Complete DHS Report for December 21, 2016
Daily Report
Top Stories
• A Chinese national pleaded guilty December 19 to stealing and
exploiting highly sensitive military technology and documents, and transporting
the majority of the stolen information to China from 2013 – 2014. – U.S.
Department of Justice
3. December 19, U.S.
Department of Justice – (Connecticut) Chinese national admits to
stealing sensitive military program documents from United Technologies. A
Chinese national pleaded guilty December 19 to stealing and exploiting highly
sensitive military technology and documents from United Technologies
Corporation’s United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) and transporting the
majority of the stolen information to China from 2013 – 2014. The defendant
admitted his intent to advance China’s defense industry, and beginning in 2013,
expressed his intent to individuals outside UTRC to return to China to work on
research projects at select Chinese State-run universities using knowledge and
materials he had acquired during his UTRC employment.
• Bliss, Idaho officials worked to clean up roughly 6,000 gallons
of raw sewage that spilled over a lagoon dike edge December 17. – KMVT 11
Twin Falls/KSVT 14 Twin Falls
12. December 17, Los
Angeles Times – (California) Orange County children’s dental clinic
closed after bacteria found in new water system. Health officials in Orange
County, California, ordered the closure of the Children’s Dental Group of
Anaheim December 15 after lab tests revealed the presence of Mycobacterium in
the dental clinic’s new internal water system, which was replaced following a
previous outbreak of oral infections. The county has recorded 58 reports of
infections at the clinic. Source: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-anaheim-dental-office-20161217-story.html
• Los Angeles County officials announced December 19 it is
notifying about 756,000 people that their personal information may have been
compromised after 108 county employees were victims of a phishing email scam in
May 2016. – SecurityWeek
14. December 19,
SecurityWeek – (California) Los Angeles County notifies 756,000 of data
breach. Los Angeles County officials announced December 19 it is notifying
about 756,000 people that their personal information including Social Security
numbers, names, and dates of birth, among other sensitive information, may have
been compromised after 108 county employees were victims of a phishing email
scam in May 2016. Officials reported a Nigerian national was charged in
connection with the incident. Source:
http://www.securityweek.com/los-angeles-county-notifies-756000-data-breach
• Kaspersky Lab researchers
warned that a spear phishing campaign has targeted roughly 500 organizations in
the smelting, power generation and transmission, construction, and engineering
industries across 50 countries since August 2016. – SecurityWeek See
item 20 below in the Information
Technology Sector
Financial Services Sector
4. December 19, Arizona
Republic – (Arizona) FBI seeks leads on ‘Blues Bandit’ bank robber who
struck in Phoenix, Glendale. The FBI is searching December 19 for a man
dubbed the “Blues Bandit” who is suspected of robbing 3 Desert Schools Federal
Credit Union locations inside Walmart stores in Phoenix and Glendale, Arizona,
between October and December 2016. Source: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2016/12/19/fbi-seeks-leads-blues-bandit-bank-robber-who-struck-phoenix-glendale/95612948/
Information Technology Sector
20. December 19, SecurityWeek
– (International) Spear phishing attacks target industrial firms. Kaspersky
Lab researchers warned that a spear phishing campaign has targeted roughly 500
organizations in the smelting, power generation and transmission, construction,
and engineering industries across 50 countries since August 2016 in order to
spy on users and steal sensitive data. The phishing emails contain a subject
line with text used in a company’s correspondence in order to trick the victim
into opening the malicious Rich Text Format (RTF) file attached, which
downloads a malware that can diminish the ability of antivirus products. Source:
http://www.securityweek.com/spear-phishing-attacks-target-industrial-firms-kaspersky-lab-ics-cert
21. December 19,
SecurityWeek – (International) Brute force attacks on WordPress Websites
soar. WordPress security firm Wordfence warned that the number of brute
force attacks targeting WordPress Websites have increased to more than 700,000
attacks per day since November 24, and the number of unique attack Internet
Protocols (IPs) has increased from an average of about 13,000 per day in the
period between October 16 and November 24 to over 30,000 per day. The firm
reported it has blocked up to 23 million brute force attack attempts per day.
For another story, see item 14
above in Top Stories
Communications Sector
Nothing to report