Wednesday, August 26, 2015



Complete DHS Report for August 26, 2015

Daily Report                                            

Top Stories

 · A report released August 24 by the U.S. Department of Transportation inspector general found that air traffic control towers managed by the Federal Aviation Administration operated inefficiently, costing the U.S. Government $853 million in additional labor and equipment between 2008 and 2013. – USA Today

4. August 24, USA Today – (National) Audit: inefficient air-traffic control towers cost $142 million per year. A report released August 24 by the U.S. Department of Transportation inspector general found that air traffic control towers managed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) operated inefficiently, costing the U.S. Government $853 million in additional labor and equipment between 2008 and 2013. The FAA agreed that tower efficiency could be improved, but insisted the audit’s assessment methodology was flawed and ignored cost-efficient measures already taken by the towers. Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/todayinthesky/2015/08/24/audit-towers-faa-air-traffic-control-inefficient-dot-inspector-general-logan-reagan-dulles-orlando-midway/32261509/

 · Officials closed a 4-mile stretch of Waikiki beaches in Hawaii August 24 after heavy rains overwhelmed the Honolulu’s sewage system and caused 500,000 gallons of wastewater to spill from manholes into the ocean. – Associated Press

8. August 25, Associated Press – (Hawaii) Waikiki beaches closed after rains trigger sewage spill. Honolulu officials closed a 4-mile stretch of Waikiki beaches August 24 after heavy rains overwhelmed the city’s sewage system and caused 500,000 gallons of wastewater to spill from manholes into the ocean. The heavy rains also caused closures for two local schools, roadways and several city facilities, including Honolulu Zoo, due to flooding.Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/wireStory/waikiki-beaches-closed-rains-trigger-sewage-spill-33295957

 · Crews reached 10 percent containment August 25 of the Okanogan Complex fires that have burned 256,567 acres in central and eastern Washington. – USA Today

11. August 25, USA Today – (Washington) Washington wildfires now largest in state’s history. Crews reached 10 percent containment August 25 of the Okanogan Complex fires that have burned 256,567 acres in central and eastern Washington. Over 5,000 homes remain threatened and schools were forced to delay their openings due to the wildfires. Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/08/24/washington-wildfires-largest/32302927/

 · New York City officials reported that 6 people were injured August 24 after a Resort World Casino bus swerved to avoid hitting a car and crashed into a 3-story brick building in Queens. – Fox News; Associated Press

24. August 25, Fox News; Associated Press– (New York) Six people injured after casino bus crashes into NYC building. New York City officials reported that 6 people were injured August 24 after a Resort World Casino bus swerved to avoid hitting a car and crashed into a 3-story brick building in Queens. A large part of the building structure was sheared off, and officials were continuing to investigate the incident. Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/08/24/bus-crashes-into-queens-building/

Financial Services Sector

2. August 24, U.S. Department of Justice – (California) Former president of Bay Area home builder pleads guilty to mortgage fraud conspiracy. The former president of Discovery Sales Inc., pleaded guilty August 24 to his role in a mortgage fraud scheme in which he and conspirators allegedly caused fraudulent loans to be approved for unqualified buyers and inflated home values from 2006 – 2008, amounting to over $200 million in sales and causing banks to lose about $75 million through short sales and foreclosures. Source: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-president-bay-area-home-builder-pleads-guilty-mortgage-fraud-conspiracy

Information Technology Sector

19. August 25, Securityweek – (International) Tor increasingly used by malicious actors: IBM. IBM Security released findings from its third quarter X-Force Threat Intelligence report revealing that The Onion Router (Tor) network has been used increasingly by cybercriminals for malicious purposes, with about 180,000 malicious events originating from Tor U.S. exit nodes since May. Researchers found that most Tor-based attacks have been Structured Query Language (SQL) injections and primarily targeted the information and communications industries, among other findings. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/tor-increasingly-used-malicious-actors-ibm

20. August 24, Securityweek – (International) Dyre trojan uses semi- random file names to evade detection. Security researchers at IBM discovered that the developers of the Dyre banking trojan modified the malware’s persistence mechanism by making its execution a Microsoft Windows scheduled task, and assigned semi-random filenames to the trojan’s configuration files to evade detection. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/dyre-trojan-uses-semi-random-file-names-evade-detection

21. August 24, Threatpost – (International) AlienSpy RAT resurfaces as Jsocket. Security researchers discovered that the AlienSpy remote access trojan (RAT) malware was renamed and repackaged as Jsocket, and has been involved in phishing campaigns against targets in utilities, government, telecommunications, and other industries. Source: https://threatpost.com/alienspy-rat-resurfaces-as-jsocket/114385

Communications Sector

22. August 25, Ars Technica – (National) Sham telecoms created to scam AT&T must pay back ill-gotten gains. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission ordered Utah and Nevada-based All American Telephone Co., e-Pinnacle Communications, Inc., and ChaseCom to pay approximately $252,496 to AT&T the week of August 17 after the companies were found to be operating as fake competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) and billing the service provider for access services that were never provided. All three companies, which were created by Beehive, were shut down in 2010.

For additional stories, see items 19 and 21 above in the Information Technology Sector