Complete DHS Report for June 16, 2016
Daily Report
Top Stories
• Georgia Power announced June 13 that it will spend up to $2
billion closing 29 of its toxic coal ash ponds across the State within 3 years
to keep lead, arsenic, and other heavy metals in the ash from the groundwater.
– Atlanta Journal-Constitution
3. June 13,
Atlanta Journal-Constitution – (Georgia) Georgia Power to
close ash lagoons sooner, could cost $2 billion. Georgia Power announced
June 13 that it will spend up to $2 billion closing 29 of its toxic coal ash
ponds across the State within 3 years. The company stated that ash from 16 of
the ponds will be completely removed, added to other ponds and landfills, or
recycled while the remaining 13 ponds will be closed in place with concrete
barriers and other preventative measures to keep lead, arsenic, and other heavy
metals in the ash from the groundwater. Source: http://www.ajc.com/news/business/georgia-power-to-close-ash-lagoons-sooner-could-co/nrfsc/
• A 3-alarm fire June 14 at a warehouse serving Gemini Plastic
Enterprises Inc., in Maywood caused a series of strong explosions, knocked out
power to more than 3,100 residents, and forced about 300 workers and area
residents to be evacuated from their homes until at least June 15. – Southern
California City News Service
5. June 14,
Southern California City News Service – (California) 300 evacuated
after ‘fireballs’ explode in giant Maywood blaze. A 3-alarm fire June 14 at
a warehouse serving Gemini Plastic Enterprises Inc., in Maywood, California
caused a series of strong explosions, knocked out power to more than 3,100
Southern California Edison customers, and forced about 300 workers and area residents
to be evacuated from their homes until at least June 15 while HAZMAT crews
worked to clear the scene. Officials from the South Coast Air Quality
Management District issued a smoke advisory for the region and authorities
worked to assess the air quality as the building housed metals, chemicals, and
propane. Source: http://mynewsla.com/crime/2016/06/14/fireballs-explode-in-massive-3-alarm-fire-at-plastics-warehouse-200-evacuated/
• A June 14 fire at the Briar Pointe Apartments in Wharton damaged
55 apartment units, displaced 81 residents, and prompted 75 firefighters to
remain on site for about 6 hours. – KTRK 13 Houston
24. June 15,
KTRK 13 Houston – (Texas) 55 units damaged during massive Wharton apartment
fire. A June 14 fire at the Briar Pointe Apartments in Wharton damaged 55
apartment units, displaced 81 residents, prompted 75 firefighters to remain on
site for about 6 hours containing the incident. Ten firefighters were injured
and officials were investigating the cause of the fire. Source: http://abc13.com/news/55-units-damaged-during-massive-wharton-apartment-fire/1386295/
• Disney officials reported June 15 that all of its resort beaches
were closed out of an abundance of caution after an alligator attacked and
dragged a boy into a lagoon outside the Grand Floridian hotel June 14. – CNN
25. June 15,
CNN – (Florida) Disney gator attack: 2-year-old believed dead as
rescue turns to recovery. Disney officials reported that all its resort
beaches were closed out of an abundance of caution June 15 after an alligator
attacked and dragged a boy into a lagoon outside the Grand Floridian hotel June
14. Authorities were searching to find the missing boy. Source: http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/15/us/alligator-attacks-child-disney-florida/index.html
Financial Services Sector
8. June 14,
WJLA 7 Washington, D.C. – (Virginia) Serial bank robber ‘The Forever
Loyal Bandit’ arrested in Virginia, police say. The “Forever Loyal Bandit”
was arrested June 14 in Fairfax County, Virginia, after he allegedly committed
six bank robberies and one attempted robbery in Fairfax and Arlington counties
since June 2014. Source: http://wjla.com/news/crime/serial-bank-robber-the-forever-loyal-bandit-arrested-in-virginia-police-say
Information Technology Sector
19. June 15,
Softpedia – (International) Hacker steals 45 million records from 1,100
home, sports and tech support forums. VerticalScope.com reported that its
system was compromised in February after a hacker stole over 45 million user
records from its database which contained details from over 1,100 tech, home,
and sport support portals. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/hacker-steals-45-million-records-from-1-100-home-sports-and-tech-support-forums-505253.shtml
20. June 15,
SecurityWeek – (International) APT group uses Flash zero-day to attack
high-profile targets. Security researchers from Kaspersky Lab reported that
a new advanced persistent threat (APT) group dubbed, “ScarCruft” was using a
Flash Player zero-day vulnerability and Microsoft XML Core Services (MSXML)
vulnerability to target high-profile people through a campaign dubbed
“Operation Daybreak” and “Operation Erebus.” Kaspersky stated they will release
more details on the campaigns after Adobe releases a patch. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/apt-group-uses-flash-zero-day-attack-high-profile-targets
21. June 15,
The Register – (International) SAP patch batch includes fix for 3-year-old
info disclosure vuln. SAP released patches for its Business Intelligence
and Business Warehouse products, which addressed a three-year-old flaw and more
than 20 vulnerabilities including a directory traversal vulnerability that can
be exploited to access any file on the operating system (OS) and obtain
critical data about the company’s finances. Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06/15/sap_patch_batch_fixes_3_yr_old_vuln/
22. June 14,
SecurityWeek – (International) Microsoft patches critical flaws in Windows,
Edge, Office. Microsoft released 16 security bulletins which patched about
40 vulnerabilities in its Windows, Edge, Internet Explorer, Office, and
Exchange Server products after security researchers found a remote attacker
could exploit a use-after-free vulnerability for arbitrary code execution by
sending a specially crafted request to the targeted Doman Name System (DNS)
server. Other patched vulnerabilities included privilege escalation flaws,
remote code execution (RCE) flaws, and a denial-of-service (DoS) flaw, among
others. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/microsoft-patches-critical-flaws-windows-edge-office
23. June 14,
Softpedia – (International) Flash security patch coming in two days to
fix zero-day used in live attacks. Adobe announced that they will release
an emergency patch June 16 that will fix a zero-day vulnerability affecting all
Flash Player installations after security researchers from Kaspersky found the
flaw was used in targeted attacks and exploited in the wild. An attacker could
exploit the flaw to crash a Flash Player installation, enabling a hacker to run
malicious code on the user’s system and control the machine. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/flash-security-patch-coming-in-two-days-to-fix-zero-day-used-in-live-attacks-505243.shtml
Communications Sector
Nothing to report