Friday, January 11, 2013
   
 Complete DHS Daily Report for January 11, 2013

Daily Report

Top Stories

 • The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported that the number of cyber attacks against nuclear, power, and water infrastructure more than doubled in 2012, citing 198 cybersecurity incidents across the energy, chemical, nuclear, and water sectors. – CNNMoney

2. January 9, CNNMoney – (National) Hacker hits on U.S. power and nuclear targets spiked in 2012. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported that the number of cyber attacks against nuclear, power, and water infrastructure more than doubled in 2012, citing 198 cybersecurity incidents across the energy, chemical, nuclear, and water sectors. Source: http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/09/technology/security/infrastructure-cyberattacks/

 • The flu was reported in 41 States, and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention predicted the 2013 flu season to be the worst flu season in a decade. – Wall Street Journal

21. January 9, Wall Street Journal – (National) Nasty flu season could lead to sickly growth. The flu was reported in 41 States, and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention predicted the 2013 flu season to be the worst flu season in a decade. Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/01/09/nasty-flu-season-could-lead-to-sickly-growth/

 • A researcher discovered and others confirmed a zero-day exploit for Java that is already being used by the popular Blackhole, Nuclear Pack, and Cool exploit kits. – Threatpost See item 30 below in the Information Technology Sector

 • Proof-of-concept exploit code and a penetration testing module were released for several Ruby on Rails vulnerabilities that could allow arbitrary code execution and the installation of backdoors, presenting a major vulnerability for Web sites using versions other than the most recently released. – Threatpost See item 31 below in the Information Technology Sector

Details

Banking and Finance Sector

4. January 10, Associated Press – (Texas) West Texas woman guilty in nearly $5.9M fraud. A woman was found guilty in Midland in an almost $5.9 million investment fraud scheme that allowed individuals to rent or lease the bank accounts of others to inflate their apparent net worth. Source: http://www.galvestondailynews.com/news_ap/texas/article_81a5ba05-9f48-5f88-b152-ee947d3d875b.html

5. January 10, Banking Business Review – (Virginia) SEC sues Bank of the Commonwealth former executives for misrepresenting loan losses. The former CEO, chairman, and president of Bank of the Commonwealth were charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly misrepresenting the failed Virginia bank’s loan portfolio during the 2008 financial crisis. Source: http://www.banking-business-review.com/news/sec-sues-bank-of-the-commonwealth-former-executives-for-misrepresenting-loan-losses-100113

6. January 9, IDG News Service – (International) Botnets for hire likely attacked U.S. banks. A recent campaign of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on U.S. banks appears to be using botnets for hire, according to an analysis by security firm Incapsula. Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9235525/Botnets_for_hire_likely_attacked_U.S._banks?source=rss_security&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+computerworld/s/feed/topic/17+(Computerworld+Security+News)

7. January 9, Reuters – (National) SEC charges KPMG auditors at failed Nebraska bank. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges and is seeking to censure two auditors at accounting firm KPMG over their alleged failure to adequately oversee and investigate the records of the failed Nebraska-based TierOne Bank. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/09/us-sec-kpmg-idUSBRE9080U620130109

Information Technology Sector

30. January 10, Threatpost – (International) Nasty new Java zero day found; Exploit kits already have it. A researcher discovered and others confirmed a zero-day exploit for Java that is already being used by the popular Blackhole, Nuclear Pack, and Cool exploit kits. Source: http://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/nasty-new-java-zero-day-found-exploit-kits-already-have-it-011013

31. January 10, Threatpost – (International) Exploit code, Metasploit module out for Ruby on Rails flaws. Proof-of-concept exploit code and a penetration testing module were released for several Ruby on Rails vulnerabilities that could allow arbitrary code execution and the installation of backdoors, presenting a major vulnerability for Web sites using versions other than the most recently released. Source: http://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/exploit-code-metasploit-module-out-ruby-rails-flaws-011013

For another story, see item 6 above in the Banking and Finance Sector
Communications Sector 

32. January 10, USA Today – (National) FCC blames phone companies for derecho 911 outages. The Federal Communications Committee (FCC) released a report January 10 citing major phone companies for the massive loss of 9-1-1 services during the June 2012 derecho storm in the Midwest and Mid-Atlanic, and stating that their lack of backup resources and delayed communications resulted in millions of people being unable to contact 9-1-1. Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2013/01/09/fcc-derecho-911-outage/1821695/


Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report Contact Information

About the reports - The DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report is a daily [Monday through Friday] summary of open-source published information concerning significant critical infrastructure issues. The DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report is archived for ten days on the Department of Homeland Security Web site: http://www.dhs.gov/IPDailyReport

Contact Information

Content and Suggestions: Send mail to cikr.productfeedback@hq.dhs.gov or contact the DHS Daily Report Team at (703)387-2314

Subscribe to the Distribution List: Visit the DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report and follow instructions to Get e-mail updates when this information changes.

Removal from Distribution List:     Send mail to support@govdelivery.com.


Contact DHS

To report physical infrastructure incidents or to request information, please contact the National Infrastructure
Coordinating Center at  nicc@dhs.gov or (202) 282-9201.

To report cyber infrastructure incidents or to request information, please contact US-CERT at  soc@us-cert.gov or visit their Web page at  www.us-cert.go v.

Department of Homeland Security Disclaimer

The DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report is a non-commercial publication intended to educate and inform personnel engaged in infrastructure protection. Further reproduction or redistribution is subject to original copyright restrictions. DHS provides no warranty of ownership of the copyright, or accuracy with respect to the original source material.