Monday, February 4, 2013
   
Complete DHS Daily Report for February 4, 2013

Daily Report

Top Stories

 • A strong storm caused power outages to over 330,000 customers throughout the Northeast. There were also reports of overflowing dams, weather-related traffic accidents, and a damaged elementary school roof. – Reuters

2. January 31, Reuters – (National) Rain, high winds knock out power in U.S. Northeast. A strong storm caused power outages to over 330,000 customers throughout the Northeast. There were also reports of overflowing dams, weather-related traffic accidents, and a damaged elementary school roof. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/31/us-usa-weather-idUSBRE90T0WG20130131

 • A new spearphishing campaign is targeting directors, vice presidents, and other top management of companies in the aerospace and defense industry and the U.S. government via a malicious .PDF file, which, once opened, creates a permanent backdoor and exfiltrates data from the victim’s computer. – Help Net Security

4. January 31, Help Net Security – (National) Aerospace and defense firms targeted with clever spear phishing. A new spearphishing campaign is targeting directors, vice presidents, and other top management of companies in the aerospace and defense industry and the U.S. government via a malicious .PDF file, which, once opened, creates a permanent backdoor and exfiltrates data from the victim’s computer. Source: http://www.net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=2393

 • The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged five former Cay Clubs Resorts and Marinas executives for allegedly defrauding investors of more than $300 million. – Reuters See item 11 below in the Banking and Finance Sector

 • The U.S. Department of State warned American citizens in Turkey to be cautious after a suicide bomber detonated himself inside the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, killing one and injuring another. – New York Times

26. February 1, New York Times – (International) Suicide bombing at U.S. Embassy in Turkey kills guard. The U.S. Department of State warned American citizens in Turkey to be cautious after a suicide bomber detonated himself inside the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, killing one and injuring another. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/02/world/europe/2-dead-in-suicide-bombing-at-us-embassy-in-turkey.html?_r=1&

Details

Banking and Finance Sector

5. January 31, Riverside Press-Enterprise – (California) 2 convicted in $250 million tax fraud scheme. Two California men who formerly operated the Old Quest Foundation were convicted for filing at least 37 false tax claims, seeking to defraud the federal government of more than $250 million. Source: http://www.pe.com/business/business-headlines/20130131-banking-2-convicted-in-250-million-tax-fraud-scheme.ece

6. January 31, Associated Press – (New Jersey) 4 charged in alleged NJ mortgage fraud scheme. Four men were arrested in New Jersey for their alleged role in a $15 million mortgage fraud scheme involving developer kickbacks. Source: http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/4-charged-in-alleged-NJ-mortgage-fraud-scheme-4240481.php

7. January 31, Federal Bureau of Investigation – (Pennsylvania) Pittsburgh jury finds Florida broker guilty in $100 million mortgage fraud scheme. A federal jury found the former operator of First Capital Home Equity guilty of wire fraud and conspiracy relating to a mortgage fraud scheme that he and others undertook to obtain more than $100 million in loans. Source: http://www.loansafe.org/pittsburgh-jury-finds-florida-broker-guilty-in-100-million-mortgage-fraud-scheme

8. January 31, South Florida Sun Sentinel – (Florida) Boca McDonald’s employee stole customer credit card information, police say. A worker at a McDonald’s restaurant in Boca Raton was charged with skimming customer credit card information. Police said the man admitted to skimming 30-70 cards per day. Source: http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-01-31/news/fl-boca-mcdonalds-scammer-arrest-20130131_1_credit-card-boca-raton-police-twitter-ejkomenda

9. January 31, Roseville Patch – (California) ‘Bad Hatter Bandit’ wanted for bank robberies in Roseville, Natomas. The FBI and local authorities sought the public’s help in identifying the “Bad Hatter Bandit”, who has robbed three banks in the Sacramento area. Source: http://roseville-ca.patch.com/articles/bad-hatter-bandit-wanted-for-bank-robberies-in-roseville-natomas

10. January 31, Memphis Commercial Appeal – (Tennessee) DeSoto County construction firm owner, mayor associate indicated on bank fraud. A Southhaven contractor was charged with bank fraud for allegedly submitting false information to obtain a $5 million loan. Source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/jan/31/desoto-county-construction-firm-owner-davis-on/

11. January 30, Reuters – (National) Former Florida real estate executives charged in Ponzi scheme. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged five former Cay Clubs Resorts and Marinas executives for allegedly defrauding investors of more than $300 million. Source: http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Securities/News/2013/01_-_January/Former_Florida_real_estate_executives_charged_in_Ponzi_scheme/

Information Technology Sector

31. January 31, Softpedia – (International) Turkish hackers upload malicious browser extension to official Chrome web store. Kaspersky discovered that hackers are attempting to distribute malicious browser extensions through the official Google Chrome store. Google is attempting to remove the malware; similar fake extensions have been found for Mozilla’s Firefox browser. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Turkish-Hackers-Upload-Malicious-Browser-Extension-to-Official-Chrome-Web-Store-325708.shtml

32. January 31, Dark Reading – (International) Hacking the laptop docking station. A researcher built a prototype piece of hardware that can be placed inside a laptop docking station to intercept digital, voice, and video data from the computer connected to it. He plans to present his findings at Black Hat Europe in February. Source: http://www.darkreading.com/mobile-security/167901113/security/client-security/240147566/hacking-the-laptop-docking-station.html.html

33. January 31, IDG News Service – (International) Email attack exploits vulnerability in Yahoo site to hijack accounts. Bitdefender researchers found that a recent email attack campaign is utilizing a vulnerability in the Yahoo Web site to take over email accounts and use them to send spam emails. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/013113-email-attack-exploits-vulnerability-in-266317.html

For another story, see item 4 above in Top Stories

Communications Sector

Nothing to report