Complete DHS Daily Report for December
19, 2013
Daily Report
• PSE&G reported that two power outages in
New Jersey’s Bergen and Hudson counties that left thousands without power were
both caused by upgrade work at a switching station. – News 12 New Jersey
1.
December 17, News 12 New Jersey – (New Jersey) PSE&G explains
multiple power failures after two widespread outages in a week. PSE&G
reported that two power outages in Bergen and Hudson counties that left
thousands without power December 13 and December 16 were both caused by upgrade
work at a switching station in Ridgefield. Source: http://newjersey.news12.com/news/pse-g-explains-multiple-power-failures-after-two-widespread-outages-in-a-week-1.6631232
• The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
granted approval for the restart of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station near
Omaha, Nebraska, which has been idled since April 2011. – Omaha World Herald
6.
December 18, Omaha World-Herald – (Nebraska) Long-idled Fort Calhoun
nuclear plant gets green light to restart. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission granted approval December 17 for the Omaha Public Power District to
restart the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station near Omaha, which has been idled since
April 2011 due to flooding on the Missouri River and several safety violations
discovered in later inspections. Source: http://www.omaha.com/article/20131217/NEWS/131218891
• Researchers
identified a new ATM trojan that targets machines developed by a major ATM
manufacturer and can steal payment card information and perform other tasks. – Softpedia
See item 9 below in the Financial Services Sector
• A gunman opened fire on the third floor of
the Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nevada, killing himself, another
individual, and injuring two others. – CNN
17.
December 17, CNN – (Nevada) One person, gunman dead in shooting at
Reno medical building. A gunman opened fire on the third floor of the
Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno December 16, killing himself, another
individual, and injuring two others. Source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/17/us/reno-hospital-shooting/
Details
Financial Services Sector
9. December 18, Softpedia – (International) Skimmer
trojan targets ATMs made by
one of the world’s largest manufacturers. Researchers at Doctor Web identified a new ATM trojan
dubbed Trojan.Skimmer.18 that targets machines developed by a major ATM
manufacturer. The trojan is spread by an infected application, captures payment
card information, and allows criminals to collect the data and perform other
functions on an ATM using a master card. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Skimmer-Trojan-Targets-ATMs-Made-by-One-of-the-World-s-Largest-Manufacturers-410249.shtml
10. December 17, SC Magazine – (International) Report:
In 2013, more than one million U.S. computers were infected with banking
trojans. Symantec released a report December 17 which found that more than
1 million computers in the U.S. were infected with banking malware during the
first three quarters of 2013, the most of the countries included in the report,
among other findings. Source: http://www.scmagazine.com/report-in-2013-more-than-one-million-us-computers-were-infected-with-banking-trojans/article/326054/
Information Technology Sector
23. December 18, Softpedia – (International) CERT Poland
warns of DDoS botnet targeting Windows and Linux machines. Researchers at
Poland’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT Polska) discovered a new
distributed denial of service (DDoS) botnet designed to infect systems running
Windows and Linux operating systems and that can be used to perform four types
of DDoS attacks. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/CERT-Poland-Warns-of-DDOS-Botnet-Targeting-Windows-and-Linux-Machines-410223.shtml
24. December 18, Softpedia – (International) Experts
analyzed DGA.Changer malware served in PHP.net attack. Seculert researchers
analyzed the DGA.Changer malware that was used in an October attack on PHP.net
servers and found that its ability to change it Domain Generation Algorithm
(DGA) seed can make it extremely difficult to detect, among other findings.
Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Experts-Analyzed-DGA-Changer-Malware-Served-in-PHP-net-Attack-410551.shtml
25. December 18, Threatpost – (International) New DDoS
bot has a fancy for ferrets. Researchers at Arbor Networks identified a new
piece of distributed denial of service (DDoS) malware dubbed Trojan.Ferret
equipped with a number of obfuscation and self-preservation capabilities.
Source: http://threatpost.com/new-ddos-bot-has-a-fancy-for-ferrets/103226
26. December 18, SC Magazine – (International) Apple’s
Mavericks OS release comes with Safari browser patches. Apple included
several patches for its Safari browser in its recent release of the Mavericks
operating system, closing eight arbitrary code execution flaws and one
credential disclosure issue. Source: http://www.scmagazine.com//apples-mavericks-os-release-comes-with-safari-browser-patches/article/326270/
For another story, see item 10 above in the Information Technology Sector
Communications Sector
27.
December 17, WLEX 18 Lexington – (Kentucky) Two arrested in Powell
County copper theft. Two individuals were arrested December 16 by Powell
County deputies for allegedly stealing wire from telephone poles for copper,
causing more than $10,000 in damage. Source: http://www.lex18.com/news/two-arrested-in-powell-county-copper-theft