Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Daily Report
Top Stories
A civilian employee working aboard the USS
Miami submarine in Kittery, Maine, was charged with setting a fire that heavily
damaged the vessel in May and a second near it in June, Navy investigators
said. – Associated Press
7. July 23,
Associated Press – (Maine) Civilian worker charged with setting both fires
aboard, near submarine in Maine shipyard. Navy investigators said a
civilian employee working as a painter and sandblaster aboard the USS Miami
submarine at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, was charged with
setting a fire that heavily damaged the vessel in May and a second near it in
June. In a complaint filed July 23 in federal court in Maine, the Naval Criminal
Investigative Service said the man was charged with two counts of arson
involving the submarine. The submarine has been in dry dock for an overhaul at
the shipyard. Court documents indicate the man was assigned to do paint
stripping in the torpedo room. He first denied involvement in the fires, then
later admitted involvement. He was scheduled for a court appearance July 23.
Estimates put the damage to the submarine at $400 million. Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/civilian-worker-charged-with-setting-both-fires-aboard-near-submarine-in-maine-shipyard/2012/07/23/gJQAfBgO4W_story.html
A third bomb threat
targeted the Ambassador Bridge July 21, according to a call made to the FBI.
The FBI did not treat the threat as credible and determined it was not
necessary to close down the bridge. – Windsor Star
12.
July 22, Windsor Star – (Michigan;
International) Third bomb threat at Ambassador Bridge. A third bomb
threat hit the Ambassador Bridge July 21. Windsor, Ontario police said they
were notified by customs officials that the call was made to the FBI. The phone
number was the same one that called in a bomb threat for the Ambassador Bridge
July 18. “The call was received by the FBI. Same as last time,” said a Windsor
police staff sergeant. The FBI did not treat the threat as credible and
determined it was not necessary to close down the bridge. This was the seventh
bomb threat to hit the Windsor-Detroit area in just over a week. Threats were
made at the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel, the Cobo Center, Comerica Park, the new
site of The Windsor Star in downtown Windsor, and two others at the Ambassador
Bridge. Source: http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2012/07/22/third-bomb-threat-at-ambassador-bridge/
Cargill Beef
recalled almost 30,000 pounds of ground beef July 22. The meat may be
contaminated with Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) and associated with an ongoing
multiple State outbreak of SE. – Food Safety News
13.
July 23, Food Safety News – (National)
Cargill recalls fresh beef after 7-State Salmonella outbreak sickens 33. July
22, Cargill Beef recalled almost 30,000 pounds of 85 percent lean, fresh,
ground beef, produced by the company in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, May 25. The
meat may be contaminated with Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) associated with an
ongoing multiple State outbreak of SE. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said it became aware of the the
problem “during the course of an ongoing investigation of a multi-State
outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis involving 33 case-patients from 7 states
(MA, ME, NH, NY, RI, VA, and VT.)” Hannaford Stores in those States were named
as a retail outlet for that meat by the FSIS. Cargill contacted its customers
to ensure they know which of their ground beef products were affected by this
recall. Source: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/07/cargill-recalls-30000-pounds-of-fresh-ground-beef/
Demonstrators
stormed a police department in Orange County, California, July 22 to protest an
officer-involved shooting that left an unarmed man dead and led to a violent
clash between witnesses and police. – Associated Press
31.
July 23, Associated Press –
(California) Demonstrators protest California police shooting. Demonstrators
stormed a police department in Orange County, California, July 22 to protest an
officer-involved shooting that left an unarmed man dead and led to a violent
clash between witnesses and police. A crowd swarmed the Anaheim Police
headquarters’ lobby as the chief held a news conference to discuss what
happened the night before. The protesters chanted as officers stood by and
watched. The chief said two officers were placed on paid leave after one of
them fatally shot a man. The shooting sparked a melee in the neighborhood as
some threw rocks and bottles at officers who were securing the scene for
investigators to collect evidence. The department’s spokesman said that as
officers detained an instigator, the crowd advanced on officers so they fired
bean bags and pepper balls at them. Throughout the night, police in multiple
marked and unmarked squad cars attempted to control an unruly crowd gathered
near the shooting scene, the Orange County Register reported. Source: http://news.yahoo.com/demonstrators-protest-california-police-shooting-220720596.html
The man accused of
going on a shooting rampage that killed 12 people at a movie premiere appeared
in court in Colorado July 23. According to police, his apartment was filled
with trip wires, explosive devices, and unknown liquids. – Associated Press
42.
July 23, Associated Press – (Colorado)
Colo. shooting suspect appears in court dazed, silent. A man accused of
going on a shooting rampage at a movie premiere July 20 appeared in court in
Colorado July 23. The incident left 12 people dead and 58 others injured. The
suspect is expected to be formally charged July 30. He is being held on
suspicion of first-degree murder, and he could also face additional counts of
aggravated assault and weapons violations. Police said the suspect began buying
guns at Denver-area stores nearly 2 months before the July 20 shooting and that
he received at least 50 packages in 4 months at his home and at school. He
recently bought 6,000 rounds of ammunition over the Internet, the Aurora police
chief said. The suspect’s semiautomatic assault rifle jammed during the attack,
forcing him to switch to another gun with less firepower, a federal law
enforcement official told the Associated Press. A 100-round ammunition drum was
found in the theater, but officials said they did not know whether it jammed or
emptied. The suspect’s apartment was filled with trip wires, explosive devices,
and unknown liquids. Police, FBI officials, and bomb squad technicians
evacuated the surrounding buildings and spent most of July 21 disabling the
booby traps. Officials at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
were looking into whether the man used his position in a graduate program to
collect hazardous materials. Source: http://www.delawareonline.com/viewart/20120723/NEWS01/120723011/Colo-shooting-suspect-appears-court-dazed-silent
Details
Banking and Finance Sector
8. July 22,
Bloomberg News – (National) Ex-BofA executive indicted for fraud in municipal
bond probe. A former Bank of America executive was indicted for allegedly
participating in what prosecutors said was a “far-reaching conspiracy” to
defraud municipal bond investments through bid rigging, Bloomberg reported July
22. The former head of Bank of America’s municipal derivatives desk was charged
with conspiracy to defraud the United States, wire fraud, and conspiracy to
make false entries in bank records. Bank of America, which self-reported the
illegal activity, has been cooperating for more than 4 years with Justice
Department prosecutors who said bankers paid kickbacks to CDR Financial
Products to rig bids on investment contracts sold to local governments. From
1998 until 2006, the former executive allegedly conspired with CDR Financial
Products to increase the number of and profitability of investment agreements
and municipal finance contracts that went to the bank, according to the
indictment. He won auctions for the investment contracts after other banks submitted
intentionally losing bids, the government said. He then disguised kickbacks to
CDR as fees on unrelated transactions. So far, 13 individuals from banks
including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Co., and UBS AG pleaded guilty in
the Justice Department’s investigation. Bank of America, JPMorgan, UBS, Wells
Fargo and Co., and General Electric Co. paid more than $700 million in
restitution and penalties. Source: http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/Ex-BofA-Executive-Indicted-for-Fraud-in-Municipal-3723794.php
9. July 20,
Redding Record Searchlight – (California; Nevada) Three plead guilty
to federal securities fraud in Redding-based investment scheme. Three
people pleaded guilty in federal court July 20 to securities fraud in an
investment scheme that was based in Shasta County, California, and cost
investors approximately $36.2 million. The defendants were indicted August 22,
2007, for a fraud scheme that involved life settlement insurance contracts or
viaticals. From 2001 until 2006, two of the conspirators misrepresented and
omitted information when selling the life settlement insurance contracts to
investors. The pair told investors the investments were safe, secure, and
risk-free, and investors were guaranteed high rates of return. As a result of
their fraud, investors lost at least $18.4 million. Also according to court
documents, between 2001 and 2004, another conspirator sold bonds that
purportedly guaranteed investors
would not lose their money. However, the bonding company he ran was a shell
company and the bonds were not legitimate. None of the bonds were honored. As a
result of his fraud, investors lost at least $17.8 million. Source: http://www.redding.com/news/2012/jul/20/three-plead-guilty-to-federal-securities-fraud/
Information Technology Sector
35. July 21,
IDG News Service – (International) Dropbox says no evidence of hack in
investigation of spam. Dropbox’s ongoing investigation into a possible
security breach did not produce any evidence its systems were infiltrated,
according to an update to the company’s user forum July 20. “As of today, we’ve
found no intrusions into our internal systems and no unauthorized activity in
Dropbox accounts,” said the update. Users on the forum indicated they did not
receive any further spam July 20. Source: http://www.macworld.com/article/1167796/dropbox_says_no_evidence_of_hack_in_investigation_of_spam.html
36. July 20,
IDG News Service – (International) Pinterest locks some user accounts due to
spam outbreak. Pinterest locked an undisclosed number of user accounts as a
result of a spam outbreak, the company confirmed in an email July 20. The
accounts, which “were associated with a specific piece of spam,” may have been
compromised, Pinterest acknowledged. However, the company blamed recent leaks
of user login credentials from other Web sites, rather than a data breach of
its own. The most public recent incidents of leaked credentials involved
LinkedIn and Yahoo. Approximately 6.5 million encrypted LinkedIn account
passwords were posted online in early June, and 450,000 log-in credentials from
Yahoo and other companies were exposed the week of June 16. July 10, Pinterest
began posting advice to users in its help forum about reinstating locked
accounts, which was first reported on TechCrunch. July 16, Pinterest asked
users whose accounts were locked to respond to a survey. The survey was later
removed. The LLSocial blog noted it did not include questions about LinkedIn or
Yahoo accounts. Rather, it asked about email, Facebook, and Twitter accounts
and third-party Pinterest applications, according to LLSocial. However,
Pinterest appears to have received the answers it needed. The company was
working on re-activating the accounts in question, it said. Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9229416/Pinterest_locks_some_user_accounts_due_to_spam_outbreak
37. July 20,
Infosecurity – (International) Many iOS apps access personal data without
user permission. One in five iOS applications can access a user’s iPhone
address book, two in five can track a user’s location, and more than one in
three store user data without encrypting it, all without explicit user
permission, according to research by Bitdefender. A chief security researcher
at the firm explained the company used its Clueful app, which enables iPhone
owners to learn what apps may be using personal data inappropriately, to
collect data for the study. Apple removed the Clueful app from its App Store
once Bitdefender collected its iOS app statistics. Source: http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/view/27091/
Communications Sector
38. July 21,
Cookeville Herald Citizen – (Tennessee) Another copper theft at a
cell tower. A third case of copper theft at a cell phone tower was
reported, according to the Cookeville Police Department in Tennessee. The
thieves stole copper wire from a U.S. Cellular tower site on Bunker Hill Road
July 16, according to a report by an officer. The fence around the tower was
cut and copper antenna wire was cut from the fence to the tower, the report
said. A U.S. Cellular employee told the officer that replacing the stolen
copper would cost approximately $3,500. Source: http://www.herald-citizen.com/view/full_story/19482132/article-Another-copper-theft-at-a-cell-tower?instance=latest_articles
39. July 20,
Miami New Times – (Florida) South Miami-Dade Comcast TV and Internet service is
down. Comcast service was out in a large section of the southern part
Miami-Dade, due to a construction crew accidentally tearing out about 1,000
feet of fiber optic cable, the Miami New Times reported July 20. According to
WFOR 4 Miami, Comcast could not say exactly how many customers were affected by
the outage. The company said service would be back up by July 20. Source: http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2012/07/south_miami-dade_comcast_tv_an.php