Friday, August 16, 2013



  
Complete DHS Daily Report for August 16, 2013

Daily Report

Top Stories

 • Four people were transported to the hospital August 14 after an explosion and fire at the Per-Fix Environmental Services plant in Valdosta, Georgia. – WALB 10 Albany

4. August 15, WALB 10 Albany – (Georgia) Valdosta explosion identities released. Four people were transported to the hospital August 14 after a fire at the Per-Fix Environmental Services plant in Valdosta. Officials are investigating the cause of the explosions that caused significant damage to the facility. Source: http://www.wflx.com/story/23137707/massive-industrial-fire

 • U.S. authorities charged two former JPMorgan Chase & Co. employees with wire fraud and conspiracy to falsify records for their alleged role a 2012 scandal that cost the bank $6.2 billion. – Reuters See item 7 below in the Banking and Finance Sector

 • Affinity Health Plan was fined $1,215,780 after a 2010 investigation uncovered they failed to erase the electronic protected health information of 344,579 individuals that was stored on a leased photocopier’s hard drives before returning it. – Healthcare IT News

25. August 14, Healthcare IT News – (National) At $1.2M, photocopy breach proves costly. New York-based Affinity Health Plan settled with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for $1,215,780 after a photocopier containing patient information was compromised. A 2010 investigation uncovered Affinity Health Plan failed to incorporate the electronic protected health information stored on photocopier hard drives after nearly 344,579 individuals were potentially impacted when the company leased a photocopier, stored confidential medical information on its hard drive, and failed to erase the data after returning it. Source: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/12m-photocopy-breach-proves-costly

 • Firefighters continued to battle the nearly 112,000-acre Elk Complex Fire in Idaho as the number of structures destroyed rose to 81 by August 13. – Idaho Statesmen

26. August 15, Idaho Statesmen – (Idaho) Idaho’s Elk Complex fire burns homes at Fall Creek. Firefighters continued to battle the nearly 112,000-acre Elk Complex Fire in Idaho as the number of structures destroyed rose to 81 by August 13. Source: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/08/15/2706843/damage-assessment-from-elk-complex.html

Details

Banking and Finance Sector

7. August 14, Reuters – (International) U.S. charges two ex-JPMorgan bankers over ‘London Whale’ loss. U.S. authorities charged two former JPMorgan Chase & Co. employees with wire fraud and conspiracy to falsify records for their alleged role in attempting to hide hundreds of millions of dollars in losses during a 2012 scandal that cost the bank $6.2 billion. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/14/us-jpm-whale-charges-idUSBRE97D0QU20130814

8. August 15, KION 46 Salinas – (California) Central Coast Bandit linked to 6th bank robbery. The robbery of a Pacific Western Bank branch in Pismo Beach August 15 was linked to the “Central Coast Bandit,” the suspect’s sixth bank robbery. Source: http://www.kionrightnow.com/story/23141240/central-coast-bandit-linked-to-6th-bank-robbery

For additional stories, see items 33, 35 below in the Information Technology Sector
Information Technology Sector

33. August 15, Softpedia – (International) Frutas RAT used in targeted attacks against high-profile companies in Asia and Europe. Researchers at Symantec identified a cybercriminal campaign targeting high-profile Asian and European organizations in the mining, finance, telecoms, and government sectors that utilizes the Frutas remote access trojan (RAT) to collect information for future targeted attacks. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Frutas-RAT-Used-in-Targeted-Attacks-Against-High-Profile-Companies-in-Asia-and-Europe-375589.shtml

34. August 15, Softpedia – (International) ZeuS variant uses infected systems to check for availability of Instagram usernames. Researchers at RSA discovered a variant of the Zeus malware that infects computers and can then run search engine queries, check the availability of Instagram account names for use in selling fake followers, and automatically ‘like’ photos on Instagram. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/ZeuS-Variant-Uses-Infected-Systems-to-Check-for-Availability-of-Instagram-Usernames-375775.shtml

35. August 15, Softpedia – (International) Google releases patch for Android flaw that can be exploited for Bitcoin wallet theft. Google released a patch that closes an Android vulnerability in the SecureRandom class implementation that could be used to compromise Bitcoin wallets. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Google-Releases-Patch-for-Android-Flaw-That-Can-Be-Exploited-for-Bitcoin-Wallet-Theft-375610.shtml

36. August 14, Bloomberg News – (International) New York Times website back online after ‘internal issue.’ The Web site and email systems of the New York Times experienced an outage of more than 2 hours August 14 due to an internal server malfunction. Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-14/new-york-times-site-goes-down-amid-technical-difficulties-1-.html

37. August 14, Softpedia – (International) Chinese hackers develop automated tools to exploit Apache Struts vulnerabilities. Trend Micro researchers found that Chinese hackers created tools for use against vulnerabilities in Apache Struts that were recently closed in the latest Struts update. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Chinese-Hackers-Develop-Automated-Tools-to-Exploit-Apache-Struts-Vulnerabilities-375550.shtml

38. August 14, SC Magazine – (International) New ransomware threat “Browlock” freezes computers and demands payment. Researchers at F-Secure identified a new ransomware called Browlock being used against users in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K and originating on a server in Russia. Source: http://www.scmagazine.com/new-ransomware-threat-browlock-freezes-computers-and-demands-payment/article/307423/

39. August 14, IDG News Service – (International) Microsoft yanks troublesome Exchange security patch. Microsoft withdrew a security update for Exchange Server 2013 after it caused installation and access issues for users. Source: https://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9241641/Microsoft_yanks_troublesome_Exchange_security_patch

Communications Sector

See item, 33 above in the Information Technology Sector