Thursday, June 18, 2015

Complete DHS Report for June 18, 2015

Daily Report

Top Stories

 · Toyota Motor Corporation expanded recalls June 16 for 1.37 million vehicles due to ongoing issues with airbag inflators manufactured by the Takata Corporation that could cause airbags to prematurely inflate or explode. – CNBC

6. June 16, CNBC – (National) Toyota expanding U.S. airbag-related recalls by 1.37M vehicles. Toyota Motor Corporation reported expanded recalls June 16 for 1.37 million model year 2003 – 2007 Corolla and Corolla Matrix, 2005 – 2006 Tundra, 2005 – 2007 Sequoia, and 2003 – 2007 Lexus SC430 vehicles due to ongoing issues with airbag inflators manufactured by the Takata Corporation that could cause airbags to prematurely inflate or explode.

 · California authorities arrested 2 people June 16 after discovering thousands of stolen credit, identification, Social Security cards, income tax documents, and more in their vehicle’s trunk. – KABC 7 Los Angeles See item 7 below in the Financial Services Sector

 · The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced June 16 that food manufacturers will have 3 years to remove partially hydrogenated oils from products unless specifically approved. – U.S. Food and Drug Administration

14. June 16, U.S. Food and Drug Administration – (National) The FDA takes step to remove artificial trans fats in processed foods. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced June 16 that partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), a source of artificial trans fat, are not “generally recognized as safe” for use in human food and food manufacturers will have a compliance period of three years to remove PHOs from products. Following the compliance period, no PHOs can be added to human food unless approved by the FDA. Source: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm451237.htm

 · The director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management claimed June 16 that the agency fends off an average of 10 million hacking attempts per month and that the number of attacks will increase. – Bloomberg

21. June 16, Bloomberg – (National) U.S. jobs agency thwarts 10 million hacks a month, director says. The director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management claimed June 16 in a U.S. House of Representatives committee hearing that the agency fends off an average of 10 million hacking attempts per month, and that the number of attacks will increase. Officials reported that the June breach may have compromised personal information of up to 14 million current and former Federal employees and their associates. Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-16/u-s-jobs-agency-thwarts-10-million-hacks-a-month-director-says

Financial Services Sector

7. June 16, KABC 7 Los Angeles – (California) 2 arrested for stealing thousands of credit, ID, Social Security cards in Highland. Highland, California authorities arrested 2 people June 16 after discovering thousands of stolen credit, identification, Social Security cards, income tax documents, and more in their vehicle’s trunk, as well as an embossing machine allegedly used to flatten names on cards for replacement. The investigation is ongoing. Source: http://abc7.com/news/2-arrested-for-stealing-thousands-of-credit-id-social-security-cards-in-highland/789473/

8. June 16, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – (National) SEC announces charges against retirement plan custodian in connection with Ponzi scheme. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges June 16 against Westlake, Ohio-based Equity Trust Company, alleging that the company failed to protect its customers from a Ponzi retirement fund investment scheme that 2 representatives used to defraud over 100 investors out of more than $5 million. The two representatives were indicted for alleged offering fraud in New Jersey. Source: http://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2015-121.html

Information Technology Sector

26. June 17, Softpedia – (International) Retrospect clients patched to prevent exposure of backup files. Retrospect Inc., released a patch addressing a password hashing vulnerability in its network backup utility for Apple, Linux, and Microsoft Windows operating systems (OS) in which an attacker with access to networked clients could gain access to users’ backup files. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Retrospect-Clients-Patched-to-Prevent-Exposure-of-Backup-Files-484577.shtml

27. June 17, Softpedia – (International) Over 600 million Samsung devices vulnerable to keyboard security risk. Security researchers at NowSecure discovered a remote code execution vulnerability in the SwiftKey Android app in which an attacker could access device sensors, pictures, and text messages, alter or install apps, or listen to voice-calls. The vulnerability was patched in early 2015. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Over-600-Million-Samsung-Devices-Vulnerable-to-Keyboard-Security-Risk-484562.shtml

28. June 16, SC Magazine – (International) Study: 15-30 percent of eCommerce site visitors infected with CSIM. A report released by Namogoo revealed that 15 – 30 percent of eCommerce site visitors are infected with client-side injected malware (CSIM), and that attacks have increased by 20 percent in the last 6 months, among other findings. Source: http://www.scmagazine.com/namogoo-study-shows-nearly-a-third-of-ecommerce-site-visitors-could-be-infected-with-csim/article/420346/

For additional stories, see item 1 below from the Energy Sector and 20 below from the Government Facilities Sector

1. June 17, Threatpost – (National) Plaintext credentials threaten RLE wind turbine HMI. The DHS Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) issued an advisory after a security researcher discovered a vulnerability in the Nova-Wind Turbine human-machine interface (HMI) for turbines manufactured by RLE International GmbH in which an attacker could leverage credentials stored in plaintext to perform actions on the device, resulting in a possible loss of power for all attached systems. Source: https://threatpost.com/plaintext-credentials-threaten-rle-wind-turbine-hmi/113354

20. June 16, SC Magazine – (North Dakota) North Dakota Workforce Safety Institute experiences a breach. Authorities reported that about 43,000 incident reports and 13,000 payroll reports containing Social Security, names, employer, and medical information for employee and worker reports filled online between 2006 – 2013 were compromised in a breach of the North Dakota Workforce and Safety Institute (WSI) servers. The WSI became aware of the breach June 10 and is offering free identity repair services to affected individuals. Source: http://www.scmagazine.com/north-dakota-wsi-experiences-breach-thousands-at-risk/article/421053/

Communications Sector

29. June 17, KMA 960 AM Shenandoah – (Iowa) CenturyLink service has reportedly been restored. CenturyLink customers in Page and Montgomery counties along with customers in Fremont, Mills and Taylor counties were impacted by an Internet and telephone outage June 16 – 17 that affected 9-1-1 service. Source: http://www.kmaland.com/news/centurylink-problems-persist-this-morning/article_9d1edca8-14dc-11e5-b838-ef28d41ab8c9.html

For another story, see item 27 above in the Information Technology Sector