Friday, February 27, 2015



Complete DHS Report for February 27, 2015

Daily Report

Top Stories

 · A 30-mile stretch of northbound Interstate 95 between Newport and Bangor, Maine was closed for approximately 5 hours February 25 due to a multi-vehicle crash caused by heavy snowfall that injured at least 17 people. – WLBZ 2 Bangor; Associated Press

6. February 25, WLBZ 2 Bangor; Associated Press – (Maine) I-95 in Maine partially reopened after 75-vehicle pileup. A 30-mile stretch of northbound Interstate 95 between Newport and Bangor was closed for approximately 5 hours February 25 due to a multi-vehicle crash caused by heavy snowfall that involved at least 75 vehicles and left at least 17 people injured. Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/02/25/interstate-95-crash-maine/23989051/

 · About 12 ships, including a cruise ship, were stranded in the Gulf of Mexico outside Tampa Bay, Florida, while 10 cargo ships were unable to leave from Port Tampa Bay February 24 due to sea fog February 23 that prompted the port to come to a near standstill. – Tampa Tribune

8. February 24, Tampa Tribune – (Florida) Cruise ship returns as fog halts port traffic. Nearly a dozen ships, including a cruise ship, were stranded in the Gulf of Mexico outside Tampa Bay while 10 cargo ships were unable to leave from Port Tampa Bay February 24 due to sea fog February 23 that prompted the port to come to a near standstill. The Royal Caribbean cruise ship was escorted to the port by U.S. Coast Guard vessels while freighters and tankers were ordered to remain in the Gulf until the fog cleared. Source: http://tbo.com/news/transportation/fog-closes-tampa-port-strands-cargo-ships-buckeye-cruise-20150224/

 · Officials announced February 26 that vandalism caused an Internet, cellphone, and landline outage in northern Arizona for more than 6 hours February 25 after CenturyLink employees and Phoenix police found a cut cable. – Associated Press

17. February 26, Associated Press – (Arizona) Arizona authorities probe vandalism that cut off Internet, phones for hours. Officials announced February 26 that vandalism caused an Internet, cellphone, and landline outage in northern Arizona for more than 6 hours February 25 after CenturyLink employees and Phoenix police found a cut fiber-optic cable. Crews restored services that impacted a 100-mile area stretching between Phoenix to Flagstaff. Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/02/26/arizona-authorites-probe-vandalism-that-cut-off-internet-phones/

 · A frozen water pipe burst inside the David Stott building in Detroit, Michigan, between February 22-23 causing about 2 million gallons of water ran throughout the structure unnoticed for approximately 1 day. – WWJ 62 Detroit

18. February 26, WWJ 62 Detroit – (Michigan) Cleanup continues at flooded David Stott building in Detroit. Cleanup crews continued working February 26 after a frozen water pipe ruptured inside the David Stott building in Detroit between February 22-23 and millions of gallons of water ran throughout the building unnoticed for approximately 1 day. About 2 million gallons of water was pumped from the building into the city’s sewer system February 25, while the bottom floor of the structure was reportedly still under water. Source: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2015/02/26/cleanup-continues-at-flooded-david-stott-building-in-detroit/

Financial Services Sector

3. February 25, Associated Press – (Massachusetts) Founder accused of defrauding investors in $40M mutual fund. A Massachusetts financier was charged with securities fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identify theft, and obstruction of justice February 25 for allegedly issuing fictitious consumer loans as co-portfolio manager of GL Beyond Income Fund, and diverting the fund’s assets for use on business and personal expenses. Source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/founder-accused-defrauding-investors-40m-mutual-fund-29226096

4. February 25, Reuters – (National) MetLife unit to pay $123.5 million for alleged mortgage fraud. The U.S. Department of Justice announced February 25 that Met Life Home Loans LLC will pay $123.5 million to resolve accusations that the company, doing business as MetLife Bank at the time of the alleged infractions, knowingly violated the False Claims Act from September 2008 to March 2012 by originating and underwriting mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that did not meet underwriting requirements. MetLife was allegedly aware of the accused violations through its internal quality control measures and reportedly downgraded its sub-standard FHA loans to appear to have fewer issues. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/25/us-metlife-usa-loans-idUSKBN0LT1ZR20150225

Information Technology Sector

16. February 26, Securityweek – (International) Lizard Squad hijacks Lenovo website, emails. Lizard Squad hackers hijacked the Lenovo Web site and email servers by using CloudFlare IP addresses to modify DNS records in Lenovo domain registrar accounts and redirect users to defacement pages, and changed mail server records to allow the group to intercept emails sent to Lenovo email addresses. The hijacking mirrored a similar attack that targeted Google Vietnam during the week of February 23. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/lizard-squad-hijacks-lenovo-website-emails

Communications Sector

17. February 26, Associated Press – (Arizona) Arizona authorities probe vandalism that cut off Internet, phones for hours. Officials announced February 26 that vandalism caused an Internet, cellphone, and landline outage in northern Arizona for more than 6 hours February 25 after CenturyLink employees and Phoenix police found a cut fiber-optic cable. Crews restored services that impacted a 100-mile area stretching between Phoenix to Flagstaff. Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/02/26/arizona-authorites-probe-vandalism-that-cut-off-internet-phones/

For another story, see item 15 below from the Emergency Services Sector

15. February 26, Yavapai County Daily Courier; Chino Valley Review – (Arizona) Prescott-area police, fire, 911 service hit hard by outage. Emergency 9-1-1 calls to the Prescott Regional Communications Center in Arizona were rerouted February 25 to the backup dispatching center at the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office after a CenturyLink fiber cable near New River was damaged causing an Internet and telephone outage. The Chino Valley Police Department was also impacted by the outage, along with the sheriff’s office in Yavapai County which suffered landline and Internet outages. Source: http://dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=142272