Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Complete DHS Daily Report for July 13, 2011
Daily Report
Top Stories
• The New York Times reports 14 states are suffering from severe drought that has caused billions in losses by wiping out wheat, corn, and other crops, and forcing ranchers to sell off livestock. (See item 27)
27. July 11, New York Times – (National) Drought spreads pain from Florida to Arizona. The heat and the drought are so bad in southwest Georgia that hogs can barely eat. Corn is burning up in fields. Farmers with the money and equipment to irrigate are running wells dry in the unseasonably early and particularly brutal national drought that some say could rival the Dust Bowl days. The pain has spread across 14 states, from Florida, where severe water restrictions are in place, to Arizona, where ranchers could be forced to sell off entire herds of cattle because they simply cannot feed them. The U.S. Department of Agriculture in June designated all 254 counties in Texas natural disaster areas, qualifying them for varying levels of federal relief. More than 30 percent of the state’s wheat fields might be lost, adding pressure to a crop in short supply globally. Even if weather patterns shift and relief-giving rain comes, losses will surely head past $3 billion in Texas alone, state agricultural officials said. The drought, which could go down as one of the nation’s worst, has come on extra hot and extra early. It has its roots in 2010 and continued through the winter. The 5 months from this February to June, for example, were so dry that they shattered a Texas record set in 1917, said the acting state climatologist. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/12/us/12drought.html
• Two new surveys illustrate an escalating shortage of vital drugs that could affect nearly every hospital in the United States and cause hundreds of millions in extra costs, msnbc.com reports. (See item 30)
30. July 12, msnbc.com – (National) Drug shortages slam patients, health workers. Two new surveys conducted by the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) illustrate an escalating shortage of vital drugs that could affect nearly every hospital in the United States, forcing delays or substitutions in patient care, diverting pharmacy staff from crucial duties, and racking up $216 million in costs. Federal Food and Drug Administration officials said the shortages are caused by manufacturing problems, firms that simply stop making drugs, and production delays. Among the findings from AHA’s online survey that drew responses from 820 of the nation’s 5,100 hospitals, 99.5 percent of them reported one or more drug shortages in the last 6 months, and nearly half reported shortages of 21 or more drugs. Some 82 percent of those hospitals said they have delayed patient treatment because of shortages, or have been unable to treat patients as recommended. The ASHP survey, which drew 353 responses from 1,322 pharmacy directors, found that more than 80 percent of institutions ran low on three top vital drugs: succinylcholine injection, concentrated dextrose solutions, and epinephrine injections. The shortages have forced some clinical staff to shift away from patient duties ito manage the problem, the ASHP survey found. Nearly two-thirds of hospitals said they rarely receive advance notices of shortages, and 14 percent never do, the AHA survey said. More than half said they are rarely told how long the shortages will last. Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43718291/ns/health-health_care/
Details
Banking and Finance Sector
15. July 12, Courthouse News Service – (Pennsylvania) SEC nails an old accountant. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said July 11 a 73-year-old accountant of Villanova, Pennsylvania, and his firm raked in more than $5 million "in purported fees and trading profits," ill-gotten gains from a $75 million Ponzi scheme. The SEC sued the Pennsylvania man and the company he founded and ran, Jacklin Associates, of Radnor. In its settled complaint, the SEC claims the man helped an accomplice run a Ponzi scam; the accomplice previously pleaded guilty to multiple fraud charges and money laundering and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The SEC claims the man solicited customers for the head of the scheme, and "without performing any due diligence, passed along to investors through Jacklin materially false and misleading information about, among other things, Forte LP's current value and growth, historical performance, rapid-trading strategy, and retention of an accountant." The SEC said in announcing the filing of its settled complaint that "[the suspect], through Jacklin, also performed back office and bookkeeping functions for Forte LP, including creating and issuing to investors false quarterly statements and tax documents prepared based on false information. ... In communicating the fraudulent information to investors, [the suspect] disregarded red flags that should have alerted him that the information that he was passing on was false." Source: http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/07/12/38056.htm
16. July 11, Associated Press – (Connecticut; Arizona; Florida) Stamford man pleads guilty in mortgage fraud. Federal prosecutors said a Stamford, Connecticut man pleaded guilty July 11 to wire fraud related to a $4 million mortgage scheme. A Connecticut U.S. attorney said the man waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty in New Haven to one count of wire fraud. The attorney said the 43-year-old submitted mortgage applications to several lenders for homes in Arizona, Connecticut, and Florida in 2006 and 2007. The prosecutor said that in many of the mortgage applications, he provided false information. He said each of the homes the man bought was sold in foreclosure and mortgage lenders lost more than $2 million. He faces up to 20 years in prison, and a fine of as much as $4 million when he is scheduled to be sentenced October 4. Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/11/2309942/stamford-man-pleads-guilty-in.html
Information Technology Sector
41. July 12, Help Net Security – (International) Critical vulnerability in Sun Java. ACROS Security discovered a vulnerability in Sun Java that can be exploited by malicious individuals to compromise a user's system, according to Secunia. The vulnerability is caused due to the application loading an executable file in an insecure manner when an out of memory condition occurs. This can be exploited to execute arbitrary programs by tricking a user into, for example, opening a HTML file, which loads an applet located on a remote WebDAV or SMB share. Successful exploitation allows execution of arbitrary code. The vulnerability is confirmed in version 6 update 26 (build 1.6.0_26-b03). Other versions may also be affected. Source: http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=11267
42. July 11, Softpedia – (International) Click fraud trojan distributors borrow scareware techniques. Security researchers from GFI warned cyber criminals pushing click fraud trojans adopted distribution techniques commonly seen in scareware schemes. According to experts, this is one of the first browser-aware schemes used to distribute this type of malware and appears to target Chrome and Firefox users specifically. The trojan, part of the 2GCash family, is distributed from a domain registered through a free dynamic DNS provider. Security researchers did not say how users end up on this page, but they are most likely taken through several redirects, possibly after clicking on malicious search results. Internet Explorer users get redirected to usa.gov, a legitimate Web site, while people using other browsers are served malicious files for download. Google Chrome users will be prompted to download and install a Flash Player update called v11_flash_AV(dot)exe. Firefox users will see a fake "what's new" page that similarly claims that Flash Player is outdated. This mimics the page that normally appears after Firefox is upgraded to a new version and actually performs a check to see if installed plug-ins are up to date. However, despite warning about an old version of Flash Player, the file served for download is called ff-update(dot)exe. Both files install the same 2GCash variant, a trojan used to perform click fraud and hijack people's search results. The malware can also act as a downloader for additional threats, including PDF exploits and scareware. The newer 2GCash variants possess the ability to detect virtual machines, making it harder for researchers to analyze the trojan because most of them use virtual machines. "They also tend to rotate variants almost every 6 to 12 hours as a method to try and evade detection," the GFI security researchers warned. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Click-Fraud-Trojan-Distributors-Borrow-Scareware-Techniques-210894.shtml
43. July 11, Computerworld – (International) Researchers uncover more Android malware on Google's Market. Security researchers found more malicious Android apps on Google's official download site and being spread through Chinese app stores. Lookout Security spotted four apps on the Android Market July 8 that were infected with a variant of the "DroidDream Light" malware that has now plagued the e-store three times during 2011. On July 11, researchers at North Carolina State University announced they found new malware that forced Android smartphones into texting a premium number. According to Lookout, Google quickly removed the four applications from the Android Market. The mobile security company said , like the June campaign, the DroidDream Light malware discovered July 8 launched itself without user interaction after it was downloaded. Once on an Android smartphone, DroidDream Light can prompt owners to download other apps from the market, bait users with a malicious URL, or even automatically download more apps to the device. Also, July 11, a North Carolina State University researcher, issued a warning of a new Android threat: "HippoSMS." The malware was only published to unauthorized Chinese app stores. HippoSMS piggybacks on a host app and is installed when that app is downloaded and approved by the user. Its makers are monetizing the malware by forcing an infected smartphone to text a premium number, but they are also trying to hide that behavior from users. Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9218314/Researchers_uncover_more_Android_malware_on_Google_s_Market
Communications Sector
44. July 12, Radio-Info.com – (Minnesota) Religious KTIS-AM in Minneapolis is hit by copper thieves. Copper thieves struck a religious station in Minneapolis, Minnesota, nearly taking it off the air, Radio-Info.com reported July 12. Minnesota's Oakdale Patch reported someone got through the station's fence at the tower site and entered a building, taking two 3-foot sections of copper from the transmitter site. An engineer identified the missing metal as the ground straps. While KTIS 900 AM Minneapolis was still on the air, they were forced to reduce daytime power from their normal 50,000 watts to just 5,000 watts due to the damage and lost copper. There was no timetable as to when "Faith Radio" would return to full broadcast power. Source: http://www.radio-info.com/news/religious-ktis-am-in-minneapolis-is-hit-by-copper-thieves
45. July 11, Skokie Patch – (Illinois) No TV? No Internet? Comcast is down. A chaotic storm that lasted for 20 minutes July 11 did enough damage to claim more than 600,000 homes without power in Illinois. Comcast customers also experienced Internet and TV outages. According to a Comcast representative, the Midwest experienced a large outage. The representative said technicians are trying to remedy the problem, but no timetable for repairs was given. Source: http://skokie.patch.com/articles/no-tv-no-internet-comcast-is-down
46. July 11, WSLS 10 Roanoke – (Virginia) Phone outage in Franklin Co. causes problems for 911. Century Link said July 11 calls can be made to Franklin County, Virginia's 911 center, and outgoing calls from the 576 exchange can be made, but no incoming calls can be made. Franklin County officials earlier notified WSLS 10 Roanoke that telephone services were down in the Union Hall area, including calls to the 911 Communications Center. All fire and rescue Stations were being manned until further notice for emergencies. All people needing assistance were advised to go to their local fire and EMS station or call emergency services by cell phone. WSLS was told July 11 the service providers were working to find the problems. Source: http://www2.wsls.com/news/2011/jul/11/2/phone-outage-franklin-co-causes-problems-911-ar-1166343/
47. July 9, Rome News-Tribune – (Georgia) Lightning strike weakens The Ridge signal. Listeners of WATG radio, The Ridge, 95.7 FM, in Rome, Georgia, may have to struggle to pick up that radio station for an undetermined period of time, the Rome News-Tribune reported July 9. The station's general manager said the station’s transmitter was struck by lightning recently. The station was off the air for about 36 hours before engineers could restore a low power signal. The signal has weakened since July 6, and the manager said that the transmitter sustained a lot of damage. The station is difficult to pick up in some areas of Rome. The manager said listeners in Chattooga County can still receive a relatively solid signal. “I’m not sure how long it is going to be running at low power,” the manager said. "I was first told it was going to be six to eight weeks, but then the engineers said it would only be a week to 10 days.” Source: http://romenews-tribune.com/view/full_story/14645709/article-Lightning-strike-weakens-The-Ridge-signal?instance=home_news
48. July 9, Boulder Daily Camera – (Colorado) CU-Boulder's Radio 1190 back on air after lightning struck its tower Thursday. Radio 1190 was back on the air July 9 after a severe thunderstorm in the Boulder, Colorado area left the listeners of the University of Colorado at Boulder radio station in silence for almost 2 days. The station's tower — KVCU 1190 AM Boulder — was struck by lightning July 7, which is not unusual, the student general manager said. After a failed attempt at resetting the system, the station was off the air for all of July 8, and early July 9. Its online streaming broadcast at Radio1190.org also resumed. It went down after the storm killed power at University Memorial Center, where Radio 1190's studios are located. Source: http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_18447268
For another story see item 43 above in the Information Technology Sector
No comments:
Post a Comment