Department of Homeland Security Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Complete DHS Daily Report for December 3, 2009

Daily Report

Top Stories

 According to Reuters, the failure of a river water supply line and flooding at the Susquehanna nuclear power station in Columbia County, Pennsylvania forced owner PPL Corp to reduce power to one reactor on Tuesday. (See item 5)


5. December 2, Reuters – (Pennsylvania) Susquehanna 3rd reactor in Pa to report incident. The failure of a river water supply line and flooding at the Susquehanna nuclear power station in Pennsylvania forced owner PPL Corp to reduce power to one reactor on Tuesday, the company told the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Power at the 1,140-megawatt Unit 2 was lowered to 79 percent, from about 94 percent. A plant spokesman could not say when the plant would return to full power due to competitive reasons. The company was still assessing the problem at the plant, located in Berwick in Columbia County. The incident involved the failure of the supply line bringing river water to the Unit 2 cooling tower, causing the valve vault to flood and overflow at several thousands of gallons per minute. The vault is about 12 feet deep and 12 feet across. The plant was still pumping water from the river to the vault and then pumping the water from the vault to the cooling tower, the spokesman said. PPL called the local fire company to provide equipment to help pump out the vault. The river water overflowing the vault entered nearby storm drains and a nearby building housing nonsafety-related equipment. The water entering the sewer did not constitute a reportable spill. The company reduced Unit 2 to minimize the impact to the cooling tower. The failure of the supply line had an insignificant impact to the environment because radiological levels were less than lower-limit detection, but noted the flooding was likely to cause heightened public and government concern, the company said. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNews/idUSN0254897320091202?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0


 Bloomberg reports that air passengers may be at risk of terrorist attacks because of air-cargo screening flaws, according to a report released by the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general on Monday. Thirty percent of 6,767 cargo inspections by the Transportation Security Administration found security violations in the three quarters ended in June 2008. (See item 21)


22. November 30, Aviation Week – (National) FAA bans all polished-frost takeoffs. Starting January 30, 2010, all aircraft contaminated with “polished” (smooth) frost on wings, as well as on stabilizing and control surfaces will be prohibited from takeoff, according to the FAA final rule published on November 30. Majors and regionals are already prohibited from operating aircraft contaminated with polished frost. FAA’s final rule removes language in Parts 91 (subpart F), 125 and 135, which allowed operators to take off with frost that was polished to make it smooth — and requires operators to remove any frost adhering to critical surfaces before takeoff. The final rule also restructures language in parts 91, 125 and 135 to clarify that aircraft must have functioning deicing or anti-icing equipment to fly IFR into known or forecast light or moderate icing — or under VFR conditions into known light or moderate icing conditions. Previous FAA guidance recommended removal of all wing frost prior to takeoff, but allowed frost to be polished smooth if the operator followed the manufacturer’s procedures. However, aircraft makers have never published standards of acceptable smoothness, nor is there supportive data to determine how to polish frost to a satisfactory smoothness, according to FAA. The agency makes four recommendations for operators to use to comply with the rule: using wing covers to prevent frost accumulation — which is the least costly method; waiting for frost to melt; keeping aircraft in a heated hangar, or deicing the wing surface. The changes will affect 57 operators and 188 aircraft. Assuming operators would choose using wing covers, FAA estimates the cost of compliance to operators in the 2009-2018 period at

aboout $164,000. Total benefits in the same 10-year period are projected at $980,000. Source: http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/FROST113009.xml&headline=FAA Bans All Polished-Frost Takeoffs&channel=comm


Details

Banking and Finance Sector

11. December 2, Bloomberg – (National) U.S. SEC subpoenas more companies in insider probe, WSJ says. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sent at least 36 subpoenas to financial companies in a broadening investigation of potential insider-trading violations that includes Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. Some of the subpoenas are related to mergers in the health- care and retail industries over the past three years, including Sears Holdings Corp.’s failed attempt to buy Restoration Hardware in 2007, the newspaper said. The SEC has become more aggressive in enforcement, including insider-trading cases, since coming under new leadership this year, the newspaper said. The regulator has also come under scrutiny in Congress, where two senators have criticized its oversight of Pequot Capital Management Inc., once the world’s biggest hedge-fund manager. Some of the subpoenas focus on investment bankers, including the role of Goldman bankers in about 12 health-care transactions since 2006, the people said, according to the report. Investigators also asked about other advisory firms, the people were cited as saying. The firms were not named in the report. In one of the subpoenas, the SEC asks hedge-fund managers and others about relationships and communications with Goldman bankers who worked on the health-care transactions, the people were cited as saying. It was not clear whether regulators had contacted Goldman in connection with the recent subpoenas or the nature of any contact, the newspaper said. Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a8WJjvtE0IjM&pos=6


12. December 1, Emmetsburg News – (Iowa) Palo Alto area banks warn of new e-mail scam. Financial institutions are warning their customers to be wary of a new e-mail scam that’s making the rounds during the busy holiday season. The scam recently came to light after many area residents reported receiving e-mails, purportedly from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC. The e-mail claims that the financial institution which the customer has opened an account with, is on a list of banks that are “failing” and that the FDIC is taking control of that institution’s assets. The e-mail then instructs the recipient to click on a link that supposedly takes the recipient to the FDIC website, when in reality, the website is actually fake. When the recipient clicks on the fake FDIC website, they are prompted to enter sensitive information, such as account numbers for checking and savings accounts, and other personal information. Authorities report that the entire e-mail is completely bogus – nothing more than a “phishing” scam – one where criminals attempt to collect personal information from people that can be used to drain bank accounts without the owner’s knowledge. Source: http://www.emmetsburgnews.com/page/content.detail/id/501981.html?nav=5001


13. November 30, Associated Press – (National) After flooding economy, Fed to mop up money. The Federal Reserve is fine-tuning a strategy to reel in some of the unprecedented amount of money that is been pumped into the economy during the financial crisis. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on December 1 that investors and others should not conclude anything about when the central bank will reverse course and start boosting interest rates and removing other supports to fend off inflation. The upcoming operations will involve so-called reverse repurchase agreements. That is when the Fed sells securities from its portfolio, with an agreement to buy them back later. Reverse repos are one tool the Fed can use to drain some money it has plowed into the economy to ease financial troubles. The operations will be “extremely small” and would not affect the Fed’s key interest rate, officials said. They would not say what the amount for the operations would total. Fed officials also said they did not know when the first operation would be conducted and how many there would be. The operations will be conducted to “to ensure operational readiness” at the Federal Reserve, the New York Fed said. They do not “represent any change in the stance of monetary policy, and no inference should be drawn about the timing of any change in the stance of monetary policy in the future,” the New York Fed said. The operations were designed to “have no material impact .... on market rates,” the Fed added. Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34210280/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/


14. January 1, Credit Union Times – (Illinois) ATM skimmers make off with $70,000 in Chicago. In Chicago, police are confirming media accounts of two ATM thieves which made off with $70,000 from a bank ATM after they attached a device to the machine to record card data and used a camera to record a card holder’s personal identification numbers as they punched them in. The bank declined to comment on the theft other than to confirm that the Secret Service had been notified as well as the police. The Secret Service did not comment. Media reports said the two were caught on surveillance cameras placing the device and then returning to collect it and use the data to make the withdrawals.

Source: http://www.cutimes.com/News/2009/12/Pages/ATM-Skimmers-Make-Off-With-70000-in-Chicago.aspx


Information Technology


11. December 2, Bloomberg – (National) U.S. SEC subpoenas more companies in insider probe, WSJ says. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sent at least 36 subpoenas to financial companies in a broadening investigation of potential insider-trading violations that includes Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. Some of the subpoenas are related to mergers in the health- care and retail industries over the past three years, including Sears Holdings Corp.’s failed attempt to buy Restoration Hardware in 2007, the newspaper said. The SEC has become more aggressive in enforcement, including insider-trading cases, since coming under new leadership this year, the newspaper said. The regulator has also come under scrutiny in Congress, where two senators have criticized its oversight of Pequot Capital Management Inc., once the world’s biggest hedge-fund manager. Some of the subpoenas focus on investment bankers, including the role of Goldman bankers in about 12 health-care transactions since 2006, the people said, according to the report. Investigators also asked about other advisory firms, the people were cited as saying. The firms were not named in the report. In one of the subpoenas, the SEC asks hedge-fund managers and others about relationships and communications with Goldman bankers who worked on the health-care transactions, the people were cited as saying. It was not clear whether regulators had contacted Goldman in connection with the recent subpoenas or the nature of any contact, the newspaper said. Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a8WJjvtE0IjM&pos=6


12. December 1, Emmetsburg News – (Iowa) Palo Alto area banks warn of new e-mail scam. Financial institutions are warning their customers to be wary of a new e-mail scam that’s making the rounds during the busy holiday season. The scam recently came to light after many area residents reported receiving e-mails, purportedly from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC. The e-mail claims that the financial institution which the customer has opened an account with, is on a list of banks that are “failing” and that the FDIC is taking control of that institution’s assets. The e-mail then instructs the recipient to click on a link that supposedly takes the recipient to the FDIC website, when in reality, the website is actually fake. When the recipient clicks on the fake FDIC website, they are prompted to enter sensitive information, such as account numbers for checking and savings accounts, and other personal information. Authorities report that the entire e-mail is completely bogus – nothing more than a “phishing” scam – one where criminals attempt to collect personal information from people that can be used to drain bank accounts without the owner’s knowledge. Source: http://www.emmetsburgnews.com/page/content.detail/id/501981.html?nav=5001


13. November 30, Associated Press – (National) After flooding economy, Fed to mop up money. The Federal Reserve is fine-tuning a strategy to reel in some of the unprecedented amount of money that is been pumped into the economy during the financial crisis. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on December 1 that investors and others should not conclude anything about when the central bank will reverse course and start boosting interest rates and removing other supports to fend off inflation. The upcoming operations will involve so-called reverse repurchase agreements. That is when the Fed sells securities from its portfolio, with an agreement to buy them back later. Reverse repos are one tool the Fed can use to drain some money it has plowed into the economy to ease financial troubles. The operations will be “extremely small” and would not affect the Fed’s key interest rate, officials said. They would not say what the amount for the operations would total. Fed officials also said they did not know when the first operation would be conducted and how many there would be. The operations will be conducted to “to ensure operational readiness” at the Federal Reserve, the New York Fed said. They do not “represent any change in the stance of monetary policy, and no inference should be drawn about the timing of any change in the stance of monetary policy in the future,” the New York Fed said. The operations were designed to “have no material impact .... on market rates,” the Fed added. Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34210280/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/


14. January 1, Credit Union Times – (Illinois) ATM skimmers make off with $70,000 in Chicago. In Chicago, police are confirming media accounts of two ATM thieves which made off with $70,000 from a bank ATM after they attached a device to the machine to record card data and used a camera to record a card holder’s personal identification numbers as they punched them in. The bank declined to comment on the theft other than to confirm that the Secret Service had been notified as well as the police. The Secret Service did not comment. Media reports said the two were caught on surveillance cameras placing the device and then returning to collect it and use the data to make the withdrawals.

Source: http://www.cutimes.com/News/2009/12/Pages/ATM-Skimmers-Make-Off-With-70000-in-Chicago.aspx


Communications Sector

54. December 2, CNET News – (International) McAfee uncovers riskiest domains. The .cm domain, which belongs to Cameroon, was pegged by McAfee as the world’s riskiest domain. McAfee’s third annual “Mapping the Mal Web” report, released Wednesday, looks at riskiest and safest domains across the globe. The small nation on the west coast of Africa reached the top spot this year with 36.7 percent of its sites posing a security risk. Because .cm is often a typo for .com, McAfee said, cybercrooks like to use that domain to set up typo-squatted sites to hit you with malware. The generic and widely used .com domain itself is not much safer, according to McAfee, jumping from ninth last year to second this year in riskiness, with 32.2 percent of its sites potentially hazardous to a user’s PC’s health. Romania (.ro) is tagged as the riskiest domain for malicious downloads, with 21 percent of its sites delivering payloads of viruses, spyware, and adware. The information (.info) domain is seen by McAfee as the most “spammy,” with 17.2 percent of its sites generating junk mail. On the positive side, the government (.gov) is the safest generic domain with essentially 0 percent risk, while Japan (.jp) proved the safest country domain with a rating of only 0.1 percent. Last year, Hong Kong was the riskiest domain and this year it is dramatically safer,” the chief technology officer for McAfee Labs said in a statement. “Cybercriminals target regions where registering sites is cheap and convenient, and pose the least risk of being caught.” Overall, looking at 27 million Web sites and 104 top-level domains, McAfee found that 1.5 million sites, or 5.8 percent, were risky. That is up from 4.1 percent from the past two years, although the comparison is not direct since McAfee said it changed its rating methodology since then. McAfee noted that cybercriminals who create domains to scam people prefer registrars with cheap prices, volume discounts, and hefty refund policies. Crooks also like registrars with a “no questions asked” policy and that act slowly or not at all when informed of malicious domains. Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10407530-83.html


55. December 1, CNET News – (International) India blocks service to millions of handsets. India has blocked service to all mobile phones without a valid identity code, as part of antiterrorist measures being implemented by the Indian government. On Monday, any handset without a valid International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) code had its connection cut off, according to the Indian Cellular Association (ICA), which represents mobile operators in the country. The mobile industry is complying with a government directive that arose after discussions between Indian security agencies and the Indian Department of Telecommunications, the ICA added. The IMEI, a 15-digit number printed inside a phone, can be used to identify a particular device on an operator’s network, meaning it can be tracked by security services. In addition, network providers can use the absence of an IMEI to cut off a phone. Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10406985-94.html


56. December 1, Network World – (National) Data center start-up Arista expands Gigabit Ethernet switch line. Arista Networks has unveiled a Gigabit Ethernet data center switch designed to better accommodate increasing traffic loads between the server access and core layers of the network. The high throughput and bursty traffic patterns of storage, video, market data feeds and Web 2.0 applications present challenges to the network in terms of speed mismatches, reliable congestion management and consistent performance. To address that, the Arista 7048 multilayer switch is a fixed-configuration 1RU device that sports 48 wire-speed 100/1000BASE-T Ethernet RJ-45 ports with four SFP+ 1/10Gbps Ethernet uplinks. It supports up to 40Gbps of interconnect capacity to switches in the core, or “spine” of the network. The switch also integrates Citrix Systems’ NetScaler VPX load balancing and application security software to divvy up traffic loads across servers within a rack. VPX operates as a virtual load balancing appliance with the switch, Arista says. The 7048 also features large buffers on each port that, combined with non-blocking operation and load balancing, help the switch manage congestion during peak traffic loads. Total shared packet memory on the switch is 768MB. Like the existing Arista 7100 line of 1/10Gbps Ethernet data center switches, the 7048 runs the company’s EOS operating system, which supports access to Linux tools, extensible network services and integration with third-party applications such as Citrix NetScaler VPX. It also features high-availability features such as stateful fault repair and in-service software upgrades, Arista says. Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9141640/Data_center_start_up_Arista_expands_Gigabit_Ethernet_switch_line