Tuesday, February 4, 2014




Complete DHS Report for February 4, 2014

Daily Report

 • California water officials announced that they will not send water from the State’s reservoir system to local agencies starting this spring, which will affect 25 million people and the irrigation of 1 million acres of farmland. – Fox News; Associated Press

23. February 2, Fox News; Associated Press – (California) California cuts off water to agencies serving millions amid drought. In order to increase their efforts to promote water conservation, California water officials announced January 31 that they will not send any more water from the State’s reservoir system to local agencies starting this spring. The move will affect 25 million people and the irrigation of 1 million acres of farmland. Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/02/02/california-cuts-off-water-to-agencies-serving-millions-amid-drought/

 •The last 2 of 19 people were convicted for participating in a $154 million medical fraud scheme, in which hundreds of healthy patients had unnecessary surgical procedures performed in order to fraudulently bill insurance companies. – Associated Press

28. January 31, Associated Press – (California) 2 convicted in $154M medical insurance fraud that had patients undergo unnecessary surgery. A southern California doctor and an attorney were the last of 19 people connected to Unity Surgical Outpatient Center in Buena Park to be convicted for participating in a $154 million medical fraud scheme, in which hundreds of healthy patients had unnecessary surgical procedures to fraudulently bill insurance companies. Source: http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/242957201.html

 • Several schools across 7 States were closed while roughly 2,000 flights were delayed and1,500 flights were cancelled nationwide in preparation of a winter storm expected to bringseveral inches of snow along the east coast. – Associated Press
30. February 3, Associated Press – (National) Winter storm hits East, disrupts Super Bowl travel. Some schools across 7 States were closed February 3 while roughly 2,000 flights were delayed and 1,500 flights were cancelled nationwide in preparation of a winter storm expected to bring several inches of snow along the east coast. Source: http://news.msn.com/us/winter-storm-takes-aim-at-east-closes-schools

 • Police are searching for a convicted murderer after he was discovered missing from the Ionia Correctional Facility in Michigan. The inmate abducted a woman using a weapon before the woman escaped and called authorities. – Associated Press

35. February 3, Associated Press – (Michigan; Indiana) Convicted murderer escapes Mich. Prison. Police are searching for a convicted murderer after he was discovered missing February 2 from the Ionia Correctional Facility in Michigan. The inmate abducted a woman using a weapon and drove to Elkhart County, Indiana, where the woman escaped and called authorities. Source: http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/officials-convicted-murderer-escapes-mich-prison

Details

Financial Services Sector

13. February 3, InformationWeek – (National) Hotel company investigates data breach, card fraud. Hospitality company White Lodging Services announced that it is investigating reports of a data breach between March 2013 and late December 2013 that may have exposed customers’ payment card information. The company manages 168 hotels in 21 States under franchises including Hilton, Sheraton, Marriott, and Westin. Source: http://www.informationweek.com/security/attacks-and-breaches/hotel-company-investigates-data-breach-card-fraud/d/d-id/1113671

14. February 1, Associated Press – (California) LA men charged in connection with $33M bank fraud. Two Los Angeles men were indicted January 30 for allegedly altering financial records in order to obtain lines of credit that caused banks to lose over $33 million. The two men fled to Israel and have arrest warrants issued for them. Source: http://www.modbee.com/2014/02/01/3165168/la-men-charged-in-connection-with.html

15. January 1, Aberdeen News – (South Dakota) Broker found guilty of fraud. A Sioux Falls broker who represented RAHFCO Management Group and other similarly-named companies was found guilty the week of January 27 for defrauding over 100 investors of more than $20 million in a Ponzi-like scheme between 2006 and 2011. Source: http://www.aberdeennews.com/news/local/broker-found-guilty-of-fraud/article_984a94ea-21b0-5d8a-a6cc-dab52ee33e35.html

16. February 1, KNSD 39 San Diego – (California) ‘El Chaparrito’ bandit sought in 8 bank robberies. A suspect known as the “El Chaparrito” bandit is being sought by police in connection to at least eight bank robberies in San Diego County, with the most recent taking place at a Bank of America branch January 29. Source: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/San-Diego-FBI-Seeks-Short-El-Chaparrito-Bank-Bandit-243101491.html

Information Technology Sector

36. February 3, Softpedia – (International) PayPal and eBay websites defaced by Syrian Electronic Army. Attackers claiming affiliation with the Syrian Electronic Army hacktivist group defaced several pages belonging to eBay and PayPal. Affected PayPal pages included pages from the service’s French, British, and Indian sites. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/PayPal-and-eBay-Websites-Defaced-by-Syrian-Electronic-Army-423075.shtml

37. January 31, Threatpost – (International) DailyMotion still infected, serving fake AV malware. Researchers at Invincea reported that the DailyMotion video-sharing Web site continued to be compromised more than 3 weeks after malicious ads were first found on the site and reported. Source: http://threatpost.com/dailymotion-still-infected-serving-fake-av-malware/104003

Communications Sector

38. February 1, Associated Press – (West Virginia) 3 killed, 2 hurt in W. Va. cell phone tower collapse. A 300-foot cell phone tower fell and killed two S&S Communications’ contractors while a second collapsing tower killed a responding firefighter February 1 during maintenance on the tower. Two other workers were also injured in the incident. Source: http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2014/02/01/3-killed-2-hurt-in-w-va-cell-phone-tower-collapse/