed a new variant of the Neverquest
banking trojan being used predominantly against financial institutions in North
America, with some additional targets in the media, gaming, and social
networking industries. The malware has been distributed by drive-by downloads
using exploit kits as well as by the Chaintor and Zemot trojan downloaders.
Source: http://www.securityweek.com/new-variant-neverquest-banking-trojan-targets-north-america
5. December
5, New York Times – (New York) Pizza orders reveal credit card
scheme, and a secondhand market. Police in New York City conducted a sweep
that led to 14 arrests November 13-14 after it was found that criminals using
stolen payment card information were placing orders through a Domino’s mobile
app in order to test which stolen card numbers were able to be charged to. Card
numbers that were able to be successfully charged to were then used for larger
fraudulent purchases. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/06/nyregion/pizza-orders-reveal-credit-card-scheme-and-a-secondhand-market.html
6. December
5, Indianapolis Business Journal – (Indiana) Hamilton County man
arrested for investment scheme. A Hamilton County, Indiana man was arrested
on criminal charges December 4 for allegedly operating his firm, Guaranty
Reserves Trust LLC, as a fraud scheme that defrauded 16 investors of around $6
million from 2010 to 2013. The man was previously indicted on civil charges for
the same alleged fraud. Source: http://www.ibj.com/articles/50819-hamilton-county-man-arrested-for-investment-scheme
For another story, see item 22 below
from the Commercial Facilities Sector
22. December
8, Tampa Tribune – (Florida) Fugitive arrested in Tampa
credit-card fraud ring. Federal authorities announced December 8 that the
alleged leader of a payment card skimming and fraud ring in Tampa that stole
more than $650,000 from financial institutions by using keyloggers on point of
sale terminals was arrested after more than a year as a fugitive. Several
co-conspirators were previously convicted and sentenced for their roles in the
fraud ring. Source: http://tbo.com/news/crime/fugitive-arrested-in-tampa-credit-card-fraud-ring-20141208/
Information Technology Sector
18. December 8, Securityweek – (International) Google
App Engine plagued by tens of vulnerabilities: Researchers. Security
Explorations researchers reported identifying several vulnerabilities in the
Google App Engine platform-as-a-service (PaaS) product, including issues that
could be used to achieve a complete sandbox escape. Google confirmed that it
received the researchers’ report and was analyzing the reported issues. Source:
http://www.securityweek.com/google-app-engine-plagued-tens-vulnerabilities-researchers
19. December 8, IDG News Service – (International) Attackers
knock PlayStation Network offline for hours. Sony Computer Entertainment
America acknowledged that some users of its Sony Playstation Network (PSN) were
unable to access the service for several hours December 7 due to an apparent
attack. Attackers identifying themselves as the Lizard Squad group claimed
credit for the disruption. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/article/2856673/attackers-knock-playstation-network-offline-for-hours.html
For another story, see
item 4 above in the Financial Services Sector
Communications Sector
20. December 6, Los Angeles
Times – (National) CBS, Dish Network strike deal after 12-hour
blackout marathon talks. Negotiations were reached December 6 between CBS
and Dish Network following a 12 hour outage of 2 CBS-owned television stations
that impacted nearly 500,000 Dish Network customers in the Los Angeles-area.
Source: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-cbs-blackout-ends-dish-contract-20141204-story.html