Complete DHS Report for April 10, 2014
Daily Report
Details
• Toyota Motor
Corp. announced several recalls covering 6.39 million vehicles globally, including 2.34 million in the U.S., from model
years 2004 to 2013 due to five different defects. – USA Today
1. April 9, USA Today – (International) 5 defects lead
Toyota to recall 6.4M vehicles. Toyota Motor Corp. announced several
recalls covering 6.39 million vehicles globally, including 2.34 million in the
U.S., from model years 2004 to 2013 due to five different defects. Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/04/09/toyota-recalls/7497031/
• Highway 290
eastbound in Houston was shut down April 8 for about 17 hours while crews
cleaned up over 250 gallons of spilled diesel fuel caused by a semi-truck
crashing into a concrete wall, killing the driver. – KTRK 13 Houston
12. April 8, KTRK 13 Houston – (Texas) Highway 290 reopens hours
after fiery crash near Barker Cypress exit. Highway 290 eastbound at Barker
Cypress in Houston was shut down April 8 for about 17 hours while crews cleaned
up over 250 gallons of spilled diesel fuel caused by a semi-truck crashing into
a concrete wall and bursting into flames, killing the driver. Source: http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=resources/traffic&id=9495737
• Ottawa County
Department of Public Health officials confirmed April 8 that the norovirus
pathogen was the cause of an outbreak that affected more than 300 people who
ate at Wild Chef Japanese Steakhouse Grill and Bar in Michigan in March. – Grand
Haven Tribune
15. April 8, Grand Haven
Tribune – (Michigan) 300
sickened by norovirus at Wild Chef. Ottawa County Department of Public
Health officials confirmed April 8 that the norovirus pathogen was the cause of
an outbreak that affected more than 300 people who ate at Wild Chef Japanese
Steakhouse Grill and Bar in Holland Township, Michigan, in March. The
restaurant was professionally sanitized and met requirements set forth by the
department before it reopened April 7, following a voluntary closure April 1.
Source: http://www.grandhaventribune.com/article/928216
• Police took a
male student into custody after he allegedly went on a stabbing spree April 9
at Franklin Regional Senior High School in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, leaving
at least 20 people injured. – CNN
20. April 9, CNN – (Pennsylvania) ‘There’s a kid
with a knife,’ teen says of Pennsylvania school stabbings. Police took a
male student into custody after he allegedly went on a stabbing spree April 9
at Franklin Regional Senior High School in Murrysville, leaving at least 20
people injured. Officials announced that all elementary schools in the district
were closed. Source: http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/09/justice/pennsylvania-school-stabbing/index.html
Financial Services Sector
3. April 9, South Florida Business
Journal – (Florida) Two arrested in $70M
investment scheme for virtual concierge machines. Two men associated with a
virtual concierge service based in Jupiter, Florida, were arrested and charged
with allegedly running a $70 million Ponzi scheme. The U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission also froze the assets and accounts of the two men in a
civil action. Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2014/04/08/two-arrested-in-70m-investment-scheme-for-virtual.html
4. April 8, U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission – (National) SEC charges CVS
with misleading investors and committing accounting violations. CVS
Caremark Corp. agreed to pay $20 million in a settlement with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve charges that the company misled
investors and used improper accounting that artificially inflated its financial
performance. Source: http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370541437806
5. April 8, Bloomberg News – (International) U.S. seeks to seize $12 million in
Swiss-linked tax case. U.S. federal prosecutors filed a forfeiture action
April 8 against an unidentified individual and the individual’s father, seeking
to seize $12.2 million held in two unidentified Swiss banks due to an alleged
mail and wire fraud scheme that sought to defraud the Internal Revenue Service
of due taxes. The accounts were allegedly set up by a Swiss attorney who
previously pleaded guilty to committing tax fraud for more than a decade.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-08/u-s-seeks-to-seize-12-million-in-swiss-linked-tax-case.html
6. April 8, Chicago Sun-Times – (Illinois) “Benchwarmer Bandit” holds up Loop bank. A
suspect known as the “Benchwarmer Bandit” robbed a Citi Bank branch in the Loop
area of Chicago April 8, the fifth robbery linked to the suspect. Source: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/04/08/benchwarmer-bandit-holds-up-loop-bank/
7. April 8, Philadelphia Business
Journal – (Pennsylvania) General
contractor pleads guilty in $20M mortgage loan scheme. A general contractor
pleaded guilty April 8 to working with co-conspirators to defraud banks and the
Federal Housing Administration by inflating purchase prices on mortgage
documents for over 100 Philadelphia properties between 2004 and 2009, resulting
in over $20 million in fraudulent proceeds. The case also involves other
defendants associated with the KREW Settlement Services company that allegedly
ran the scheme. Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2014/04/08/general-contractor-pleads-guilty-in-20m-mortgage.html?page=all
8. April 8, Chicago Sun-Times – (Illinois) ‘Hooded Bandit’ strikes sixth NW suburban
bank. A suspect known as the “Hooded Bandit” robbed a Chase Bank branch in
Bensenville April 7, the sixth robbery linked to the suspect in the greater
Chicago area since February 2013. Source: http://voices.suntimes.com/news/breaking-news/hooded-bandit-strikes-sixth-nw-suburban-bank/
9. April 7, Nashville Tennessean – (Tennessee) Nashville man pleads guilty to bank fraud.
A Nashville man pleaded guilty April 7 to writing $1.2 million in checks from
the account of his employer Revolution Pictures Inc., depositing them into
accounts under his control, and filing false income tax returns that failed to
report over $816,000 in taxable income. Source: http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/crime/2014/04/07/nashville-man-pleads-guilty-bank-fraud/7440241/
Information Technology Sector
27. April 9, Softpedia – (International) Companies advise users to change
passwords due to possible Heartbleed attacks. Several private companies and
government organizations advised users to change their passwords in the wake of
the Heartbleed vulnerability in OpenSSL that could expose usernames, passwords,
and other secure communications. Security researchers also began posting
analyses of the vulnerability as organizations worked to close the
vulnerability on their systems. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Companies-Advise-Users-to-Change-Passwords-Due-to-Possible-Heartbleed-Attacks-436704.shtml
28. April 9, Softpedia – (International) Four vulnerabilities fixed with the
release of Adobe Flash Player 13.0.0.182. Adobe issued an update for its
Flash Player, closing four security issues. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Four-Vulnerabilities-Fixed-With-the-Release-of-Adobe-Flash-Player-13-0-0-182-436600.shtml
29. April 9, Softpedia – (International) WordPress 3.8.2 addresses 2
vulnerabilities, includes 3 security hardening changes. A new version of
WordPress was released for download containing fixes for two security
vulnerabilities and three changes that enhance security. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/WordPress-3-8-2-Addresses-2-Vulnerabilities-Includes-3-Security-Hardening-Changes-436613.shtml
30. April 8, Threatpost– (International) Last call for XP, Office 2003 updates:
April Patch Tuesday fixes 11 vulnerabilities. Microsoft released its
monthly Patch Tuesday round of updates April 8, including the final updates for
Windows XP and Office 2003, with 4 bulletins closing 11 vulnerabilities.
Source: http://threatpost.com/last-call-for-xp-office-2003-updates-april-patch-tuesday-fixes-11-vulnerabilities/105329
31. April 8, IDG News Service – (International) Cybercriminals use sophisticated
PowerShell-based malware. Researchers at Symantec identified a new
malicious PowerShell script that contains several ways to hide itself and can
inject malicious code into rundll32.exe. The finding follows the discovery of
another malicious PowerShell script by Trend Micro researchers known as CRIGENT
or Power Worm during March. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2014/040814-cybercriminals-use-sophisticated-powershell-based-280521.html
32. April 8, Threatpost – (International) Google patches 31 flaws in Chrome. Google
released a new version of its Chrome browser, closing 31 vulnerabilities, 19 of
which were rated as high priority. Source: http://threatpost.com/google-patches-31-flaws-in-chrome/105326
33. April 8, Softpedia – (International) 2013 threat report: 8 mega data
breaches, 552 million identities exposed. Symantec published its Internet
Security Threat Report for 2013, showing a 62 percent increase in data breaches
from organizations during the year, with 552 million identities exposed, among
other findings. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/2013-Threat-Report-8-Mega-Data-Breaches-552-Million-Identities-Exposed-436508.shtml
34. April 8, IDG News Service – (International) Yahoo email anti-spoofing policy
breaks mailing lists. Security researchers reported encountering an issue
with mailing lists after Yahoo introduced a new Domain-based Message
Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) policy to prevent email
spoofing. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2014/040914-yahoo-email-anti-spoofing-policy-breaks-280500.html
Communications Sector
Nothing
to report