Complete DHS Report for December 16, 2014
Daily Report
Top Stories
· Heavy
rains starting December 12 flooded several roadways in southern California and
caused a mudslide that closed a stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway in Ventura
County, while rail service in the area was suspended. – KNBC 4 Los Angeles
10. December
12, KNBC 4 Los Angeles – (California) SoCal roadways closed by
mud and floods, snarling commute. Several freeways were closed in southern
California December 12 after heavy rains flooded northbound lanes of 170
Freeway in North Hollywood and a stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway in
Ventura County due to a mudslide. The severe weather conditions also led to a
suspension of the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner service and a downed tree caused
delays for the Gold Line railway in Pasadena. Source: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Mud-and-Floods-Close-SoCal-Freeways-in-Morning-Storm-285608191.html
· A gas
leak from an ice-resurfacing machine at the Poppy Waterman Ice Arena in Lake
Delton, Wisconsin, sent 81 people to area hospitals for carbon monoxide
poisoning after experiencing nausea, dizziness, and headaches December 13. – Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel; Associated Press
26. December 14, Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel; Associated Press –
(Wisconsin) Dozens sickened by carbon monoxide at Lake Delton ice rink. At
least 81 individuals at the Poppy Waterman Ice Arena in Lake Delton were
treated for symptoms related to carbon monoxide exposure December 13 due to a
leak that was discovered coming from one of the rink’s propane-fueled resurfacing
machines. Authorities are investigating the incident and an inspection of the
equipment was scheduled. Source: http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/dozens-reportedly-sickened-by-carbon-monoxide-at-lake-delton-ice-rink-b99408550z1-285749581.html
· Between
3,000 and 5,000 staff and visitors were evacuated from the American Museum of
Natural History in New York City December 12 after a fire sparked by
maintenance work on an air conditioning unit outside of the building sent smoke
into the museum. – WCBS 2 New York City
30. December
12, WCBS 2 New York City – (New York) Small fire prompts
evacuation of American Museum of Natural History. Between 3,000 and 5,000
staff and visitors were evacuated from the American Museum of Natural History
in New York City December 12 while firefighters ventilated the building
following a small fire that was sparked during maintenance work on an air
conditioning unit mounted outside of the museum. The museum suffered minor
water damage from the building’s sprinkler system and was expected to reopen
December 13. Source: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/12/12/small-fire-prompts-evacuation-of-american-museum-of-natural-history/
· Several
thousand U.S. retailers using older models of Equinox Payments’ Hypercom credit
card payment terminals experienced an outage December 7 when a security
mechanism was triggered by the expiration of the products’ cryptographic
certificate that was created in 2004 with a 10-year expiry date. – Krebs on
Security
33. December 12, Krebs on Security – (National) ‘Security
by antiquity’ bricks payment terminals. Equinox Payments officials reported
that U.S. retailers using certain models of its Hypercom credit card payment
terminals experienced an outage December 7 when a security mechanism was
triggered by the expiration of the products’ cryptographic certificates that
were assigned a 10 year expiry date in 2004. Company officials are working to
replace the certificates and return thousands of the bricked terminals to an
operational state. Source: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/12/security-by-antiquity-bricks-payment-terminals/
Financial Services Sector
5. December
13, Associated Press – (Pennsylvania) Bail bondsman charged with
writing fraudulent bonds. A Berks County bail bondsman and three other
employees of Ace Bail Bonds were charged December 12 for allegedly writing $2
million in fraudulent bail bonds between August and September. Source: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Bail-Bondsman-Charged-With-Writing-Fraudulent-Bonds-285656571.html
6. December
12, Chicago Tribune – (Illinois) ‘Play-Along Bandit’ sought by
the FBI. The FBI asked for the public’s help in finding a suspect known as
the “Play-Along Bandit” suspected in at least five Chicago bank robberies since
October 18. The most recent robbery tied to the suspect took place at a Harris
Bank branch December 7. Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-playalong-bandit-sought-by-the-fbi-20141212-story.html
7. December
12, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – (New York) Court
orders former managing director of the NASDAQ Stock Market to disgorge more
than $898,000 in insider trading profits. A former managing director of the
NASDAQ Stock Market was ordered to disgorge $898,107.92 in illicit profits plus
interest for engaging in insider trading using nonpublic information entrusted
to him by NASDAQ and listed companies ahead of nine announcements between
August 2006 and July 2009. Source: http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2014/lr23156.htm
8. December
12, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – (New York) SEC
charges Manhattan-based attorney with conducting Ponzi scheme. The U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges December 12 against a New York
City-based attorney for allegedly conducting a $5 million Ponzi scheme that
purported to invest clients’ investments in an investment fund that the
attorney was not in fact affiliated with. Parallel criminal charges were also
filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Source: http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370543693087
Information Technology Sector
20. December 15, Softpedia – (International) CloudFlare SSL
certificate used for phishing scam. A researcher with Malwarebytes
identified a new phishing email campaign that utilized a free CloudFlare
certificate in order to make a malicious link appear more trustworthy.
CloudFlare has since revoked the certificate. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/CloudFlare-SSL-Certificate-Used-For-Phishing-Scam-467356.shtml
21. December 15, Softpedia – (International) SoakSoak malware
campaign affects over 100,000 websites. A Sucuri researcher reported that
malware delivered from the Russian Web site soaksoak.ru has affected over
100,000 WordPress Web sites adding a code that adds a malicious JavaScript on
every page viewed on the affected sites. Google then blacklisted more than
11,000 domains connected to the malware. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/SoakSoak-Malware-Campaign-Affects-Over-100-000-Websites-467506.shtml
22. December 12, Securityweek – (International) Ursnif malware
steals data, infects files in US, UK. Trend Micro researchers detected an
increase in the number of Ursnif malware infections caused by a variant known
as PE_URSNIF.A-O that is capable of infecting files as well as stealing passwords
and other information. The largest number of the new infections were found in
the U.S. and U.K. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/ursnif-malware-steals-data-infects-files-us-uk
23. December 12, The Register – (International) Batten down the
patches: New vuln found in Docker container tech. A security researcher
identified an arbitrary code execution vulnerability in Docker that was
introduced in a November patch and could be exploited by including malicious
.xz binaries in image files. The developers of Docker released a new patch that
closes the vulnerability, and all users were advised to apply the patch as soon
as possible. Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/12/12/docker_vulnerability/
Communications Sector
24. December 13, WNYT 13
Albany – (New York) 911 services restored in Canajoharie. All
phone services, including 9-1-1 service, were restored December 13 to Frontier
Communications customers in Canajoharie after a small fire from a gas leak
damaged a line and knocked out service December 12. Source: http://wnyt.com/article/stories/s3648721.shtml