Daily Report
Top Stories
· The owner of
the Litchfield Inn was indicted by federal officials for allegedly defrauding
the States of Connecticut and Massachusetts of $43 million in tobacco tax
revenue between 2008 and 2012. – Associated Press; Waterbury
Republican-American See item 5 below in the Financial Services Sector
· Authorities are
investigating after three individuals were killed and two others were injured
in a mid-air collision that occurred October 23 when a helicopter on a training
exercise collided with a private plane near the Frederick Municipal Airport in
Maryland. – Washington Post
7. October 24, Washington Post – (Maryland) Investigators on scene of plane, helicopter
crash in Frederick. Authorities are investigating after three individuals
were killed and two others were injured in a mid-air collision that occurred
October 23 when a helicopter on a training exercise collided with a private
plane near the Frederick Municipal Airport in Maryland. The accident occurred
near Frederick Community College’s Monroe Center, prompting the school to
cancel all evening classes and activities. Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/investigators-on-scene-of-plane-helicopter-crash-near-frederick/2014/10/24/b26a5630-5b7a-11e4-bd61-346aee66ba29_story.html
· Several dozen
employees at Centene Corporation in Farmington, Missouri, were quarantined
October 23 after coming in contact with a suspicious package containing an
unknown white powdery substance that was later determined to be non-toxic. – KSDK
5 St. Louis
16. October 24, KSDK 5 St. Louis – (Missouri) Dozens quarantined at Centene. A
suspicious package containing an unknown white powdery substance prompted the
evacuation of nearly 100 people and the quarantine of several dozen when an
employee in the mail room of Centene Corporation in Farmington discovered the
package. Preliminary tests showed the substance to be harmless and the package
was sent to the FBI for further testing. Source: http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/local/2014/10/24/centene-corporation-suspicious-package-anthrax-ricin-white-power-substance/17811727/
· CloudMark
researchers reported that China-based designer goods counterfeiters are using
the Apple iMessage platform to spam users with advertisements in the largest
mobile spam campaign in the U.S. in 2014. – The Register See item 22 below in the Information
Technology Sector
Financial Services Sector
5. October
23, Associated Press; Waterbury Republican-American – (Connecticut;
Massachusetts) Owner of Connecticut inn accused of tobacco tax fraud. The
owner of the Litchfield Inn was indicted in U.S. District Court in Springfield,
Massachusetts, for allegedly defrauding the States of Connecticut and
Massachusetts of $43 million in tobacco tax revenue. The owner allegedly failed
to pay taxes on tobacco products between 2008 and 2012 and was accused of wire
fraud, money laundering, and other crimes. Source: http://www.myrecordjournal.com/news/state/5931663-129/owner-of-connecticut-inn-accused-of-tobacco-tax-fraud.html
6. October
23, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – (New York) Portfolio
manager agrees to settle insider trading charges. A former Galleon
Management portfolio manager and co-founder of Sedna Capital Management agreed
to pay $840,000 and accept bars from the securities industry to settle U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission charges that he participated in the nearly
$100 million insider trading scheme perpetrated by the man’s brother. Source: http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370543274751
Information Technology Sector
22. October
24, The Register – (International) iMessage SPAM floods US mobile
networks. CloudMark researchers reported that China-based designer goods
counterfeiters are using the Apple iMessage platform to spam users with
advertisements, the largest mobile spam campaign in the U.S. so far this year
and accounting for over 80 percent of all reported mobile messages in the U.S.
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/24/chinese_imessage_spam_floods_us/
23. October
24, Securityweek – (International) Cisco fixes 3-year-old
vulnerability affecting security appliances. Cisco released patches to
close a vulnerability in its AsyncOS used in several of the company’s security
appliances that could allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute
arbitrary code with elevated privileges. The vulnerability affects all models
of Cisco Email Security Appliances (ESA), Cisco Web Security Appliances (WES)
and Cisco Content Security Management Appliances (SMA) running affected
versions of AsyncOS. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/cisco-fixes-3-year-old-vulnerability-affecting-security-appliances
24. October
24, Softpedia – (International) Adobe Digital Editions now
encrypts data collected from users. Adobe stated that its Adobe Digital
Editions ebook software would begin using encryption to send data on users to
Adobe’s servers starting October 23. Researchers previously discovered the
transmission of user data and found that it was not encrypted, posing a
security risk. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Adobe-Digital-Editions-Now-Encrypts-Data-Collected-From-Users-463045.shtml
25. October
23, IDG News Service – (International) Akamai sees record-setting
spikes in size and volume of DDoS attacks. Akamai released their Q3 2014
State of the Internet report and found that distributed denial of service
(DDoS) attacks increased in average bandwidth by 389 percent over the past
year, among other findings. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/article/2838293/security/akamai-sees-recordsetting-spikes-in-size-and-volume-of-ddos-attacks.html
Communications Sector
26.
October 23, KMGH 7 Denver – (Colorado)
Verizon wireless service impacted in north metro area when drilling crews
hits fiber-optic cable. Wireless service was restored to Verizon customers
after several hours in the Broomfield, Boulder, and Arvada areas of Colorado
after a CenturyLink fiber optic cable was inadvertently damaged by a
construction crew October 23. Source: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/verizon-wireless-service-impacted-in-north-metro-area-when-drilling-crew-hits-fiber-optic-cable
27.
October 22, Hawaii News Now – (Hawaii)
Phone service restored after three week outage in Manoa. Hawaiian
Telecom landline services were restored to residents in Woodlawn Terrace in
Manoa Valley, Oahu, October 22 when crews replaced a portion of an underground
cable after services went down September 30. Source: http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/26851691/phone-service-restored-after-three-week-outage-in-manoa