Complete DHS Report for March
27, 2015
Daily Report
Top Stories
· The
Alabama Fire Marshal’s Office confirmed March 25 that a cease-and-desist order
was issued that closes the production portion of the Ultratec fireworks plant
in Madison County following a deadly explosion in February. – WAFF 48
Huntsville
1. March
26, WAFF 48 Huntsville – (Alabama) Fire marshal: Victim of fatal
blast reported unsafe work environment. The Alabama Fire Marshal’s Office
confirmed March 25 that a cease-and-desist order was issued that closes the production
portion of the Ultratec fireworks plant in Madison County following a deadly
explosion in February. The State’s fire marshal cited the company for five
violations, including improper storage of materials and cross-contamination
concerns, following an inspection of the facility. Source: http://www.waff.com/story/28614817/portion-of-fireworks-plant-to-close-following-deadly-explosion
· A
stretch of U.S. 400 in Wilson County, Kansas, that closed March 25 due to a
fatal multi-vehicle accident was expected to reopen by March 27. – KSNW 3
Wichita
7. March
26, KSNW 3 Wichita – (Kansas) One dead in Wilson County
collision. A stretch of U.S. 400 in Wilson County was closed March 25 due
to a multi-vehicle accident that killed the driver of a vehicle when she lost
control on the wet roadway and crossed into oncoming traffic. The road was
expected to reopen no later than March 27. Source: http://ksn.com/2015/03/25/u-s-400-closed-in-wilson-county-due-to-collision/
· The
governor of Indiana declared a health emergency March 26 in southeastern
Indiana after the Indiana State Department of Health recorded 79 HIV cases
connected to intravenous drug use in Scott County. – Indianapolis Star;
Associated Press
15. March
26, Indianapolis Star; Associated Press – (Indiana) Governor
approves short-term needle exchange in HIV epidemic. The governor of
Indiana declared a health emergency March 26 in southeastern Indiana after the
Indiana State Department of Health recorded 79 HIV cases connected to
intravenous drug use in Scott County. The governor also announced that the
State would sanction a short-term needle-exchange program to last for 30 days
to help address the epidemic. Source: http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/25/gov-pence-visit-indiana-county-hiv-outbreak/70427432/
· One
fatality was reported following tornado-producing storms that moved across
Oklahoma, March 25 and caused severe damage to a mobile home park and
businesses, knocked out power to nearly 75,000 customers, closed Interstate 35
in Moore, and prompted Moore Public Schools to cancel classes March 26. – Weather.com
26. March 26, Weather.com – (Oklahoma) Severe
storm causes what appears to be first tornado-related fatality of 2015 in Sand
Springs, Oklahoma. Tornado-producing storms that moved across Oklahoma,
March 25 caused severe damage to a mobile home park in Sand Springs where one
person was killed and several others were injured, and knocked out power to
nearly 75,000 customers in the area. Both directions of Interstate 35 in Moore
were closed and blocked by overturned vehicles, and Moore Public Schools
canceled classes March 26 due to natural gas leaks and structural damage to
businesses and homes. Source: http://www.weather.com/storms/severe/news/severe-thunderstorms-oklahoma-kansas-arkansas-missouri-texas-impacts
Financial Services Sector
3. March
25, Reuters – (International) PayPal to pay $7.7 million in U.S.
Treasury sanctions case. PayPal agreed to pay $7.7 million March 25 to
settle U.S. Department of the Treasury charges for failing to adequately screen
transactions for several years, resulting in 486 violations of sanctions
programs against countries including Iran, Cuba, and Sudan, as well as for a
specific Turkish national on the sanctions blacklist that had been tied to
proliferators of weapons of mass destruction. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/25/us-usa-treasury-ebay-idUSKBN0ML28620150325
4. March
25, Reuters – (California) U.S. jury convicts former bank exec of
securities fraud. The former chief operating officer of United Commercial
Bank in San Francisco was convicted March 25 of several criminal counts,
including securities fraud, for allegedly concealing the falling value of collateral
used to secure the bank’s loans from auditors during the 2008 financial crisis.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/25/fraud-tarp-trial-idUSL2N0WR2OM20150325
5. March
25, Associated Press – (Ohio) Ohio businessmen convicted in
sports drink investment scheme. Two Ohio businessmen were convicted March
25 of charges relating to a fraud scheme in which they used their sport drink
company, Imperial Integrated Health Research and Development LLC, to defraud
investors out of about $9 million and diverted investors’ funds for their
personal use. The wife of one of the businessmen was also convicted on several
charges which included filing a false income tax return and structuring
financial transactions to evade currency reporting requirements. Source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ohio-businessmen-convicted-sports-drink-investment-scheme-29910890
Information Technology Sector
21. March 26,
Softpedia – (International) Microsoft revokes rogue digital certificate
for Google and other web domains. Microsoft updated its Certificate Trust
List (CTL) for Windows operating systems and pushed automatic updates to revoke
a certificate fraudulently issued by Egypt-based MCS Holdings. The fraudulent
certificates affected several Google and other domains, and left Windows users
vulnerable to Web content spoofing, phishing, and man-in-the-middle (MitM)
attacks. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft-Revokes-Rogue-Digital-Certificate-for-Google-and-Other-Web-Domains-476809.shtml
22. March 26,
Softpedia – (International) Apple customers lured to disclose Apple ID
and card data. Security analysts at Bitdefender discovered a phishing
scheme in which Apple device users are being targeted with emails that link to
a hoax site requesting Apple ID credentials, personal information, payment card
information, and a 3D Secure password. After users fill out the form, they are
notified of a bogus two-factor authentication (2FA) process and are given an
option to change their password. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Apple-Customers-Lured-to-Disclose-Apple-ID-and-Card-Data-476817.shtml
23. March 26,
Securityweek – (International) Cisco fixes DoS vulnerabilities in IOS
software. Cisco Systems released security updates patching 16
vulnerabilities in IOS and IOS XE software components including Autonomic
Network Infrastructure (ANI), Common Industrial Protocol (CIP), multicast
Domain Name System (mDNS), transmission control protocol (TCP), Virtual Routing
and Forwarding (VRF), and Internet Key Exchange version 2 (IKEv2). The
vulnerabilities allowed remote, unauthenticated attackers to trigger
denial-of-service (DoS) conditions on targeted systems. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/cisco-fixes-dos-vulnerabilities-ios-software
24. March 25,
Threatpost – (International) Default setting in Windows 7, 8.1 could allow
privilege escalation, sandbox escape. A Google Security Project Zero
researcher identified certain default authentication settings in Microsoft’s
Windows versions 7 and 8.1 that could allow attackers to use cross-protocol NT
LAN Manager (NTLM) reflection to attack a local Server Message Block (SMB)
server and leverage Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) to
elevate privileges or escape application sandboxes. Microsoft urged users to
implement Extended Protection for Authentication (EPA) to mitigate the
vulnerability. Source: https://threatpost.com/default-setting-in-windows-7-8-1-could-allow-privilege-escalation-sandbox-escape/111809
Communications Sector
25. March 25, WXIN 59
Indianapolis – (National) Sprint service restored after massive
outage spans Chicago area. Sprint reported March 25 that service was
restored to an unspecified number of customers following a major network outage
that affected customers’ voice and text messaging services in Chicago and the
surrounding areas. The cause of the outage remains under investigation. Source:
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Massive-Sprint-Service-Outage-Across-Chicago-Area-297594231.html