Thursday, April 18, 2013   

Complete DHS Daily Report for April 18, 2013

Daily Report

Top Stories

• A settlement between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and SAC Capital Advisors for $602 million over insider trading was approved by a federal judge, but was conditioned on a future ruling regarding no-fault settlements involving Citigroup. – Bloomberg News See item 3 below in the Banking and Finance Sector

 • The main reservation system for American Airlines went down April 16, causing thousands of passengers to be stranded at airports and on airplanes. – Fox News

11. April 16, Fox News – (National) American Airlines says systems fully restored after outage left flights grounded nationwide. The main reservation system for American Airlines went down April 16, causing thousands of passengers to be stranded at airports and on airplanes. The system was later restored, but continued delays and cancellations were expected. Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/16/american-airlines-reservations-system-down-flights-grounded-nationwide/

  • To reduce the risk of sewage backups into basements during heavy rains, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District allowed 595 million gallons of untreated wastewater to spill into local waterways. – Associated Press

17. April 17, Associated Press – (Wisconsin) Milwaukee sewers spilled 595 million wastewater gallons into local waterways. To reduce the risk of sewage backups into basements during heavy rains, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District allowed 595 million gallons of untreated wastewater to spill into local waterways. The district pumped wastewater from its main tunnel into disinfection chambers at the sewage treatment plant and mixed it with chlorine before discharging it into the Lake Michigan as an emergency measure. Source: http://lacrossetribune.com/milwaukee-sewers-spilled-million-wastewater-gallons-into-local-waterways/article_411ead34-a715-11e2-9145-001a4bcf887a.html

 • A letter addressed to the U.S. President containing a substance deemed suspicious was intercepted by the U.S. Secret Service April 17 at an off-site mail facility. – Associated Press

20. April 17, Associated Press – (Washington, D.C.) Secret service says suspicious letter mailed to U.S. President, intercepted away from White House. A letter addressed to the U.S. President containing a substance deemed suspicious was intercepted by the U.S. Secret Service April 17 at an off-site mail facility. Officials are investigating the incident and are testing the substance. Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/secret-service-says-suspicious-letter-mailed-to-obama-intercepted-away-from-white-house/2013/04/17/fe4570f2-a772-11e2-9e1c-bb0fb0c2edd9_story.html

 • Officials are investigating an envelope that tested positive for ricin discovered at an off-site U.S. Capitol mail facility in Washington, D.C. The envelope was addressed to a U.S. senator and authorities are conducting a full analysis to ensure preliminary results were conclusive. – CNN

21. April 17, CNN – (Washington, D.C.) Envelope tests positive for ricin at Washington mail facility. Officials are investigating an envelope that tested positive for ricin discovered at an off-site U.S. Capitol mail facility in Washington, D.C. The envelope was addressed to a U.S senator and authorities are conducting a full analysis to ensure preliminary results were conclusive. Source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/16/us/tainted-letter-intercepted/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

 • Nearly a mile of Boston’s Boylston Street remained closed off April 17 along with some surrounding blocks as investigators looked for additional information surrounding the bombing of the Boston Marathon April 15. Pictures from the bomb scene showed remains of the explosive device including a circuit board, wires, and a battery believed to be inside a pressure cooker inside a nylon backpack that also may have included ball bearings, nails and other debris. – Reuters

42. April 17. Reuters – (Massachusetts) Boston bomb probe focuses on bags and pressure cooker. Nearly a mile of Boston’s Boylston Street remained closed off April 17 along with some surrounding blocks as investigators looked for additional information surrounding the bombing of the Boston Marathon April 15. Pictures from the bomb scene showed remains of the explosive device including a circuit board, wires, and a battery believed to be inside a pressure cooker inside a nylon backpack that also may have included ball bearings, nails and other debris. Source: http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/boston-bomb-probe-looking-pressure-cooker-backpacks-061852664--sector.html

Details

Banking and Finance Sector

3. April 16, Bloomberg News – (National) SAC's record $602 million SEC settlement approved. A settlement between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and SAC Capital Advisors for $602 million over insider trading was approved by a federal judge, but was conditioned on a future ruling regarding no-fault settlements involving Citigroup. Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-16/sac-s-record-602-million-sec-settlement-approved.html

4. April 16, Associated Press – (National) Hedge fund manager pleads guilty to Ponzi scheme. A Portland hedge fund manager pleaded guilty to running a $37 million Ponzi scheme in which he misused funds from over 100 investors from several States. Source: http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020793558_aporhedgefundguiltyplea1stldwritethru.html

5. April 16, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – (Arizona) SEC charges two Arizona-based brokers with defrauding investors in tankless water heater venture. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged two Arizona brokers with diverting at least $1.8 million in investor funds and fraudulently obtaining more than $6 million in stocks through a business venture they ran. Source: http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2013/2013-63.htm

6. April 16, KABC 7 Los Angeles – (California) '$5K Bandit' arrested after 4th robbery at same Los Alamitos bank. A suspect known as the "$5K Bandit" was arrested in Los Alamitos after his fourth alleged robbery of the same bank. He is suspected of robbing the bank once in 2011 and twice in 2012. Source: http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=9067235
7. April 16, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – (International) SEC charges Canada-based investment banker with insider trading. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged a Toronto, Canada-based investment banker with insider trading for allegedly using insider information from promoting investment ideas to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to illicitly make over $163,000 in profits on trades. Source: http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2013/2013-62.htm

8. April 15, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – (Colorado) SEC charges Denver-based businessman with insider trading. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged a Denver businessman with insider trading for allegedly trading on insider information he obtained from the CEO of Delta Petroleum ahead of a large investment into the company. The accused agreed to settle by paying $900,000 and being barred from the securities industry and from public company leadership roles for 5 years. Source: http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2013/2013-61.htm
For another story, see item 38
Information Technology Sector
34. April 17, Softpedia – (International) Oracle fixes 128 vulnerabilities with April 2013 CPU. A Critical Patch Update (CPU) from Oracle closed a total of 128 security vulnerabilities in its various products, including 42 in Java SE, 39 of which can be exploited without authentication. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Oracle-Fixes-128-Vulnerabilities-With-April-2013-CPU-345992.shtml

35. April 17, The H – (International) Apple updates Safari and Java 6 support. Apple released updates for its Safari browser that correspond to newly-released Java updates, as well as adding a function that allows users better control over when Java applets are run. Source: http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Apple-updates-Safari-and-Java-6-support-1843736.html?

36. April 17, IDG News Service – (International) DDOS attacks have increased in number and size this year, report says. A report by Prolexic found that the volume, frequency, and duration of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks have increased significantly during the first 3 months of this year. Source: http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/459331/ddos_attacks_increased_number_size_year_report_says/

37. April 17, Softpedia – (International) Bots used to attack Israeli websites on April 7 spread out in 27 countries. Trend Micro analyzed a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack by hackers, associated with Anonymous, on Israeli Web sites and found that most of the traffic came from outside Israel and that many IP addresses used in the DDoS attack were in botnets under the control of cybercriminals. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Bots-Used-to-Attack-Israeli-Websites-on-April-7-Spread-Out-in-27-Countries-346038.shtml

38. April 17, SC Magazine – (International) 'Magic' malware detected, with UK firmly in its sights. Seculert discovered a new variety of malware dubbed 'Magic' that can set up backdoors and may have other functions. The malware has gone undetected for almost a year, primarily targeting the U.K. with other targets found in the U.S., Italy, and Germany. Source: http://www.scmagazineuk.com/magic-malware-detected-with-uk-firmly-in-its-sights/article/289193/

39. April 16, CSO Online – (International) Tactics of WordPress attackers similar to bank assaults. Security researchers found similarities in recent brute-force attacks on WordPress Web sites and the methods used to create the Brobot botnet used in distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on financial institutions. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/041613-tactics-of-wordpress-attackers-similar-268753.html

40. April 15, Dark Reading – (International) Mobile malware up 163 percent in 2012, study says. A report by NQ Mobile found that malware targeting mobile devices increased 163 percent in 2012, and that the Android operating system was targeted by nearly 95 percent of mobile malware discovered in 2012. Source: http://www.darkreading.com/mobile-security/167901113/security/vulnerabilities/240152977/mobile-malware-up-163-percent-in-2012-study-says.html

For another story, see item 41 below in the Communications Sector

Communications Sector

41. April 16, SC Magazine – (International) “Syrian Electronic Army” defaces NPR website, Twitter accounts. Members of a Syrian organization devoted hacking into Web sites claimed they defaced National Public Radio’s main Web site, five Twitter accounts belonging to NPR, and its blog April 15. Source: http://www.scmagazine.com/syrian-electronic-army-defaces-npr-website-twitter-accounts/article/289036/


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