Monday, February 8, 2016



Complete DHS Report for February 8, 2016

Daily Report                                            

Top Stories

• Fiat Chrysler Automobiles issued a voluntary recall February 3 for 441,578 of its Dodge Charger sedans sold in the U.S. due to a wheel chock defect that could cause the vehicle to fall off a tire jack when changing wheels. – USA Today

2. February 3, USA Today – (International) Fiat Chrysler recalls half a million Dodge Chargers. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles issued a voluntary recall February 3 for 441,578 of its model years 2011 – 2016 Dodge Charger sedans sold in the U.S. after 3 major injuries occurred as a result of a wheel chock defect that could cause the vehicle to fall off a tire jack when changing wheels. The recall also affects 63,145 vehicles sold in Canada, Mexico, and outside of North America. Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2016/02/03/fiat-chrysler-recall-wheel-chocks/79749968/

• Federal and State officials in New York announced February 4 that Bank Julius Baer & Co., Ltd. will pay $547 million to settle charges for evading Federal income tax obligations, filing false tax returns, and cheating the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from 1990 – 2009. – U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York See item 5 below in the Financial Services Sector

• The chief executive officer (CEO) of the Union County General Hospital in Blairsville and five other suspects were arrested February 4 for allegedly participating in a prescription drug ring. – Atlanta Journal-Constitution

15. February 4, Atlanta Journal-Constitution – (Georgia; North Carolina) GA hospital CEO, 5 suspects arrested in prescription drug bust. The chief executive officer (CEO) of the Union County General Hospital in Blairsville and five other suspects were arrested February 4 for allegedly participating in a prescription drug ring. One of the suspects, a physician from Union County, is accused of reportedly writing more than 15,000 fraudulent prescriptions for painkillers for the CEO over a 3-year period. Source: http://news.blog.ajc.com/2016/02/04/ga-hospital-ceo-5-suspects-arrested-in-prescription-drug-bust/

• The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced February 4 that operations resumed after its processing systems were brought back online following a system outage February 3. – Reuters

19. February 4, Reuters – (National) IRS resumes processing tax returns Thursday after system outage. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced February 4 that operations resumed after its processing systems were brought back online following a system outage February 3. An investigation is ongoing into the cause of the outage, which is believed to be attributed to a hardware failure. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-irs-computers-idUSKCN0VD312

Financial Services Sector

3. February 5, Capital Gazette – (Maryland) Gambrills women indicted for alleged roles in ‘Felony Lane Gang’ bank fraud. The U.S. Attorney’s Office reported that two Gambrills, Florida women and 13 other accomplices were indicted February 4 for stealing more than $1 million after breaking into vehicles parked at Maryland recreation areas, sports fields, gyms, and fitness centers and using the victim’s checks, credit cards, and IDs to make fraudulent financial transactions. The culprits obtained money from more than a dozen financial institutes by using the victims’ identities to withdraw large amounts of funds. Source: http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/for_the_record/ph-ac-cn-bank-fraud-gambrills-0205-20160205-story.html

4. February 4, New York Daily News – (National) Father and son who ran $11M vending machine scam found guilty of fraud. Two men were found guilty February 3 in Manhattan Federal Court for bilking $11 million from 1,300 investors nationwide between January 2005 and December 2011 by falsely promising investors that they would receive windfalls from vending machine business opportunities, and access to established, high-end profit locations if the investors purchased packages of 5 or 10 vending machines. Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/father-son-sentenced-prison-vending-machine-scam-article-1.2520924

5. February 4, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York – (International) Manhattan U.S. attorney announces criminal charges against Bank Julius Baer of Switzerland with deferred prosecution agreement requiring payment of $547 million, as well as guilty pleas of two Julius Baer bankers. Federal and State officials in New York announced February 4 that Switzerland-based Bank Julius Baer & Co., Ltd. will pay $547 million to settle charges that the bank helped U.S. taxpayers and others hide billions in offshore accounts, evade Federal income tax obligations, file false tax returns, and cheat the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) between 1990 – 2009. Two former client advisers at the bank pleaded guilty to helping several U.S. clients evade U.S taxes. Source: http://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-us-attorney-announces-criminal-charges-against-bank-julius-baer-switzerland

6. February 4, KHON 2 Honolulu – (Hawaii) Man accused of fake credit card spree charged, real identity revealed. A California man was arrested and charged February 3 after he allegedly bought $300,000 worth of merchandise using a fake credit card in Ala Moana and Waikiki, Hawaii. Source: http://khon2.com/2016/02/04/man-accused-of-fake-credit-card-spree-charged-real-identity-revealed/

For another story, see item 19 above in Top Stories

Information Technology Sector

20. February 5, SecurityWeek – (International) Avast patches vulnerability in SafeZone Tool. A researcher from Google discovered a vulnerability in Avast’s SafeZone tool, also known as Avastium, that allowed attackers to gain additional privileges and conduct various actions on the system by convincing a victim to visit a malicious Uniform Resource Locator (URL). The vulnerability was exploited due to Avast’s low security check which allowed any URL to pass through without any restrictions. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/avast-patches-vulnerability-safezone-tool

21. February 4, SecurityWeek – (International) Dell adds BIOS verification technology to business PCs. Dell released a new enterprise endpoint security solution, the post-boot BIOS verification technology integrated with its Data Protection Endpoint Security Suite Enterprise that will help detect against BIOS-specific attacks or compromised systems by using a secure cloud platform to test individual BIOS images against official images held by Dell. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/dell-adds-bios-verification-technology-business-pcs

22. February 4, SecurityWeek – (International) Exploits released for unpatched flaws in Netgear Management System. An information security researcher discovered flaws in Netgear’s ProSAFE NMS300 network management system that can allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to upload an arbitrary file to the system by sending a specially crafted POST request to one of two Java servlets found in the default NMS300 installations, as well as conduct a directory traversal attack that can allow a hacker to download any file from the system, among other flaws. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/exploits-released-unpatched-flaws-netgear-management-system

Communications Sector
 
23. February 4, Olympia Olympian – (Washington) CenturyLink: Work to remedy weeklong ‘disruptions’ in Olympia and Tumwater nearly done. CenturyLink officials announced February 4 that internet and phone services should be restored to most customers in Tumwater by February 5 after inclement weather flooded old underground cables, causing power outages January 29.