Tuesday, November 10, 2015



Complete DHS Report for November 10, 2015

Daily Report                                            

Top Stories

 • The U.S. President announced November 6 that he voted against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, claiming that the pipeline would not advance U.S. interests. – Associated Press

1. November 6, Associated Press – (National) U.S. President quashes Keystone XL in bid to boost climate leverage. The U.S. President announced November 6 that he sided with the U.S. Department of State and voted against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, claiming that the pipeline would not advance U.S. interests and would have undercut efforts towards a global climate change deal.Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-sources-obama-administration-nixes-keystone-xl-pipeline-160930718--finance.html

 • The former CEO of the failed Nebraska-based TierOne Bank was found guilty November 6 of concealing more than $100 million in loan and real estate losses. – Reuters See item 6 below in the Financial Services Sector

 • A Scottish national was charged November 5 after he set up Twitter accounts as market research firms and falsely reported that two companies were under Federal investigation, sending their stock prices plunging and costing investors $1.6 million in losses. – Reuters See item 10 below in the Financial Services Sector


 • Five tanker cars of a BNSF Railway freight train derailed near Alma, Wisconsin, November 7 and leaked ethanol into the Mississippi River, prompting the evacuation and the closure of the railway and area highways. – Associated Press

14. November 7, Associated Press – (Wisconsin) Ethanol leaks into Mississippi River after train derailment. Five tanker cars of a BNSF Railway freight train derailed near Alma, Wisconsin, November 7 and leaked an unknown amount of ethanol into the Mississippi River, prompting the evacuation of 150 people and the closure of the railway and area highways while crews worked to clean the spill. Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/11/07/train-derails-in-wisconsin-prompting-voluntary-evacuation/
 
Financial Services Sector

5. November 7, Washington Post – (Virginia) FBI seeks a bandit ‘loyal’ to his trade. Agents from the FBI are looking for a suspect known as the “Forever Loyal Bandit” tied to a string of five bank robberies in the northern Virginia area beginning in June 2014. The suspect’s most recent robbery took place at a Capital One bank branch in Arlington November 6. Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/fbi-seeks-forever-loyal-bandit/2015/11/07/e4174ae4-85ae-11e5-8ba6-cec48b74b2a7_story.html

6. November 6, Reuters – (National) Ex-CEO of failed Nebraska bank found guilty of fraud. The U.S. Department of Justice reported November 6 that the former CEO of the failed Lincoln, Nebraska-based TierOne Bank was found guilty of concealing more than $100 million in loan and real estate losses from shareholders and the Federal government during and after the financial crisis, in addition to falsely reporting the bank’s revenues. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/07/tierone-ceo-conviction-idUSL1N1312P520151107

7. November 6, KSNV 3 Las Vegas – (Nevada) Six charged in $2.7 million tax refund fraud scheme. Federal authorities charged six people November 6 for their roles in a $2.7 million Internal Revenue Service tax refund scheme where suspects would acquire the personal information of deceased persons from genealogical databases and use it to create fraudulent W-2 forms, driver’s licenses, and Social Security cards to file for tax refunds. Source: http://www.news3lv.com/content/news/local/story/tax-refund-fraud-scheme-federal-Bogden/ozIX-4ppL0elVnvhzVsHuA.cspx

8. November 6, South Florida Sun-Sentinel – (Florida) Broward man admits $10 million in investment fraud. A Broward County man pleaded guilty November 6 for his role in a three person scheme where the suspects lied to investors for more than a decade about the status of their investments to defraud them out of $10 million that was subsequently spent or deposited in offshore accounts. Officials believe that the third suspect is living overseas and has not yet been arrested. Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-burton-greenberg-guilty-brf-20151106-story.html

9. November 6, KOMO 4 Seattle – (Washington) ‘Beardo’ bandit wanted for 6 bank robberies. Police are searching for a suspect involved in six armed bank robberies in the Everett, Washington area beginning June 1 with the most recent robbery occurring at a Bank of Washington branch October 30. Source: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Beardo-bandit-wanted-for-six-bank-robberies-342104181.html

10. November 5, Reuters – (International) U.S. charges Scottish man over fake tweets that hurt stocks. The U.S. Department of Justice reported November 5 that a Scottish national was charged after he set up Twitter accounts as market research firms Muddy Waters Research and Citron Research and falsely reported that Audience Inc., and Sarepta Therapeutics Inc., were under Federal investigation, sending their stock prices plunging and costing investors $1.6 million in losses in an effort to profit from illegal trading. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/06/us-usa-crime-tweets-idUSKCN0SV07G20151106

For another story, see item 40 below from the Commercial Facilities Sector

40. November 7, Southwest Michigan Herald-Palladium – (Michigan) Four Winds warns of credit card breach. An official from Four Winds Casino Resort reported November 5 that its network system was compromised revealing cardholder names, card numbers, expiration dates, and internal verification codes for an unknown number of customers at its properties in New Buffalo, Hartford, or two facilities in Dowagiac following an investigation that found a program was installed onto the casino’s network to search for payment card data from October 2014 – October 2015. Source: http://www.heraldpalladium.com/news/local/four-winds-warns-of-credit-card-breach/article_62ddc82a-64af-54e1-863c-b4052d000819.html

Information Technology Sector

31. November 9, Securityweek – (International) User data compromised in Touchnote breach. UK-based postcard-sending service, Touchnote revealed that its systems were compromised in an attack that stole customers’ personal information including names, email addresses, postal addresses, and other histories that may be used to trick victims into supplying attackers with more sensitive information. The company has notified impacted customers and an investigation is ongoing to find the attackers. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/user-data-compromised-touchnote-breach

32. November 9, IDG News Service – (International) No surprise here: Adobe’s Flash is a hacker’s favorite target. Researchers from Recorded Future released a new study November 9 revealing that Adobe Systems’ Flash plugin was the highest targeted software program used by cybercriminals to install malware onto computers following research that revealed 8 of the 10 top vulnerabilities were seen targeting Adobe’s Flash plugin. Source: http://www.computerworld.com/article/3003062/security/no-surprise-here-adobes-flash-is-a-hackers-favorite-target.html#tk.rss_security

33. November 8, Softpedia – (International) Security flaws found in Google Chromecast, Home Security Systems, Smart Coffee Makers. Security researchers from Kaspersky discovered several vulnerabilities in Internet of Things devices (IoT) including a “rickrolling” vulnerability in Google Chromecast devices that enables attackers to hijack smart TV content, a vulnerability in a smart coffee maker device that exposes the user’s Wi-Fi password, allowing attackers to spy on homeowners by connecting to Internet protocol (IP) cameras used in Webcams and baby monitors, as well as infiltrate a home security system by using powerful magnets that allows attackers to gain access to homes without triggering the alarm. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/security-flaws-found-in-google-chromecast-home-security-systems-smart-coffee-makers-495864.shtml

34. November 6, Softpedia – (International) Ransomware found targeting Linux servers and coding repositories. Researcher from Russian-based antivirus maker Dr. Web discovered a new ransomware that targets Linux Web servers and attacks Web development environments used to host Web sites or code via a downloaded file containing the public RSA key used to store AES keys that add .encrypt extension to each file, as well as a ransom text message where it encrypts data. The ransomware was detected as Linux.Encoder.1 and uses the PolarSSL library. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/ransomware-found-targetting-linux-servers-and-coding-repositories-495836.shtml

Communications Sector

35. November 9, Outer Banks Voice – (North Carolina) Fiber optic cable cut caused overnight AT&T outage. AT&T officials reported that a fiber optic cable was cut November 8 causing an overnight outage for wireless customers on the Outer Banks and across much of northeastern North Carolina. Technicians repaired the damage and restored service November 9.Source: http://outerbanksvoice.com/2015/11/09/update-fiber-optic-cable-cut-caused-overnight-att-outage/