Complete DHS Report for December 29, 2014
There was not a DHS Report published for
Friday, December 24, 2014
Daily Report
Top Stories
A Kentucky man who controlled Florida payroll
management company O2HR pleaded guilty December 23 to engaging in $53 million
in tax fraud, defrauding and misleading regulators, and conspiring to bribe
bank executives. – Reuters See item 4
below in the Financial Services Sector
Authorities are investigating potential
sabotage after a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway train heading southbound
from Prineville to Bend, Oregon, struck a rail December 23 spilling about 2,000
gallons of the train’s diesel fuel. – KTVZ 21 Bend
6. December 24, KTVZ 21 Bend – (Oregon) Bend
train’s diesel fuel spill may be work of saboteur. A Burlington Northern
Santa Fe Railway train heading southbound from Prineville to Bend struck a rail
December 23 spilling about 2,000 gallons of the train’s diesel fuel which
prompted the closing of Revere and Olney avenues crossings and the Greenwood
Avenue underpass for several hours during cleanup efforts. The railway is
investigating the incident as a potential act of sabotage. Source: http://www.ktvz.com/news/train-diesel-fuel-spill-closes-ne-bend-crossings/30372512
Two former administrators at Sacred Heart Hospital
in Chicago pleaded guilty December 23 for their roles in a massive Medicare and
Medicaid kickback fraud scheme. – Chicago Tribune
17. December
23, Chicago Tribune – (Illinois) 2 former Sacred Heart Hospital executives plead
guilty in scheme. Two former administrators at Sacred Heart Hospital in
Chicago pleaded guilty December 23 for their roles in a massive Medicare and
Medicaid fraud scheme in which doctor’s referred patients to the hospital in
exchange for kickbacks, netting tens of thousands of dollars. Eight other
doctors and hospital executives face charges in the scheme. Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-sacred-heart-hospital-fraud-met-20141223-story.html
A tornado that touched down December 23 in
Columbia, Mississippi, killed 4 people, damaged several businesses and homes,
prompted the closure of Highway 98, and knocked out power to at least 8,000
customers across 3 counties. – WDAM 7 Laurel
25. December 23, WDAM 7 Laurel – (Mississippi) Devastating
tornado rips through south Mississippi; 4 dead, many injured. A tornado
that touched down December 23 in Columbia, Mississippi, damaged several
businesses and homes, prompted the closure of Highway 98, and knocked out power
to at least 8,000 customers across Marion, Lamar, and Jones counties, including
one hospital that was forced to operate off of a generator. Four individuals
were killed and at least 50 others were injured by the tornado. Source: http://www.wdam.com/story/27697479/devastating-tornado-rips-through-south-mississippi-4-dead-many-injured
Financial Services Sector
4. December
23, Reuters – (National) Kentucky businessman pleads guilty to
$53 mln tax fraud. A Kentucky man who controlled Florida payroll management
company O2HR pleaded guilty December 23 to engaging in $53 million in tax
fraud, defrauding and misleading regulators, and conspiring to bribe bank
executives, charges that originated in the investigation of the failed New
York-based Park Avenue Bank. The bank’s former president and senior vice
president were previously found guilty on fraud charges and an alleged
co-defendant is also scheduled to go on trial in March 2015. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/23/usa-crime-tarp-idUSL1N0U721Q20141223
For another story, see item 29 below
from the Commercial Facilities Sector
29. December
23, Securityweek – (International) RSA report dives deep into
Backoff PoS malware. Researchers at EMC’s RSA Security Division released a
report analyzing the Backoff point of sale (PoS) malware, which found that the
malware’s operators may be based in India and have used the presence of exposed
surveillance cameras to indicate whether a potential target was a retail
entity, among other findings. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/rsa-report-dives-deep-backoff-pos-malware
Information Technology Sector
20. December
24, Softpedia – (International) Malware families distributed through
malicious campaign targeting WordPress sites. Researchers with Zscaler
identified a malware distribution campaign utilizing more than 50 WordPress Web
sites used by exploit kits as malware drop sites. The researchers observed the
Upatre and Hencitor malware droppers, Vawtrack (also known as NeverQuest)
banking malware, and Extrat Xtreme remote access trojan (RAT) among the malware
being distributed in the campaign. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Malware-Families-Distributed-Through-Malicious-Campaign-Targeting-WordPress-Sites-468301.shtml
21. December
24, The Register – (International) Rackspace restored after DDOS takes out DNS. Rackspace
stated that it has recovered from a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack
that began December 22 and lasted for about 11 hours, resulting in some
legitimate traffic to the company’s DNS infrastructure being blocked. Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/12/24/rackspace_restored_after_ddos_takes_out_dns/
For another
story, see item 29 above in the Financial Services Sector
Communications Sector
Nothing to report