Friday, December 4, 2015



Complete DHS Report for December 4, 2015

Daily Report                                            

Top Stories

• Southern California Gas Co. announced December 1 that it will plug an underground leak of natural gas that has been discharging into the air in Aliso Canyon near Los Angeles since mid-October due to a broken injection-well pipe. – Reuters

2. December 1, Reuters – (California) Utility steps up efforts to plug massive California methane leak. Southern California Gas Co. announced December 1 that it will plug an underground leak of natural gas that has been discharging into the air in Aliso Canyon near Los Angeles since mid-October, which is believed to be due to a broken injection-well pipe. The project is estimated to take at least 3 months, and will address the estimated release of the methane gas at the rate of 50,000 kilograms per hour. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/12/02/us-california-methane-idUSKBN0TL06120151202

• Starbucks Corp. officials reported the week of November 23 that its holiday turkey panini sandwiches would be pulled from 1,347 of its stores in 3 States due to E. coli contamination found in a celery-and-onion blend. – Bloomberg News

10. December 1, Bloomberg News – (National) Starbucks pulls turkey sandwiches from west coast stores after E. coli scare. Officials from Starbucks Corp. reported the week of November 23 that its holiday turkey panini sandwiches would be pulled from 1,347 of its stores in 3 States after it was discovered that the products may be contaminated by E. coli bacteria due to a celery-and-onion blend in the product produced by California-based Taylor Farms Pacific Inc. Consumption of the product sickened 19 people in 7 States since November 2015. Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-01/starbucks-pulls-sandwich-from-u-s-west-stores-on-e-coli-scare

• Officials are investigating the motive behind a fatal shooting that occurred at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino December 2 after a married couple opened fire, killing 14 people and injuring 21 others. – New York Times

20. December 3, New York Times – (California) F.B.I treats San Bernardino attack as possible terrorism case. Officials continue to investigate the motive behind a fatal shooting that occurred at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino December 2 after a married couple armed with 2 assault rifles, 2 semiautomatic handguns, and tactical gear opened fire and killed 14 people and injured 21 others before fleeing the scene. Police chased the suspects in a van and engaged in open fire once the suspects began shooting, resulting in the deaths of both suspects.

• Minneapolis-based Target Corp. agreed December 2 to pay banks, credit unions, and MasterCard Inc. card issuers $39.4 million to settle class-action claims for additional costs associated with a 2013 data breach. – Reuters

22. December 2, Reuters – (National) Target in $39.4 million settlement with banks over data breach. Minneapolis-based Target Corp. agreed December 2 to pay banks, credit unions, and MasterCard Inc. card issuers $39.4 million to settle class-action claims by lenders seeking to hold the company liable for costs to reimburse fraudulent charges and to issue new credit and debit cards following a 2013 data breach that compromised 40 million credit cards and lost the information of 70 million people. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/12/03/us-target-breach-settlement-idUSKBN0TL20Y20151203

Financial Services Sector

5. December 2, Westfield Patch – (New Jersey) Union County man arrested in $6 million mortgage fraud scheme. An Elizabeth man pleaded guilty in Federal court December 2 for orchestrating a $6 million mortgage fraud scheme across northern New Jersey from March 2011 to November 2012 that ultimately defrauded the U.S. Federal Housing Administration of more than $2 million. The man reportedly was able to obtain mortgages with fraudulently produced loan documents, bank account certifications, and appraisal reports, in addition to recruiting straw buyers. Source: http://patch.com/new-jersey/westfield/union-county-man-arrested-6-million-mortgage-fraud-scheme-0

Information Technology Sector

19. December 2, IDG News Service – (International) Cisco patches permission hijacking issue in WebEx Meetings app for Android. Cisco released patches for an authentication flaw found in its WebEx Meetings application, affecting all older versions of the application before version 8.5.1 that allowed attackers to trick users to download a rogue application to their Android devices, which enabled hackers to infiltrate its permissions settings and gain access to the device. Cisco advised customers to download newer versions of its application starting with version 8.5.1. Source: http://www.computerworld.com/article/3011397/security/cisco-patches-permission-hijacking-issue-in-webex-meetings-app-for-android.html#tk.rss_security

Communications Sector

Nothing to report