Monday, October 27, 2014



Complete DHS Report for October 27, 2014

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