Monday, November 3, 2008
Complete DHS Daily Report for November 3, 2008
Daily Report
Headlines
According to the Associated Press, the European Union has agreed to meet U.S. standards for air cargo screening for half of the cargo on U.S.-bound passenger flights by February and all cargo on all flights by 2010. (See item 13)
13. October 30, Associated Press – (International) U.S., EU agree on air cargo screening. The European Union (EU) has agreed to meet U.S. standards for air cargo screening for half of the cargo on U.S.-bound passenger flights by February and all cargo on all flights by 2010. This fulfills an important recommendation intended to lower the threat of terrorists shipping dangerous items on commercial passenger flights. The agreement, long in the works, establishes consistent screening requirements for air cargo between the U.S. and the EU. For instance, the EU and the U.S. will use the same screening equipment, provide the same training to screeners and impose the same security requirements for the facilities where the cargo is screened. There are about 300 flights a day from EU countries to the U.S. Currently, 95 percent of flights within the U.S. and departing from the U.S. undergo cargo screening. For security reasons, officials would not say what percentage of EU flights are currently screened. Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j50X92W5lDhP-j1lxqjitZe0xCfAD94555JG1
eWeek reports that Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, and Dell are recalling as many as 100,000 laptops worldwide that used faulty Sony-made lithium-ion battery packs. In the United States, this could impact about 35,000 notebooks that were sold between 2004 and 2006. (See item 33)
See item 33 in the Information Technology section below.
Details
Banking and Finance Sector
9. October 31, Boise 2 News – (National) DBSI accused of investment fraud, facing suit. DBSI, one of the nation’s leading real-estate investment companies based near Boise, Idaho, is accused of investment, and bank fraud and violating the Idaho Securities Act, in a $2 billion class action lawsuit. Court documents claim, since 2003, DBSI has acquired 250 commercial properties in the U.S., worth more than $2 billion dollars. The company allegedly sought 12,000 investors around the world. The suit claims DBSI made an illegal profit in excess of $500 million dollars. An attorney for one of the plaintiffs says DBSI skirted securities laws requiring the disclosure of investment information that would have leveled the playing field for the average investor. There are 17 defendants named in the suit including three members of DBSI’s executive team. Source: http://www.2news.tv/news/33620874.html
Information Technology
33. October 30, eWeek – (International) Sony, HP, Dell, Toshiba recall thousands of faulty lithium-ion laptop batteries. Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba and Dell are recalling as many as 100,000 laptops worldwide that used faulty Sony-made lithium-ion battery packs. In the United States, this could impact about 35,000 notebooks that were sold between 2004 and 2006. So far, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said there have been 19 incidents of overheating and two reported injuries. All together, the three notebook vendors and Sony are recalling about 100,000 notebook battery packs worldwide. To date, there have been 19 separate incidents of batteries overheating, according to the CPSC. Of those 19 incidents, 17 involved fire and flames, and 10 consumers also reported some minor property damage. At least two people suffered minor burns after the batteries caught on fire, according to the CPSC. Source: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Sony-Notebook-Vendors-Recall-Thousands-of-Faulty-LithiumIon-Notebook-Batteries/
34. October 30, Dark Reading – (International) New phishing attacks target legitimate web domain owners. A new brand of phishing attack now under way and aimed at legitimate Web site domain owners could be the result of efforts to shut down a notorious domain registrar popular among spammers and malware writers, security experts say. The phishing emails, pretending to be from legitimate registrars eNom and Network Solutions Inc., attempt to fool domain name owners into giving up their account credentials. The eNom phishing email claims that eNom will be conducting database and data center maintenance, while the fake Network Solutions message says the customer needs to renew his or her expired domain registration. Security experts say the timing of this phishing attack, complete with slick and authentic-looking messages and phony Web pages, is unlikely a coincidence. Source: http://www.darkreading.com/security/attacks/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=211800362
35. October 30, SC Magazine – (International) Source of rogue malware tracked down. Cybercriminals have unleashed a blizzard of rogue anti-virus software to plunder naive users. A director of malware research at SecureWorks, said one leading set of fake AV programs is Antivirus XP 2008 and its more recent edition, Antivirus XP 2009. Both are rogue AV programs put out by Russian company Bakasoftware and sold to English-speaking computer users. The director discovered that top earners are likely making up to $5 million a year by controlling large botnets of infected computers and siphoning money into their own accounts, he told SCMagazineUS.com on October 30. Antivirus XP 2008 is the most prevalent rogue antivirus program right now, the director said. The director said he hopes his findings illustrate that users have to be suspicious of things popping up unexpectedly, which would indicate fake anti-virus software. Source: http://www.scmagazineus.com/Source-of-rogue-malware-tracked-down/article/120204/
Communications Sector
36. October 30, Bowling Green Daily News – (Indiana; Kentucky; Tennessee) Cut fiber optic line leads to phone outage in area. Several Bowling Green businesses experienced a phone outage Wednesday morning as a result of a cut fiber optic line in the provider’s main system. About 10,000 Norlight Inc. customers in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana were without service for hours after a construction crew cut a line near the company’s headquarters in Evansville, Indiana. The general manager of Norlight said he did not know the number of people affected in Bowling Green or Kentucky, but that Norlight was not the only company affected. Several carriers were struck by the cut line, which resulted in lost internet, cell phone and cable service, as well as land lines. In some areas, 911 emergency service also was lost. Source: http://bgdailynews.com/articles/2008/10/30/news/news7.txt
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