Daily Report
Top Stories
· Pacific Gas
and Electric Company was issued 28 new charges July 29 and face proposed fines
exceeding $3 billion in connection to the 2010 San Bruno, California pipeline
explosion that killed 8 people and caused extensive damage to a neighborhood. –
Associated Press
1.
July 30, Associated Press –
(California) PG&E charged with obstruction of justice over deadly 2010
gas pipeline explosion. A federal grand jury issued new charges against
Pacific Gas and Electric Company July 29 that included an obstruction of
justice charge and 27 others for lying to federal investigators in connection
to the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion that killed 8 people and caused
extensive damage to a neighborhood. The company faces more than $3 billion in
total fines. Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/30/pge-charged-with-obstruction-justice-over-deadly-2010-gas-pipeline-explosion/
· Lloyds Banking
Group agreed to pay $370 million in fines to U.S. and U.K. authorities to
settle an investigation into the group’s role in manipulating the London
interbank offered rate (LIBOR). – Reuters See item 6 below in the Financial Services Sector
· A physician
assistant and a certified nursing assistant both licensed in Florida were
convicted July 28 for participating in a Medicare fraud scheme that totaled
approximately $200 million in fraudulent billings by American Therapeutic
Corporation. – U.S Department of Justice
18. July 28, U.S. Department of
Justice – (Florida) Physician assistant
and certified nursing assistant convicted in $200 million Medicare fraud
scheme. A physician assistant and a certified nursing assistant both
licensed in Florida were convicted by a federal jury July 28 for participating
in a Medicare fraud scheme that totaled approximately $200 million in fraudulent
billings by American Therapeutic Corporation (ATC). The two individuals, along
with co-conspirators took part in the scheme that stretched across seven ATC
locations by submitting false claims to Medicare seeking reimbursement for
mental health services that were not provided or were provided to ineligible
patients. Source: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2014/July/14-crm-791.html
· Six facilities
on the University of California, Los Angeles campus were damaged after a
30-inch water pipe burst July 29 spilling 8 million gallons of water onto the
roadway causing flooding and stranding at least 5 people. – Associated Press
19.
July 30, Associated Press –
(California) UCLA wades through damages from pipe flooding. Six
facilities on the University of California, Los Angeles campus were damaged
after a 30-inch water pipe burst July 29 spilling 8 million gallons of water
onto the roadway causing flooding and stranding at least 5 people. Utility
crews reported July 30 that repairing the pipe could take several days. Source:
http://news.msn.com/us/broken-water-main-floods-ucla-5-people-rescued
Financial Services Sector
4. July
29, KXAN 36 Austin – (Texas) Credit card skimming ring stretched
from Sunset Valley to Round Rock. Police in Travis County arrested a woman
July 25 on fraud charges for allegedly using a payment card skimmer to collect
customers’ card data from the Chipotle restaurant where she worked in Sunset
Valley. A skimmer found in her possession contained 527 card numbers and police
alleged that she was selling the numbers to a man arrested in April on similar
charges. Source: http://kxan.com/2014/07/29/credit-card-skimming-ring-stretched-from-sunset-valley-to-round-rock/
5. July
29, WCBS 2 New York City – (New York) Customs agents seize more
than $200k in counterfeit cash at JFK. Customs and Border Protection agents
at a John F. Kennedy International Airport cargo facility in New York City
reported that they seized over 2,000 counterfeit $100 bills July 15-16 that
were hidden in two shipments. Source: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/07/29/customs-agents-seize-more-than-200k-in-counterfeit-cash-at-jfk/
6. July
28, Reuters – (International) Lloyds Banking Group to pay $370
million Libor rigging fines. British financial institution Lloyds Banking
Group agreed to pay $370 million in fines to U.S. and U.K. authorities to
settle an investigation into the group’s role in manipulating the London
interbank offered rate (LIBOR). Source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101860773
Information Technology Sector
23. July 30, Softpedia – (International) Malicious Android apps can impersonate
trusted ones. Researchers at Bluebox Security reported a vulnerability
present in Android versions below 4.4 (KitKat) can allow malicious apps to
benefit from the access permissions of legitimate apps due to signatures issued
from a legitimate app not being checked. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Malicious-Android-Apps-Can-Impersonate-Trusted-Ones-452659.shtml
24. July 30, Securityweek – (International) Tor warns of attack attempting to
deanonymize users. The Tor Project reported that an attack that could have
broken users’ anonymity on the Tor network was detected July 4 and may have
been part of a research project. The attack used a combination of a Sybil
attack and a traffic confirmation attack, and the vulnerabilities exploited
were closed in a patch issued July 30. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/tor-warns-attack-attempting-deanonymize-users
25. July 30, IDG News Service – (International) Zero-day flaws found in Symantec’s
Endpoint Protection. Offensive Security researchers reported finding three
zero day vulnerabilities in Symantec’s Endpoint Protection product that could
allow a logged-in user to gain system access and perform attacks such as
identifying domain administrator cache credentials or hash dumping. Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9250047/Zero_day_flaws_found_in_Symantec_s_Endpoint_Protection
26. July 30, Threatpost – (International) Trio of flaws fixed in Facebook
Android app. Facebook issued an update for its Android app that closes a
vulnerability where an HTTP server used for video playback would accept
requests from any client, leading to the potential for attacks to cause a
denial of service (DoS) condition or transfer large amounts of data to run up
charges on a victim’s mobile bill. Source: http://threatpost.com/trio-of-flaws-fixed-in-facebook-android-app
27. July 29, Securityweek – (International) Many antivirus engines plagued by
vulnerabilities: Researcher. A researcher with Coseinc presenting at the
SyScan 360 conference reported that 14 of 17 antivirus products tested
contained at least one vulnerability due to a variety of factors. Some
vulnerabilities have since been patched, while the researcher reported that
others remain exploitable. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/many-antivirus-engines-plagued-vulnerabilities-researcher
28. July 29, Securityweek – (International) 70 percent of IoT devices vulnerable
to cyberattacks: HP. HP released a report on Internet of Things (IoT)
devices and found that 70 percent of devices tested contained serious
vulnerabilities, while 80 percent raised privacy concerns, among other findings.
Source: http://www.securityweek.com/70-iot-devices-vulnerable-cyberattacks-hp
29. July 29, Softpedia – (International) Instagram account hijack code
published. A developer released a proof-of-concept that exploits the lack
of HTTPS encryption in certain functions of the Instagram app for iOS that
could allow an attacker on the same network to intercept session cookies and
use them to take over Instagram accounts. Instagram parent company Facebook
stated that they are aware of the issue and are working to find a solution.
Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Instagram-Account-Hijack-Code-Published-452658.shtml
Communications Sector
30. July 29, KERO 23 Bakersfield– (California) Phone service outage in west Kern County.
A damaged cable knocked out Verizon landline phone and 9-1-1 services in
Taft, McFarland, and Glenville in west Kern County July 29. Crews worked to
repair the cut cable. Source: http://www.turnto23.com/news/local-news/phone-service-outage-in-west-kern-county-072914
31. July 29, Stroudsburg Pocono Record
– (Pennsylvania) Crews work to
restore Internet, cable after fire at Luna Rossa Cafe. Crews worked to
repair by July 30 a damaged fiber optic cable in Gilbert after Internet service
for PennTeleData customers and phone and cable service to Blue Ridge Cable and
Palmerton Telephone customers was knocked out when a fire broke out at the Luna
Rossa Cafe July 27 damaging the cable. Source: http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140729/NEWS/140729810/-1/news
32. July 29, Charleston Post and
Courier – (South Carolina) Comcast
restores service in Charleston County. Internet, phone, and cable services
were restored for Comcast customers in parts of Charleston County, South
Carolina, after a 6-hour outage July 28 due to a severed cable caused by a
tree-trimming crew. Source: http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20140729/PC05/140729296/1177/comcast-restores-service-in-charleston-county