Complete DHS Report for
November 20, 2015
Daily Report
Top Stories
• The governor of
Washington declared a state of emergency November 18 after heavy rain storms
November 17 killed 3 people, cut power to more than 350,000 homes, and caused
flooding in the Northwest. – Associated Press
1. November
19, Associated Press – (National) Governor declares state of emergency after
Northwest storm. The governor of Washington declared a state of emergency
November 18 following heavy rain and a strong storm November 17 that killed 3
people, cut power to more than 350,000 homes, and caused rivers to flood in the
Northwest. Schools remained closed November 19 and utility crews worked to
restore power to over 72,000 customers that remained without service. Source: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/governor-declares-state-of-emergency-after-northwest-storm/ar-BBnbWy9
• Wisconsin
officials reported November 18 that 228 captive white-tailed deer at an Eau
Claire County farm were euthanized after 26 deer were tested positive for
chronic wasting disease. – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
10. November
18, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – (Wisconsin) State kills 228
deer at game farm after CWD found. Wisconsin officials reported November 18
that 228 captive white-tailed deer at an Eau Claire County farm were euthanized
after 26 deer were tested positive for chronic wasting disease. No wild deer
was found with the disease and State officials are closely monitoring the farm
for further infection. Source:
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/outdoors/state-kills-228-deer-at-game-farm-after-cwd-found-b99619273z1-351548311.html
• The Washington
College in Maryland reported that campus will remain closed until November 29
and classes will be cancelled until November 30 due to a warrant that was
issued for a student believed to be armed with a gun. – WBAL 11 Baltimore
13. November
19, WBAL 11 Baltimore – (Maryland) Washington College to remain
closed until Nov. 29 after gun threat. The president of Washington College
in Maryland announced November 19 that the school will remain closed until
November 29 and classes will be cancelled through November 30 due to an ongoing
investigation following a warrant that was issued for a student believed to be
armed with a gun. Source:
http://www.wbaltv.com/news/washington-college-cancels-classes-over-gun-threat-involving-student/36495314
• The Georgia
Secretary of State announced November 18 that about 6.2 million registered
voters may have had their Social Security numbers and personal information
illegally disclosed October 13 after the secretary’s office inadvertently sent
the information to 12 organizations. – Atlanta Journal-Constitution
15. November
18, Atlanta Journal-Constitution – (Georgia) Data breach in
Georgia could affect 6 million voters. The Georgia Secretary of State
announced November 18 that approximately 6.2 million registered voters may have
had their Social Security numbers and personal identifying information
illegally disclosed October 13 after the secretary’s office inadvertently sent
the information to 12 organizations who subscribe to voter lists maintained by
the State. An investigation into the incident is ongoing. Source: http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/data-breach-in-georgia-could-affect-6-million-vote/npQj8/
Financial Services Sector
3. November
19, Bergen County Record – (New Jersey; Pennsylvania) 9 arrested, 11
at large in North Jersey crackdown on fraud, ID theft. New Jersey officials
reported that 9 suspects were arrested November 16 and 11 others were
identified and remain at large in connection to an alleged identity theft and
fraud ring that a Liberian national and business owner reportedly orchestrated
in order to steal over $100,000 from victims’ bank accounts by changing the
victims’ mailing addresses, opening bank accounts, and using counterfeit checks
to make illegal withdrawals from their accounts, in addition to applying for
fraudulent loans in the victims’ names. Source: http://www.northjersey.com/news/9-arrested-11-at-large-in-north-jersey-crackdown-on-fraud-id-theft-1.1457999
Information Technology Sector
16. November
19, Securityweek – (International) Microsoft blocks unauthorized code injection
in Edge. Microsoft released several improvements to its Edge Software with
the introduction of EdgeHTML 13 that adds a security feature to block
dynamic-link library (DLL) injections into the browser process and only allow
components signed by Microsoft and Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL)
signed-device drivers to load. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/microsoft-blocks-unauthorized-code-injection-edge
17. November
19, Softpedia – (International) 15-year-old Brit charged with DDoS attacks,
bomb threats. British police arrested and charged a 15-year-old teenager
November 16 for violating the Computer Misuse Act and Criminal Law Act after he
launched a series of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks from his home
targeting companies and servers in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America, as
well as delivering several bomb threats against North American airlines via
social media platforms. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/15-year-old-brit-charged-for-ddos-attacks-bomb-threats-496420.shtml
Communications Sector
18. November
18, Hanford Sentinel – (California) Comcast outage affects Valley web, phone, video
services. An unknown amount of Comcast customers in Fresno and surrounding
cities experienced a loss of telephone, video, and Internet services for more
than 3 hours November 18 due to a fire at the company’s technical facility in
Fresno. Source: http://hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/comcast-outage-affects-valley-web-phone-video-services/article_8ba92ac5-097a-5cc7-bf4c-9429ad9c0b51.html
For another story, see item 19 below from the Commercial
Facilities Sector
19. November
18, Los Angeles Times – (California) Owner of Glendale-based
ride-sharing company pleads guilty to multi-million dollar iPhone fraud scheme.
Federal officials reported November 18 that the owner of Glendale-based
Toro Ride, a ride-sharing company, pleaded guilty to a wire fraud scheme in
which he received more than $13 million in selling Apple’s iPhone devices by
convincing Verizon Wireless to sell him $0.99 per phone on false claims that
the phones would be used by company drivers, following false pretenses that the
company received $20 million from investors to expand nationwide. Source: http://www.latimes.com/socal/glendale-news-press/news/tn-gnp-owner-of-glendale-based-ride-sharing-company-pleads-guilty-to-multi-million-dollar-iphone-fraud-sche-20151118-story.html