Friday, March 1, 2013


Daily Report

Top Stories

 • Bank of America customers are being targeted by a new phishing scam via text message expressing that their accounts have been placed on hold pending their submission of personal information to an automated message system. – WFTX 4 Fort Lauderdale/Naples See item 7 below in the Banking and Finance Sector

 • A tractor carrying 30 tons of monoammonium phosphate overturned on the interstate spilling 10 tons near a waterway. – Helena Independent Record

13. February 28, Helena Independent Record – (Montana) Overturned semi spills 30 tons of fertilizer, detours on I-15. A tractor trailer carrying monoammonium phosphate overturned spilling 10 tons on Interstate-15. Motorists were forced to exit from the highway to allow for cleanup, although there was no threat to the environment or waterways. Source: http://helenair.com/news/local/overturned-semi-spills-tons-of-fertilizer detours-on-i/article_6ece1f10-816a-11e2-96e0-0019bb2963f4.html

 • The Page City Council declared its first state of emergency since incorporation in response to the Highway 89 road collapse. – Arizona Daily Sun

14. February 28, Arizona Daily Sun – (Arizona) Page declares first state of emergency. The Page City Council declared state of emergency two weeks after a section of Highway 89 was damaged. A reopening date for the economically vital highway that links Page to the State has not been planned, in the meantime leaving a 45-mile detour as the primary alternative. Source: http://azdailysun.com/news/local/page-declares-first-state-of-emergency/article_f5e40b7a-77d8-54a2-b521-5331e7ffb10e.html

 • Seventeen corrections officers from a Texas prison were charged after a four-year investigation at turned up a prison smuggling ring. – Associated Press

32. February 28, Associated Press – (Texas) 17 former prison guards among 32 charged in Texas. A four-year investigation at a Beeville prison unit turned up 17 corrections officers charged with aiding and abetting a prison smuggling ring. The prison guards were selling cellphones and drugs to the inmates as well as trying to sell stolen cars to Mexican cartel members. Source: http://www.theeagle.com/news/texas/article_79abd954-cdc3-56d6-a785-3772ea9f72fe.html

 • One hundred residents and multiple businesses remain displaced and on alert as officials search for the cause of a gas leak which led to a fire and 4 injuries. – Newark Star Ledger

44. February 28, Newark Star-Ledger – (New Jersey) 100 still evacuated in East Orange nearly 24 hours after gas leak was discovered. Utility personnel continued looking into the cause of a fire which led to dozens of residents being evacuated from a three-block area and multiple homes and businesses losing electrical service after a severe gas leak led to a house fire and the discovery of high natural gas levels in multiple nearby homes. The fire which burned for ten hours before being extinguished caused injuries to two firefighters and two residents. Source: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/02/100_still_evacuated_as_east_or.html

Details

Banking and Finance Sector

7. February 27, WFTX 4 Fort Lauderdale/Naples – (Florida) Text message scam targeting Bank of America customers. A new phishing scam alerts Bank of America users by text that their account has been put on hold and gives them a number to call. The phone number leads to an automated message system which prompts the accountholder to enter personal information, card number, social security number and other personal identifiable information. Source: http://www.fox4now.com/news/local/193728071.html

8. February 27, Associated Press – (North Carolina) Ex-NC businessman faces prison for Ponzi scheme. A former Asheville businessman must forfeit 12 properties and money from five bank accounts as part of a deal with Federal prosecutors for his role in a Ponzi scheme which cheated investors out of $13 million dollars over the course of a decade. He was sentenced to 32 years in Federal prison. Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/02/27/2711713/ex-nc-businessman-faces-prison.html

 9. February 27, St. Paul Pioneer Press – (Minnesota) 2 Minneapolis women sentenced
for life insurance fraud that netted more than $1M. A former policy and plan service coordinator at an insurance company fraudulently cashed in life insurance policies for clients and split money with another woman. In total, both women were ordered to pay $2.7 million in restitution and each sentenced to more than 24 months in prison. Source: http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_22684037/2-minneapolis-women-sentenced-life-insurance-fraud-that

10. February 27, Associated Press – (Michigan, Maryland) Gospel scion gets nearly 14 years in prison. A family member of a popular gospel music group attracted more than 1,000 investors in an $8 million financial scam tied to bogus Saudi Arabian oil bonds. The judge sentenced the man to nearly 14 years in federal prison. Source: http://www.necn.com/02/27/13/Winans-scion-gets-nearly-14-years-in-pri/landing_nation.html?&apID=4320dc0bc6c2489daf497287908d7722

11. February 26, Duluth Northland News Center – (Minnesota) New scam targets personal or banking information. Minnesota’s Department of Revenue is warning citizens of a scam in which taxpayers receive calls by a group claiming to be Minnesota Revenue representatives. The taxpayer is offered a larger refund if provided with additional personal information. Source: http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/local/New-Scam-Targets-Personal-or-Banking-Information-193570741.html

12. February 26, Quincy Patriot Ledger – (Massachusetts) Hingham police warn of scam that targeted chief. A Nigeria based money scam targeted a police chief using both email and seemingly reputable United Parcel Service packages. The packages which include prize checks from a legitimate business whose banking account information was hijacked, asks for a small fee; where the scam makes its money. Source: http://www.patriotledger.com/topstories/x1433788533/Hingham-police-warn-of-scam-that-targeted-chief

Information Technology

34. February 28, Softpedia – (International) BT Yahoo phishing scam: Final warning. A falsified email prompting BT Yahoo! And Yahoo! users to verify their log in information on a bogus homepage, is being distributed by cybercriminals whose aim is to take the information and redistribute it for monetary benefits. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/BT-Yahoo-Phishing-Scam-Final-Warning-333137.shtml

35. February 28, Softpedia – (International) Oracle confirms Java 7 Update 15 vulnerability, but researchers are still unhappy. Researchers urged Oracle to re-evaluate their submissions of weaknesses in the Java 7 Update 15 after the company acknowledged only one of the two vulnerabilities discovered regarding a full sandbox bypass is a concern, and simply determined the second vulnerability to be accepted behavior of the update. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Oracle-Confirms-Java-7-Update-15-Vulnerability-But-Researchers-Are-Still-Unhappy-333188.shtml

36. February 28, Softpedia – (International) Fake Adobe Flash Player Web sites distribute Ransomlock Ransomware. Experts discovered two vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player that prompts users to pay a fine in order to have their computer screens unlocked. Users are guided through a malicious domain to download one of two corrupted files that when installed, infect the computer with malicious elements. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Fake-Adobe-Flash-Player-Websites-Distribute-Ransomlock-Ransomware-333127.shtml

37. February 28, Softpedia – (International) Anonymous publishes 14 GB of information related to Bank of America, others. Bank of America confirmed data leaked by the hacktivist group Anonymous came from a third-party company and that their systems were not breached. The group unloaded 14 GB of data allegedly related to several different companies in response to a warning they made prior regarding a Bank of America endeavor on monitoring the Internet. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Anonymous-Publishes-14-GB-of-Information-Related-to-Bank-of-America-Others-333220.shtml

38. February 27, IDG News Service – (International) Facebook to fix bug leaking users’ phone numbers. Facebook is releasing a patch regarding an incident reported in June 2012 of a bug that releases users’ phone numbers to app developers. Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9237204/Facebook_to_fix_bug_leaking_users_39_phone_numbers?source=rss_security&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+computerworld%2Fs%2Ffeed%2Ftopic%2F17+%28Computerworld+Security+News%29

Communications Sector

39. February 27, Reuters – (National) US FCC wants incentives to adopt Next Generation 911. A February 27 Federal Communications Commission report detailed ways to improve the current 911 emergency system including recommending relying on internet technologies which would establish better and stronger connections with call centers instead of phone connections. One proposal recommended an incentive program for states to be early adopters for The Next Generation 911, a system which would gather emergency information through photos, videos, texts, and other means. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/27/us-usa-fcc-idUSBRE91Q1DJ20130227

40. February 27, TV Technology – (National) FCC opens Google white-space database for public trial. The Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Engineering and Technology will commence a 45-day public trial of Google’s TV-band database system. Trial participants will test a system in which unlicensed devices are used to identify unoccupied TV channels in the television broadcast frequency band. Source: http://www.tvtechnology.com/news/0086/fcc-opens-google-white-space-database-for-public-trial/218001

41. February 27, Harlan Daily Enterprise – (Kentucky) Internet outage hits schools, businesses. An Internet and phone outage in Harlan County, Kentucky is believed to be the result of a fiber optic cable break. Multiple schools, businesses, a hospital and 4,000 Harlan Community Television customers were affected by the incident. Source: http://www.harlandaily.com/view/full_story/21835754/article-Internet-outage-hits-schools--businesses

42. February 27, KAKE 10 Wichita – (Kansas) Storm knocks out cell service in Norwich. A February 24 blizzard caused nearly the entire town of Norwich, Kansas, to lose cellular service for two days. The storm, which knocked out part of the town’s cellular infrastructure, affected both AT&T and T-Mobile customers. Source: http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/Storm-Knocks-Out-911-Cell-Service-In-Norwich-Area-193652771.html