Friday, May 29, 2015




Complete DHS Report for May 29, 2015

Daily Report

Top Stories

 · The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority suspended all train service between the Rockaway Boulevard and Broad Channel Stations May 27 after discovering the theft of 500 feet of copper May 26. – Associated Press

10. May 27, Associated Press – (New York) Theft of copper cable causes major disruption on NYC subways. The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority suspended all train service between the Rockaway Boulevard and Broad Channel Stations in Queens May 27 and replaced it with shuttle busses after discovering the theft of 500 feet of copper cables from 12 different locations along the tracks May 26. Source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/theft-copper-cable-major-disruption-nyc-subways-31336958

 · DHS and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials broke ground May 27 to begin construction of the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility in Kansas for study of foreign animal and emerging zoonotic diseases. – U.S. Department of Homeland Security

14. May 27, U.S. Department of Homeland Security – (National) DHS and USDA break ground for National Bio- and Agro- Defense Facility. DHS and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials officially broke ground May 27 to begin construction of the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kansas, which will act as a 570,000 square foot biocontainment facility for the study of foreign animal and emerging zoonotic diseases that threaten animal agriculture and public health in the U.S. Source: http://www.dhs.gov/news/2015/05/27/dhs-and-usda-break-ground-national-bio-and-agro-defense-facility

 · Officials closed a portion of the Manhattan, Hermosa and Redondo Beach coastlines May 27 as a precaution while several agencies collect samples to investigate an oil-like substance that washed ashore. – KAB7 Los Angeles

17. May 27, KABC 7 Los Angeles – (California) Manhattan, Hermosa and Redondo Beach coastline closed to public due to oil-like substance. Officials closed a portion of Manhattan, Hermosa and Redondo Beach coastlines May 27 as a precaution while several agencies collect samples to investigate the cause, composition, and source of an oil-like substance that washed ashore. Source: http://abc7.com/news/oil-slick-closes-large-stretch-of-manhattan-hermosa-and-redondo-beaches/745175/

 · Crews restored telecommunication services to CenturyLink customers between Carbondale and Aspen May 27 after a severed a fiber-optic cable caused a 19-hour outage that impacted 9-1-1, cell-phone, landline, and internet services. – Aspen Times See item 29 below in the Communications Sector

Financial Services Sector

3. May 28, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – (Arkansas) LR man reaches a deal in IRS case. The former CEO, president, and manager of Little Rock-based Global Coal LLC pleaded guilty May 27 to charges alleging that he fraudulently sold millions of dollars’ worth of non-existent refined coal tax credits since starting the company in 2010. Source: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2015/may/28/lr-man-reaches-a-deal-in-irs-case-20150/

4. May 27, Reuters – (International) World soccer rocked by U.S., Swiss arrests of officials for graft. Seven Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) officials were arrested on U.S. corruption and face extradition in Switzerland May 27 after an investigation revealed FIFA officials were allegedly apart of corruption involving more than $150 million in bribes over a period of 24 years. U.S. officials reportedly plan to make more arrests in connection to the charges and announced a criminal investigation into the awarding of the next two World Cups. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/27/soccer-fifa-idUSL1N0YI0U620150527

5. May 27, The Oregonian/OregonLive – (Oregon) ‘Short Stack Bandit’ pleads guilty to 5 Portland area bank robberies. A bank robbery suspect dubbed the “Short Stack Bandit” pleaded guilty May 26 to allegedly robbing 5 Portland-area banks and attempting to rob another from 2013 – 2014. Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2015/05/short_stack_bandit_pleads_guil.html

6. May 26, NorthJersey.com – (New Jersey) Police seeking suspect in ATM thefts at Kearny Bank in North Arlington. Authorities are searching for a suspect that allegedly used a skimming device to steal over $100,000 dollars from more than 128 customers of Kearny Bank in North Arlington in April. The bank plans to reimburse affected customers. Source: http://www.northjersey.com/news/police-seeking-suspect-in-atm-thefts-at-kearny-bank-in-north-arlington-1.1342519

7. May 26, Courthouse News Service – (Texas) Ponzi man looking at eight years in stir. The former owner of Dallas-based GC Resources LLC pleaded guilty May 28 to charges connected to an alleged Ponzi scheme in which he solicited $11.8 million worth of investments in oil and gas wells that the company neither owned nor controlled and forged contracts to fool victims. Source: http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/05/26/ponzi-man-looking-at-eight-years-in-stir.htm

Information Technology Sector

26. May 28, Softpedia – (International) Apache Cordova glitch allows tampering with mobile app behavior. A security researcher at Trend Micro discovered a high-severity security flaw in Android apps built with Apache Cordova which could allow an attacker to use locally compromised apps or remote web servers to inject malicious intent bundles by taking advantage of default behavior preferences in the Cordova framework. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Apache-Cordova-Glitch-Allows-Tampering-with-Mobile-App-Behavior-482561.shtml

27. May 27, Softpedia – (International) Flash Player vulnerability exploited 2 weeks after Adobe’s patch release. Security researchers at FireEye discovered that cybercriminals are targeting outdated versions of Adobe’s Flash player with drive-by attacks that leverage a memory corruption vulnerability to deliver the Bedep trojan, which initiates click-fraud activities and an infection cycle that funnels in additional malware through redirects. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Flash-Player-Vulnerability-Exploited-2-Weeks-After-Adobe-s-Patch-Release-482475.shtml

28. May 27, Threatpost – (International) Rockwell addresses weak password protections in its HMI software. Rockwell Automation patched a vulnerability in its RSView32 human machine interface (HMI) software in which an attacker with local access could exploit weak, outdated user-defined password encryption algorithms to reveal passwords and gain access to the automation environment. Source: https://threatpost.com/rockwell-addresses-weak-password-protections-in-its-hmi-software/113034

Communications Sector

29. May 27, Aspen Times – (Colorado) Crews restore telecom services to Aspen after 19-hour outage. Crews restored telecommunications services to CenturyLink customers between Carbondale and Aspen May 27 after a third party contractor severed a fiber-optic cable causing a 19-hour outage May 26 that impacted local 9-1-1, cell-phone, landline, and internet services. Source: http://www.aspentimes.com/news/16533487-113/crews-restore-telecom-services-to-aspen-after-19-hour

Thursday, May 28, 2015




Complete DHS Report for May 28, 2015

Daily Report

Top Stories

 · Amtrak reported May 26 that inward-facing video cameras will be installed on the majority of its Northeast Corridor trains by the end of 2015 to allow railroad officials to monitor the actions of engineers while on the job. – Washington Post

13. May 26, Washington Post – (National) Amtrak will install inward-facing cameras on trains. Amtrak officials reported May 26 that inward-facing video cameras will be installed on majority of its Northeast Corridor trains by the end of 2015 to allow railroad officials to monitor the actions of engineers while on the job, as a series of safety measures taken following the fatal May 12 derailment that killed 8 and injured more than 200. Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/amtrak-will-install-inward-facing-cameras-on-trains/2015/05/26/a6d210fa-03b9-11e5-a428-c984eb077d4e_story.html

 · Officials reported May 27 that heavy rains in Texas caused more than 100,000 gallons of untreated wastewater to spill from a treatment plant and caused a potential dam breach at Padera Lake near Midlothian, Texas. – Associated Press; KERA 13 Dallas

18. May 27, Associated Press; KERA 13 Dallas – (Texas) Untreated wastewater has spilled into Houston; eyes on possible dam break in Midlothian. Houston’s Department of Public Works and Engineering reported May 27 that heavy rains caused more than 100,000 gallons of untreated wastewater to spill from a wastewater treatment plant and threatened a dam breach at Padera Lake near Midlothian that could potentially flood 25 homes. Fear of the dam breach has dissipated but the National Weather Service says more rain is expected. Source: http://keranews.org/post/untreated-wastewater-has-spilled-houston-eyes-possible-dam-break-midlothian

 · Officials issued new rules May 27 that clarified which smaller waterways fall under Federal protection in the Clean Water Act, stating that a tributary must show evidence of flowing water to be protected. – Associated Press

19. May 27, Associated Press – (National) EPA issues final rule protecting drinking water, streams. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued new rules May 27 that will protect drinking water for 117 million Americans by clarifying which smaller waterways fall under Federal protection in the Clean Water Act, stating that a tributary must show evidence of flowing water to be protected. Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/epa-rules-protect-drinking-water-regulate-small-streams-31332848?page=2

 · The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reported May 26 that criminals accessed personal tax information from more than 100,000 tax payers through an IRS-run online system called “Get Transcript”, from February – May 2015. – Associated Press

20. May 26, Associated Press– (National) IRS says thieves stole tax info from 100,000. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reported May 26 that criminals accessed personal tax information from more than 100,000 tax payers through an IRS-run online system called “Get Transcript”, where taxpayers get returns and other filings from previous years, as part of a scheme to steal identities and claim fraudulent tax refunds from February – May 2015. The service has been temporarily shut down and officials are determining how many fraudulent tax refunds were claimed this year using information from the stolen transcripts with an estimate of less than $50 million. Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/apnewsbreak-irs-thieves-stole-tax-info-100000-31317464

Financial Services Sector

7. May 26, MLive.com – (Michigan) Orchard Lake attorney charged with conducting mortgage fraud scheme. An Orchard Lake attorney and his company, Home Legal Group PLLC, were charged May 22 for allegedly defrauding over 114 victims by falsely promising mortgage modifications to clients seeking to avoid foreclosure and collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees from the victims. Source: http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2015/05/orchard_lake_attorney_charged.

For another story, see item 20 above in Top Stories

Information Technology Sector

21. May 26, Securityweek – (International) New Linux-based router worm used in social network scheme. Security researchers at ESET discovered a new piece of malware, known as Moose, that primarily spreads by compromising unsecure Linux-based consumer routers and can eavesdrop on communications. Compromised devices steal unencrypted network traffic, mostly from social network sites, and act as a proxy service for botnet operators. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/new-linux-based-router-worm-used-social-network-scheme

For another story, see item 20 above in Top Stories

Communications Sector

Nothing to report