Friday, February 6, 2015



Complete DHS Report for  February 6, 2015

Daily Report

Top Stories

 · The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) warned February 3 that weather-related issues caused delays for all MBTA buses and subways and that it would take 4 to 5 days to restore normal service. – Boston Globe

5. February 4, Boston Globe – (Massachusetts) MBTA warns all subway lines, buses experiencing delays; traffic just as bad. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) warned February 3 that weather-related issues caused delays for all MBTA buses and subways and that it would take 4 to 5 days to restore normal service. About 40 percent of Red Line and Orange Line trains were down before more than 100 subway cars were brought back in service February 4 while the Blue Line experienced continued delays. Source: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2015/02/04/mbta-warns-all-subway-lines-buses-experiencing-delays/y2V9Yu0XG5HGxly9usARxI/story.html

 · About 25 million honey bees were recovered and transported February 2 after they escaped from a semi-truck that was hit by a second semi-truck on Interstate 10 near Coachella, California, earlier that day. – Palm Springs Desert Sun

7. February 3, Palm Springs Desert Sun – (California) Expert: All bees removed from I-10 crash site. About 25 million honey bees were recovered and transported February 2 after they escaped from a semi-truck that was hit by a second semi-truck on Interstate 10 near Coachella earlier that day. About 3.6 million bees died and the second semi-truck carrying chicken was destroyed during the incident that prompted the closure of some lanes of the Interstate. Source: http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2015/02/03/bees-chicken-interstate-collision/22803451/

 · Anthem Inc., announced that it discovered a breach the week of January 26 which could impact up to 80 million customers across 14 States, after the company learned it was the target of a cyber-attack when hackers gained access to the company’s computer systems and accessed patients’ personal information. – USA Today

11. February 5, USA Today – (National) Massive breach at health care company Anthem Inc. Anthem Inc., announced that it discovered a breach the week of January 26 which could potentially impact as many as 80 million customers across 14 States, after the company learned it was the target of a sophisticated external cyber-attack when hackers gained access to the company’s computer systems and accessed patients’ personal information, including Social Security numbers. Anthem is working to determine how many current and former customers were affected and assured the public that no credit card information was obtained. Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/02/04/health-care-anthem-hacked/22900925/

 · Frederick High School and West Frederick Middle School in Maryland were closed February 5 following a February 4 shooting outside the high school gymnasium during a basketball game that left 2 students injured. – WBAL 11 Baltimore

13. February 5, WBAL 11 Baltimore – (Maryland) 2 students wounded in shooting at Frederick High School. Frederick High School and West Frederick Middle School in Maryland were closed February 5 following a February 4 shooting outside the high school gymnasium during a basketball game that left 2 students injured. The high school went on lockdown for 3 hours after shots were fired and authorities continue to search for suspects. Source: http://www.wbaltv.com/news/police-investigate-shooting-at-frederick-high-school/31103084

Financial Services Sector

3. February 3, California Department of Insurance – (California) Former Inland Empire insurance agent pleads guilty to federal bank fraud and tax charges in scheme that netted nearly $6 million. A former licensed insurance agent and owner of Hamilton Brewart Insurance Agency in Upland, California, pleaded guilty February 2 to charges of bank fraud and filing false tax returns after he secured over $5.9 million in loans to pay for his insurance company’s expenses from Universal Bank in his clients’ names without their knowledge or authorization from at least 2008 through 2012. Source: http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2015/release013-15.cfm

For another story, see item 19 below in the Information Technology Sector

Information Technology Sector

17. February 5, Softpedia – (International) Flash Player 16.0.0.305 patches zero-day vulnerability. Adobe released an update for its Flash Player affecting version 16.0.0.296 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh that fixes a zero-day vulnerability reported by Trend Micro researchers. The vulnerability was leveraged by attackers through the Hanjuan exploit kit in malvertising campaigns on popular Web sites targeting Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox users. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Flash-Player-16-0-0-305-Patches-Zero-Day-Vulnerability-472199.shtml

18. February 5, Softpedia – (International) Kovter trojan distributed via malvertising on Huffington Post. AOL removed malicious content from its network after Cyphort researchers discovered the spread of a previously observed malvertising campaign which delivers the Kovter trojan for ad-fraud to popular Web sites through three advertising networks. The researchers also found that this campaign utilizes different command and control (C&C) servers. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Kovter-Trojan-Distributed-Via-Malvertising-on-Huffington-Post-472310.shtml

19. February 4, Reuters – (International) Accused Silk Road operator convicted on U.S. drug charges. A federal jury convicted the suspected founder of the underground Silk Road Web site February 4 on several charges, including conspiracies to commit money laundering, computer hacking, and drug trafficking for his role in an approximately $200 million anonymous online drug sale scheme involving Bitcoins. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/05/us-usa-bitcoin-trial-idUSKBN0L82H920150205

For another story, see item 7 above in Top Stories

Communications Sector

20. February 5, Associated Press – (Texas) 1 dead after plane crashes into west Texas TV tower. The Federal Aviation Administration reported February 4 that the pilot of a single-engine plane approaching Preston Smith International Airport in west Texas died after it crashed into an 814-foot TV tower owned by KCBD 11 Lubbock, knocking the station off air and cutting power to the surrounding neighborhood. The KCBD building was evacuated as a precaution, and the station came back on air February 5 after it transferred its broadcasting to a different location. Source: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/1-dead-after-plane-crashes-into-west-texas-tv-tower/ar-AA90rey

21. February 4, Portland Oregonian – (Oregon) Phone service restored in Forest Grove area after outage affects more than 1,200 customers. Phone service was restored to areas of Washington County after an outage that was reported by Frontier Communications February 4 kept customers in the areas of Gales Creek, Glenwood, and Tanner Creek from using a landline to call 9-1-1. Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/forest-grove/index.ssf/2015/02/phone_service_restored_in_fore.html