Tuesday, February 2, 2016



Complete DHS Report for February 2, 2016

Daily Report                                            

Top Stories

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a ban January 29 on the import and sale of genetically engineered salmon until the FDA finalizes its labeling guidelines. – Washington Post

11. January 29, Washington Post – (National) FDA bans imports of genetically engineered salmon -- for now. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a ban January 29 on the import and sale of genetically engineered salmon after the Federal government passed a bill which instructed regulators to forbid the sale of genetically engineered salmon until the FDA finalizes labeling guidelines. Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/01/29/fda-bans-imports-of-genetically-engineered-salmon-for-now/

• Sheriff’s officials reported January 31 that all 3 inmates who escaped from the Men’s Central Jail in Orange County January 22 were back in custody after 1 turned himself in January 29 while the other 2 were arrested January 30. – Associated Press

15. January 31, Associated Press – (California) 2 remaining escapees returned to southern California jail. The Orange County Sheriff’s officials reported January 31 that all 3 inmates who escaped from the Men’s Central Jail in California January 22 were back in custody after 1 turned himself in January 29 while the other 2 were arrested January 30 after a civilian reported seeing a parked vehicle similar to the one authorities were searching for. An investigation into their escape is ongoing. Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/01/31/2-remaining-escapees-returned-to-southern-california-jail.html

• Wendy’s restaurant chain is investigating February 1 a possible data breach in their information technology (IT) networks after reports revealed that stores in the Midwest and East Coast may have had their customers’ cards illegally stolen and used in fraudulent transactions. – Softpedia

21. February 1, Softpedia – (National) Wendy’s restaurant chain is investigating data breach. Officials from Wendy’s fast food restaurant chain is investigating February 1 a possible data breach in their information technology (IT) networks after reports from the company’s financial sector revealed that stores in the Midwest and East Coast may have had their customers’ cards illegally stolen and used in fraudulent transactions outside the restaurant chain. Officials reported that they are unsure how many stores were affected.

• Denver police reported January 30 that the second day of the 38th Annual Colorado Motorcycle Expo was cancelled after two motorcycle gangs allegedly opened fire, injured seven people, and killed one other. – Denver Post

24. January 30, Denver Post – (Colorado) Denver cancels second day of motorcycle expo after shooting kills one. The Denver Police Department reported January 30 that the second day of the 38th Annual Colorado Motorcycle Expo was cancelled due to safety concerns after two motorcycle gangs allegedly shot four people, injured two people, and killed one other at the conference. Officials believe there was more than one shooter and are investigating the incident. Source: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29453858/shootings-stabbings-reported-at-denver-coliseum


Financial Services Sector

3. January 31, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – (National) Barclays, Credit Suisse charged with dark pool violations. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced January 31 that Barclays Capital Inc., and Credit Suisse Securities LLC agreed to pay a combined $154.3 million to settle separate charges that the companies violated Federal securities laws while operating alternative trading systems known as dark pools and Credit Suisse’s Light Pool after Barclays Capital Inc., misrepresented its efforts to police its dark pool, overrode its surveillance tool, and misled its subscribers about data feeds. Officials stated that Credit Suisse LLC failed to operate as advertised and did not comply with numerous regulatory requirements.

4. January 29, U.S. Department of Justice – (International) Founder of Liberty Reserve pleads guilty to laundering more than $250 million through his digital currency business. The founder of Liberty Reserve pleaded guilty January 29 to 1 count of conspiracy to commit money laundering after he laundered more than $250 million through his underworld cyber-banking system which allowed over 5 million users to conduct anonymous and untraceable illegal transactions, and to distribute, store, and launder the proceeds of their crimes. In addition, charges against two co-conspirators and the company remain pending. Source: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/founder-liberty-reserve-pleads-guilty-laundering-more-250-million-through-his-digital

Information Technology Sector

17. February 1, SecurityWeek – (International) New Cross-Platform backdoors target Linux, Windows. Security researchers from Kaspersky Lab reported that the Linux backdoor dubbed OLMyJuxM.exe was recently found infecting Window-based systems with new capabilities similar to the 32-bit Windows variant of the DropboxCache and uses the same filename templates to steal screenshots, audiocaptures, keylogs, and other arbitrary data by using the SetWindowsHook API for keylogger functionality to contact the command and control (C&C) server for commands, and sends a heartbeat signal via Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) similar to the Linux variant. Users were advised to have an anti-virus program enabled on their systems, to avoid opening emails from unknown sources, and to avoid installing applications from untrusted sources.

18. January 31, Softpedia – (International) OS X Security Compromised via the update process of many popular Mac apps. Sparkle released version 0.13.1 that patched a flaw in its Sparkle Updater framework, used to disseminate app updates to Apple Mac users after a security researcher discovered that all the updated information was sent out in Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which can allow an attacker to set up a Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack by intercepting update requests from the Appcast server and modifying the update message Extensible Markup Language (XML) request to add their own malicious code. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/os-x-security-compromised-via-the-update-process-of-many-popular-mac-apps-499666.shtml

19. January 30, Softpedia – (International) iOS app hot patching reveals a gaping security hole in Apple’s Walled Garden. Security researchers from FireEye discovered a process flaw in how Apple’s iOS developers patch their applications using the JSPatch library after researchers found they could deliver malicious instructions to test application, such as loading sensitive local iOS application program interfaces (APIs) and using them to access personal information, which was an unapproved function. The JSPatch engine translates the JavaScript code into Objective-C, which can allow any type of iOS exploit to be executed. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/ios-app-hot-patching-reveals-a-gaping-security-hole-in-apple-s-walled-garden-499654.shtml

20. January 29, SecurityWeek – (International) Firefox warns of password requests over HTTP. Firefox released updates to its Mozilla browser, starting with Firefox DevEdition 46 that warned users when passwords were requested over non-secure connections and advised users to only provide passwords on secure connections such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) after a security researcher discovered the non-secure Web sites could be manipulated by a Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacker. The new Mozilla feature will check each web page against the algorithm in the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Secure Contexts Specification to determine whether the page is secure or not, and will warn security developers if the page is not secure.

Communications Sector

Nothing to report