Monday, March 24, 2014




Complete DHS Report for March 24, 2014

Daily Report

Details

 • North Carolina officials announced March 20 that Duke Energy illegally pumped 61 million gallons of contaminated water from its Cape Fear Plant into the Cape Fear River over the course of several months. – Associated Press

1. March 20, Associated Press – (North Carolina) Regulators say Duke pumped coal ash into NC river. The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources announced March 20 that Duke Energy illegally pumped 61 million gallons of contaminated water from its Cape Fear Plant into the Cape Fear River over the course of several months, and issued the utility a formal notice of violation. Source: http://news.msn.com/us/regulators-say-duke-pumped-coal-ash-into-nc-river

 • Tonawanda Coke Corp., in New York was fined $12.5 million and its former environmental manager was sentenced to 1 year in jail March 19 for knowingly releasing hundreds of tons of benzene into the air and improperly handling hazardous sludge. – Associated Press

3. March 19, Associated Press – (New York) Coal-burning NY coke plant fined $12.5M for Clean Air Act violations; manager gets jail, fine. Tonawanda Coke Corp., was fined $12.5 million and its former environmental manager was sentenced to 1 year in jail March 19 for knowingly releasing hundreds of tons of carcinogen benzene into the air between 2005 and 2009 and improperly handling hazardous sludge on the ground at its New York plant. Source: http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/14d874ed573e4d429b3c3c4fa10f5e73/US--Air-Pollution-Criminal-Charge

 • The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) inspector general stated March 20 that over 200,000 individuals have been targeted by the largest phone scam the agency has seen, with over $1 million stolen by callers claiming to be IRS agents. – Associated Press See item 7 below in the Financial Services Sector

 • Authorities are investigating the cause of a March 21 fire at the Mariner’s Cove Motor Inn in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, which killed 3 people and injured 8 others, with 10 people remaining unaccounted for. – Newark Star-Ledger

24. March 21, Newark Star-Ledger – (New Jersey) Point Pleasant Beach motel fire kills 3, injures 8. Authorities are investigating the cause of a March 21 fire at the Mariner’s Cove Motor Inn in Point Pleasant Beach, which killed three people and injured eight others. About 40 guests were staying at the hotel at the time of the blaze, and officials are searching for 10 people who remained unaccounted for. Source: http://www.nj.com/ocean/index.ssf/2014/03/raging_point_pleasant_beach_motel_fire_kills_2_injures_8.html

Financial Services Sector

7. March 21, Associated Press – (National) Fake IRS agent scam bilks taxpayers of $1 million. The inspector general of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) stated March 20 that over 200,000 individuals have been targeted by the largest phone scam the agency has seen, with over $1 million stolen by callers claiming to be IRS agents. The criminals behind the scam obscure caller ID indicators to make it appear as if they are calling from a legitimate number, and in some cases know the last four digits of targets’ Social Security numbers. Source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/finance/fake-irs-agent-scam-bilks-taxpayers-of-million/article_1e830ad1-a47c-59d4-b3d3-c81a936921c2.html

8. March 20, Clarion Ledger – (National) Biloxi attorney pleads guilty to Ponzi-type fraud scheme. A Biloxi, Mississippi attorney pleaded guilty March 20 to running a Ponzi-like scheme though two companies with offices in several States that he used to commingle trust accounts with personal and business accounts and then divert and obscure the diversion of funds between accounts for his own personal use. Prosecutors are seeking more than $7.7 million in restitution for victims. Source: http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20140320/NEWS/303200030/Biloxi-attorney-pleads-guilty-Ponzi-type-fraud-scheme

Information Technology Sector

19. March 21, Softpedia – (International) GitHub falls victim of another DDoS attack. GitHub reported March 21 that it was the target of an ongoing distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack and was taking measures to mitigate the attack. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/GitHub-Falls-Victim-of-Another-DDOS-Attack-433465.shtml

20. March 20, Threatpost – (International) Google encrypts all Gmail connections. Google announced March 20 that it has switched all Gmail connections to HTTPS, with all connections using SSL encryption in order to protect users’ data and privacy from attackers. The change follows Google’s encryption of all links between its data centers. Source: http://threatpost.com/google-encrypts-all-gmail-connections/104918

21. March 20, Softpedia – (International) BlackOS: New malicious software used by cybercriminals to redirect traffic. Researchers at Trend Micro analyzed a piece of malware called BlackOS which automates the redirection of traffic from malicious or compromised Web sites. BlackOS started being advertised on underweb forums in February and is based on the “Tale of the North” software. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/BlackOS-New-Malicious-Software-Used-by-Cybercriminals-to-Redirect-Traffic-433325.shtml

22. March 19, Seattle Post-Intelligencer – (International) Ex-Microsoft employee charged with passing blogger trade secrets. A former Microsoft employee was arrested March 19 and charged with allegedly stealing Microsoft trade secrets while working for the company and sharing them with a blogger. Source: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Ex-Microsoft-employee-charged-with-passing-5331715.php

Communications Sector

23. March 21, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette – (Indiana) WBOI transformer damaged in outage. Officials with Fort Wayne’s public radio station WBOI 89.1 FM reported March 20 that the station will be broadcasting on limited signal strength indefinitely due to a transformer blow out on a power line that left the transmitter damaged. Source: http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140321/LOCAL/140329901/1002/local