Daily Report
Top Stories
· A spark in a
vacuum that pulls dust off grain caused explosions and a fire August 22 at a
Bunge North America grain silo in Evendale, Ohio, blowing out the windows to
the structure and sparking several hot spots. – Cincinnati Enquirer
13. August 24, Cincinnati Enquirer – (Ohio) Grain silo fire could take days to extinguish. Authorities
reported that a spark in a vacuum that pulls dust off grain was the cause of a
series of explosions and a fire August 22 at a Bunge North America grain silo
in Evendale, and that a system which runs water throughout the structure in
case of a fire did not work. Firefighters remained at the scene to extinguish
hot spots through August 24 and authorities must inspect the 214-foot tall
structure that had all of its windows blown out during the explosions. Source: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2014/08/22/fire-explosion-reported-at-evendale-factory/14440237/
· Sony
PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment users experienced issues and
were unable to sign in August 24 after the services were hit by a distributed
denial of service (DDoS) attack that was claimed to peak at 263.35 Gbps. – Softpedia See item 26
below in the Information Technology
Sector
· Internet
services were restored to hundreds of thousands of Charter Communications Inc.
customers throughout the nation August 24 following a widespread outage August
23. – WEAU 13 Eau Claire See
item 29 below in the Communications
Sector
· An earthquake
struck northern California August 24, damaging several buildings and vineyards,
sparking a fire in a mobile home park, causing water main leaks, and leaving
more than 15,000 customers without power in Napa, Sonoma, and Santa Rosa
Counties. – ABC News; Associated Press
31.
August 24, ABC News; Associated Press –
(California) Strong California quake causes injuries, damage. A
magnitude-6.0 – 6.1 earthquake dubbed the South Napa Earthquake struck August
24, damaging several commercial and government buildings, sparking a fire in a
mobile home park, damaging vineyards, causing dozens of water main leaks, and
leaving more than 15,000 customers without power in Napa, Sonoma, and Santa
Rosa Counties. At least 120 individuals were treated for injuries, and Napa
Valley Unified School District schools were closed August 25. Source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/northern-california-cleaning-strongest-earthquake-25-years/story?id=25110109
Financial Services Sector
6. August
23, KNSD 39 San Diego – (California) Bandit accused in four bank
robberies busted. The FBI announced August 22 that a San Diego man was
arrested August 19 for allegedly conducting at least four bank robberies in San
Diego between July 25 and August 18. Source: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/San-Diego-Bank-Bandits-Ronald-Timberland-Arrested-Charged-272439651.html
For additional stories, see items 35 and 36 below from the Commercial Facilities
Sector
35. August
23, Softpedia – (International) Backoff PoS malware impacts more
than 1,000 businesses. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued an
advisory August 22 encouraging retailers to evaluate their payment systems to
determine if their assets may be vulnerable or compromised by a recently
discovered point of sale (PoS) malware dubbed BackOff which is believed to have
affected over 1,000 businesses since October 2013. The malware was recently
leveraged to attack United Parcel Service (UPS) systems in 51 locations across
the U.S. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Backoff-PoS-Malware-Impacts-More-than-1-000-Businesses-456106.shtml
36. August
22, WCSH 6 Portland – (Maine) Data breach discovered at OTTO's
Portland locations. OTTO Pizza reported August 22 that about 900 of its
customers were notified that the company suffered a point-of-sale attack
between May 1 and August 13 at its Portland locations and hackers may have
accessed some customers’ payment card information. The hard drives of the
affected terminals were replaced and additional firewall and monitoring software
was installed after the breach was detected. Source: http://www.wcsh6.com/story/news/local/portland/2014/08/22/data-breach-discovered-at-ottos-portland-locations/14450607/
Information Technology Sector
26. August 25, Softpedia – (International) 263.35 Gbps of traffic aimed at one
Sony server during DDoS attack. Users of Sony’s PlayStation Network and
Sony Online Entertainment services experienced issues and were unable to sign
in August 24 after the services were hit by a distributed denial of service
(DDoS) attack that was claimed by the attacker to peak at 263.35 Gbps. A
separate group attempted to take credit for the attack and tweeted a bomb scare
regarding a Dallas-to-San Diego flight that was carrying a Sony executive.
Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/263-35-Gbps-of-Traffic-Aimed-At-One-Sony-Server-During-DDoS-Attack-456205.shtml
27. August 25, Softpedia – (International) FlashPack exploit kit shared through
social media buttons add-on. Researchers with Trend Micro observed the
FlashPack exploit kit being distributed to users through social media sharing
buttons on Web sites. The exploit kit attempts to exploit vulnerabilities in
Adobe Flash and is mostly targeting users in Japan at present. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/FlashPack-Exploit-Kit-Shared-Through-Social-Media-Buttons-Add-On-456317.shtml
28. August 23, Softpedia – (International) MeetMe social network systems
breached. Social network MeetMe reported that it was compromised by
attackers between August 5 and August 7 who were able to obtain an unspecified
number of users’ encrypted user names, passwords, and email addresses. The
company advised users to change their passwords as a precaution. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/MeetMe-Social-Network-Systems-Breached-456085.shtml
For additional stories, see item 10 below from the Transportation Systems Sector, item 29 below
in the Communications Sector and items 35 and 36 above
from the Commercial Facilities Sector in the Financial
Services Sector
10. August
24, KTCT 11 Fort Worth – (Arizona) Bomb threat tweets cause AA
plane to be diverted. An American Airlines fight en route to San Diego from
Dallas was diverted to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport August 24 due to a
security-related issue when a hacker group called Lizard Squad tweeted to the
airline about reports of an explosive onboard. The 185 passengers and
crewmembers on board were evacuated off the plane as federal authorities
investigated and determined the aircraft was clear. Source: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/08/24/hackers-bomb-threat-tweets-cause-american-airlines-plan-to-be-diverted/
Communications Sector
29.
August 24, WEAU 13 Eau Claire –
(National) Charter: Internet services restored following outage. Internet
services were restored to hundreds of thousands of Charter Communications Inc.
customers throughout the nation August 24 following a widespread outage August
23. Source: http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/Charter-Communications-working-on-internet-outage-272445941.html
30.
August 22, WRAL 5 Raleigh – (North
Carolina) Goldsboro police: Man stole $80,000 in equipment from cellphone
tower. A man in Pikeville was charged with felony possession of stolen
goods August 21 for allegedly stealing more than $80,000 worth of equipment
from a cellphone tower in Goldsboro. Source: http://www.wral.com/goldsboro-police-man-stole-80-000-in-equipment-from-cellphone-tower/13914958/