Wednesday, May 13, 2015




Complete DHS Report for May 13, 2015

As I documented earlier, DHS is/was having problems with the distribution of its daily report.  I learned that it was being distributed successfully to various state sites, InfraGard in particular.  Sometime today, May 13, 2015 after 3PM EDST it appears that all is again working.

Daily Report

Top Stories

 · The Metro Center station in Washington, D.C., reopened May 12 after shutting down overnight May 11 due to a track problem affecting service on the Blue, Silver, Red, and Orange lines. – WTTG 5 Washington, D.C.

6. May 12, WTTG 5 Washington D.C. – (Washington, D.C.) Metro Center reopens Tuesday following track problem. The Metro Center station in Washington, D.C., reopened May 12 after shutting down overnight May 11 due to a track problem affecting rail service on the Blue, Silver, Red, and Orange lines. Service between the Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom stations was suspended earlier May 11 after reports of smoke caused by electrical sparking, which prompted authorities to repair multiple third-rail insulators. Source: http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/29037288/metro-center-closed

 · U.S. Department of Agriculture officials confirmed May 10 that the first case of the highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu strain was detected in Indiana. – Reuters

10. May 11, Reuters – (Indiana) Bird flu found in Indiana; 15th state to report it. U.S. Department of Agriculture officials confirmed May 10 that the highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu strain was detected in Indiana for the first time in a 77-bird backyard flock at a site in Whitley County. Authorities have quarantined the site and culled the flock. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/11/us-health-birdflu-idUSKBN0NW1PX20150511

 · A contract employee with the U.S. Department of State Passport Agency in Houston and two others were accused of taking part in an identity theft scheme in which they would steal personal identifiable information of individuals applying for a passport and impersonate them to obtain lines of credit for personal use. – Help Net Security

17. May 12, Help Net Security – (Texas) US Passport Agency contractor stole applicants’ data to steal their identities. A contract employee with the U.S. Department of State Passport Agency in Houston and two others were accused of taking part in an identity theft scheme in which the employee would allegedly steal personal identifiable information of individuals applying for a passport and create counterfeit identification documents. The two others involved in the scheme would impersonate the affected individuals in order to obtain lines of credit to purchase personal items. Source: http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=18375

 · An investigation by the Web site security company Incapsula revealed that cybercriminals are using tens of thousands of insecure home routers to create large botnets for distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. – Softpedia See item 21 below in the Information Technology Sector

Financial Services Sector

4. May 12, Reuters – (National) SEC charges ITT Educational, CEO, CFO with fraud; shares plunge. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged ITT Educational Services Inc., its chief executive officer, and chief financial officer May 12 with fraud, alleging that the defendants concealed two poorly performing financially-guaranteed student loan programs by making payments on behalf of struggling borrowers and by hiding the extent of losses due to high default rates. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/12/sec-itt-education-idUSL1N0Y31FF20150512

Information Technology Sector

21. May 12, Softpedia – (International) DDoS botnet relies on thousands of insecure routers in 109 countries. An investigation by the Web site security company Incapsula revealed that cybercriminals are using tens of thousands of Internet service providers (ISP) distributed home routers with default security configurations to create large botnets for distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Findings revealed that 60 command and control (C&C) servers were being used for the botnets by a variety of groups employing various forms of malware worldwide. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/DDoS-Botnet-Relies-on-Thousands-of-Insecure-Routers-in-109-Countries-480940.shtml

Communications Sector

Nothing to report