Complete DHS Daily Report for October 22, 2013
Daily Report
Top Stories
• A Vietnamese national is facing a 15-count
indictment for allegedly running two Web sites that sold the stolen personally
identifiable information of over 500,000 individuals, which he obtained by
posing as a private investigator. – Softpedia See item 5 below in the Banking and Finance Sector
• A Los Angeles bank branch manager was
charged with robbing her own bank of $565,500 by claiming that she had a bomb
strapped to her and was being forced to rob the bank. – Los Angeles Times See item 7 below in the Banking and Finance Sector
• Two inmates who were mistakenly released
from a Florida prison were rearrested at a Panama City motel after police
received a tip from an acquaintance of one of the men. – CNN
24.
October 20, CNN – (Florida) Friend
tipped off police to whereabouts of escaped Florida inmates. After receiving
a tip from an acquaintance of one of two inmates mistakenly released from a
Florida prison, police rearrested both inmates at a Panama City motel October
19. Authorities are continuing to investigate the forged documentation provided
to the Florida Department of Corrections, which included several fake
signatures authorizing their releases. Source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/20/justice/florida-inmates-mistakenly-freed/index.html?hpt=us_c2
• A Level 3 Communications Inc. network hub
caused an Internet service outage throughout the East Coast, causing slow to
nonexistent service for nearly 24 hours October 19. – Wall Street Journal See item 32 below in the Communications Sector
Details
Banking and Finance Sector
5. October
21, Softpedia – (International) Vietnamese charged in the U.S. for running
identity theft service. Federal authorities unsealed a 15-count indictment
against a Vietnamese national charging him with allegedly running two Web sites
that sold the stolen personally identifiable information of over 500,000
individuals after he obtained the data from a credit information bureau by
posing as a private investigator. The indictment was originally filed in
November 2012 and the man was arrested as he attempted to enter the U.S. in
February 2013. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Vietnamese-Charged-in-the-US-for-Running-Identity-Theft-Service-392976.shtml
6. October
19, Softpedia – (International) Hackers access customer database of hair care
company Ouidad. Ouidad notified customers that its user database was
compromised by cybercriminals that obtained names, credit card numbers, CVV
numbers, card expiration dates, contact and shipping information, and some
usernames and passwords. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Hackers-Access-Customer-Database-of-Hair-Care-Company-Ouidad-392698.shtml
7. October
18, Los Angeles Times – (California) Bomb-wearing manager
charged with robbing her own bank. The assistant manager of a Los Angeles
bank branch was charged along with an accomplice for allegedly stealing
$565,500 from the bank she worked at by claiming that she had a bomb strapped
to her and was being forced to rob the bank. Two other individuals were also
charged for their alleged role in the robbery. Source: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bank-manager-charged-bank-robbery-20131018,0,7357197.story
8. October
18, KATU 2 Portland – (Oregon) High-dollar fake credit card scheme lands men behind
bars. Two men were arrested in Portland October 16 after police followed
them as they allegedly made purchases using fraudulent credit cards, with
around $100,000 in gift cards and merchandise found in their hotel room during
their arrest. Source: http://www.katu.com/news/local/High-dollar-stolen-credit-card-scheme-lands-men-behind-bars-228401431.html
9. October
18, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – (International) SEC
files fraud charges against Yuhe International Inc., and its CEO. The U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission filed fraud and other charges October 18
against China-based broiler chicken provider Yuhe International Inc. and its
CEO for allegedly misleading investors by falsely claiming to have acquired
additional chicken farms prior to a public offering in the U.S., which
generated over $27 million in profits. Source: http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2013/lr22848.htm
Information Technology Sector
26. October
21, V3.co.uk – (International) Dropbox users hit with Zeus phishing trojan. Researchers
at Appriver identified a phishing campaign targeting Dropbox users that claims
a password was reset and then directs users to Web pages that offer to install
a browser update that is actually a piece of Zeus malware. Source: http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2301807/dropbox-users-hit-with-zeus-phishing-trojan
27. October
20, Computerworld – (International) Microsoft yanks Windows 8.1 update for
Surface RT after ‘Blue Screen of Death’ reports. Microsoft pulled the
Windows RT 8.1 update from its Windows Store October 18 after users reported
that the update caused a ‘blue screen of death’ error message caused by
corruption of the boot configuration data. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/102013-microsoft-yanks-windows-81-update-275018.html
28. October
19, Softpedia – (International) Fake Avaya voice message notifications carry
malware. A researcher reported that fake Avaya voicemail notifications are
being used to distribute a piece of malware that is currently not flagged as a
threat by most antivirus services. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Fake-Avaya-Voice-Message-Notifications-Carry-Malware-392713.shtml
29. October
18, Softpedia – (International) Sophos publishes Dirty Dozen spam report for
Q3 2013. Sophos released its third quarter 2013 Dirty Dozen spam report showing
which countries relay the most spam, with the U.S. continuing to be the largest
spam-relaying country with 14.6 percent of spam by volume. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Sophos-Publishes-Dirty-Dozen-Spam-Report-for-Q3-2013-392425.shtml
30. October
18, Threatpost – (International) Apache Struts update fixes two
vulnerabilities. A new version of Apache Struts was released, fixing an
access control vulnerability and a parameter issue present in previous
versions. Source: http://threatpost.com/apache-struts-update-fixes-two-vulnerabilities
31. October
18, IDG News Service – (International) Apple warns of SSD failures in MacBook Air,
offers free replacements. Apple warned customers that 64GB and 128GB solid
state drives (SSD) in MacBook Air laptops sold between June 2012 and June 2013
were failing and offered to replace the drives for free. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/101813-apple-warns-of-ssd-failures-274994.html
For additional stories,
see items 6 above in the Banking and Finance Sector, and 32 below in the Communications Sector
Communications Sector
32.
October 20, Wall Street Journal – (New
York; Pennsylvania) East coast internet traffic is restored. A broken
New York-area Level 3 Communications Inc. network hub caused an Internet
service outage from Brooklyn to Philadelphia with slow to nonexistent service
for nearly 24 hours October 19. Source: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304864504579145813698584246
33.
October 20, Tasos News – (New Mexico) Century
Link: Internet, cell phone services restored in Taos area. A cable damaged
by a construction crew caused an outage of Century Link cell phone and Internet
services for 11 hours in the Taos area October 19. Source: http://www.taosnews.com/news/article_2933389c-3938-11e3-9b57-0019bb2963f4.html