Friday, February 14, 2014




Complete DHS Report for February 14, 2014

Daily Report

 • A severe ice and snow storm across the southeast part of the country caused more than 729,000 customers to lose power, over 4,100 flight cancellations, dozens of school districts to cancel classes, and government offices to close February 13. – CNN

1. February 13, CNN – (National) Ice storm wallops southeast, stranding drivers, cutting power. A severe ice and snow storm across the southeast part of the country caused more than 729,000 customers to lose power, over 4,100 flight cancellations, dozens of school districts to cancel classes, and government offices to close February 13. Source: http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/12/us/winter-weather/index.html?hpt=hp_t1&nbd=5_things

 • A major natural gas pipeline explosion in Adair County, Kentucky, February 13 destroyed homes and cars and left at least one person injured while prompting an evacuation of nearby areas. – Reuters

2. February 13, Reuters – (Kentucky) Blast rocks Kentucky natural gas pipeline amid storm. A major natural gas pipeline explosion in Adair County, Kentucky, February 13 destroyed homes and cars and left at least one person injured while prompting an evacuation of nearby areas. NiSource Inc., announced it shut down part of its Columbia Gulf Transmission interstate pipeline as a result of the explosion after operating teams detected a drop in pressure and found the pipeline ruptured. Source: http://kdal610.com/news/articles/2014/feb/13/one-injured-homes-ablaze-after-kentucky-gas-line-explosion/

 • General Motors announced a recall of 619,122 model year 2005-2007 Chevrolet Cobalt and model year 2007 Pontiac G5 vehicles in the U.S. due to an issue with the ignition linked to 22 crashes and 6 fatalities. – USA Today

7. February 13, USA Today – (National) 6 killed in GM cars with worn ignition switches. General Motors announced a recall of 619,122 model year 2005-2007 Chevrolet Cobalt and model year 2007 Pontiac G5 vehicles in the U.S. due to an issue with the ignition where a heavy keyring or jarring can cause the ignition to switch off. The company is aware of 22 crashes and 6 fatalities related to the issue which can cause loss of power and a lack of airbag deployment. Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/02/13/gm-recall/5448319/

 • Police arrested 5 individuals February 6 in connection with operating a pill mill out of a clinic in California's San Fernando Valley that sold more than $5 million in medication. – Ventura County Star (See item 18)

18. February 12, Ventura County Star – (California) Simi Valley tip leads to 5 arrests in pill mill case. Police arrested 5 individuals, including a doctor and 2 nurses, February 6 in connection with operating a pill mill out of the San Fernando Valley. The 5-month investigation determined the individuals were operating out of Arleta Medical Clinic and selling prescriptions for pain pills and anti-anxiety drugs without doctors’ visits, valued at more than $5 million in estimated street value. Source: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2014/feb/12/5-arrested-in-connection-with-operating-pill-out/

 • The National Institute of Standards and Technology February 12 released its Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Security, a document which outlines cybersecurity practices and standards for critical infrastructure. – Threatpost See item 25 below in the Information Technology Sector

Details

Financial Services Sector

8. February 12, Kirkland Reporter – (Washington) "Cyborg Bandit" caught, wanted for bank robberies in two counties, Kirkland. Police in Seattle arrested a man February 11 whom they believed to be both the 'Cyborg Bandit' and the 'Elephant Man Bandit' responsible for a combined 30 bank robberies in King and Snohomish counties. Source: http://www.kirklandreporter.com/news/245276211.html

9. February 12, SC Magazine – (International) Gameover Zeus most active banking trojan in 2013, researchers report. Dell SecureWorks Counter Threat Unit released a report covering banking trojans in 2013 and found that the Gameover ZeuS trojan was the most actively observed trojan during the year, with 38 percent of activity, followed by the Citadel trojan at 33 percent of activity. Source: http://www.scmagazine.com//gameover-zeus-most-active-banking-trojan-in-2013-researchers-report/article/333795/

Information Technology Sector

21. February 13, Softpedia – (International) Oracle confirms existence of 30 security holes in Java Cloud Service. Oracle confirmed the existence of 30 security vulnerabilities in its Java Cloud Service reported to the company by Security Explorations researchers. The researchers stated that over half can be exploited to bypass the Java security sandbox. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Oracle-Confirms-Existence-of-30-Security-Holes-in-Java-Cloud-Service-426666.shtml

22. February 13, V3.co.uk – (International) Android apps with Trojan SMS malware infect 300,000 devices, net crooks $6m. Researchers at Panda Labs identified a new Android trojan app campaign that uses fake permission notifications to get users' devices to send SMS messages to a premium-rate number owned by the attackers behind the trojan apps. The campaign has infected at least 300,000 devices and netted the attackers at least $6 million. Source: http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2328691/android-apps-with-trojan-sms-malware-infect-300-000-devices-net-crooks-usd6m

23. February 13, Help Net Security – (International) Linksys home routers targeted and compromised in active campaign. A security researcher reported that an unknown vulnerability is allowing Linksys E1000 routers to be targeted and infected with a worm dubbed TheMoon. The vulnerability is currently being heavily exploited in attacks. Source: http://www.net-ecurity.org/malware_news.php?id=2707

24. February 13, Softpedia – (International) ASUS fixes vulnerabilities in RT-N66U, RT-N66R and RT-N66W routers. ASUS released firmware updates for three RT-N66 model routers, closing five security issues. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/ASUS-Fixes-Vulnerabilities-in-RT-N66U-RT-N66R-and-RT-N66W-Routers-426689.shtml

25. February 12, Threatpost – (International) US government delivers cybersecurity framework for critical infrastructure. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced February 12 that it has released the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Security, a document which outlines cybersecurity practices and standards for industry and government to consider when developing security programs for critical infrastructure. Source: http://threatpost.com/us-government-delivers-cybersecurity-framework-for-critical-infrastructure/104243

26. February 12, SC Magazine – (International) Pre-installed security software leaves computers vulnerable to remote hijack, experts reveal. Kaspersky Lab researchers released a report February 12 warning that the Absolute Computrace anti-theft software pre-installed on some desktops and laptops contains vulnerabilities which could allow attackers to remotely hijack systems. Source: http://www.scmagazine.com/pre-installed-security-software-leaves-computers-vulnerable-to-remote-hijack-experts-reveal/article/333808/

27. February 12, IDG News Service – (International) Denial-of-service vulnerability puts Apache Tomcat servers at risk. Researchers published a proof-of-concept exploit for a recently-disclosed vulnerability affecting Apache Tomcat servers that could allow attackers to execute denial-of-service (DoS) attacks against Web sites hosted on the servers. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2014/021214-denial-of-service-vulnerability-puts-apache-tomcat-278708.html

For another story, see item 9 above in the Financial Services Sector

Communications Sector

28. February 13, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – (Pennsylvania) Verizon fixes phone outages in parts of 412 area code. Verizon land-line service for 5,000 customers around Allegheny County with various area codes was restored after an outage that lasted more than 2 hours February 13. Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2014/02/13/Verizon-fixes-phone-outages-in-parts-of-412-area-code/stories/201402130276