Friday, January 2, 2015





Complete DHS Report for January 2, 2015

Daily Report

Top Stories

 · Snowfall in California December 30 prompted a portion of Ortega Highway to close indefinitely and the 15 Freeway to close for several hours while fire officials rescued about 186 drivers that were trapped along Highway 138. – KABC 7 Los Angeles

5. December 31, KABC 7 Los Angeles – (California) Southern California snow: Nearly 200 drivers rescued, Ortega Highway closed. Snowfall in southern California December 30 prompted Ortega Highway between Riverside and Orange counties to close until further notice and the 15 Freeway to close for several hours overnight before reopening December 31. San Bernardino County fire officials used snowcats to rescue about 186 drivers that were trapped along Highway 138 near Crestline. Source: http://abc7.com/weather/socal-snow-more-than-130-drivers-stuck-15-fwy-ortega-highway-closed/456192/

 · Approximately 319 flights were delayed and 102 additional flights were cancelled at San Francisco International Airport December 30 due to windy conditions. – KPIX 5 San Francisco

8. December 30, KPIX 5 San Francisco – (California) Windy conditions cause 100s of flight cancellations, delays at SFO; travelers should call ahead. Approximately 319 flights were delayed and 102 additional flights were cancelled at San Francisco International Airport in California December 30 due to windy conditions. Source: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/12/30/windy-conditions-cause-100s-of-flight-cancellations-delays-at-sfo-travelers-call-ahead/

 · A partial wall collapse at a Morton Salt storage facility in Chicago December 30 caused tons of salt to spill into the adjacent McGrath Acura dealership’s parking lot damaging several cars. – Chicago Sun-Times

13. December 30, Chicago Sun-Times – (Illinois) Building collapse at Morton Salt on North Side. A partial wall collapse at a Morton Salt storage facility in Chicago December 30 caused tons of salt to spill into the adjacent McGrath Acura dealership’s parking lot damaging several cars. Authorities reported that the collapse was likely due to salt being stored too high and that inspectors were assessing the structural integrity of the building. Source: http://chicago.suntimes.com/business/7/71/247701/building-collapse-reported-morton-salt-north-side

 · Researchers found that 4G USB modems contain exploitable vulnerabilities which could allow attackers to gain full control of the machines to which the devices are connected to including smartphones, industrial control systems (ICS), and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) machines. – Threatpost See item 29 below in the Information Technology Sector

Financial Services Sector

4. December 31, KSNV 3 Las Vegas – (Nevada; Illinois) Seven face federal indictment in telemarketing scheme. Six individuals from Las Vegas and 1 from Illinois were charged by a federal grand jury in Las Vegas December 30 for their involvement in a scheme where they allegedly organized and operated 4 telemarketing companies and offered to help small business owners obtain grants from public and private entities in exchange for fees from about 2007 to 2010. Source: http://www.mynews3.com/content/news/story/las-vegas-federal-grand-jury-telemarketing-scheme/KKrMBsLApU-FMmdXE7I84A.cspx

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

Information Technology Sector

25. December 31, Softpedia – (International) Number of botnet control servers increased in 2014 – report. Spamhaus released a report December 31 claiming that the number of IP addresses that have served at some point during 2014 as command and control (C&C) servers increased 7.88 percent to 7,182 addresses compared to 525 in 2013. The report also found that the Zeus banking trojan was the most common type of malware followed by Citadel. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Number-of-Botnet-Control-Servers-Increased-in-2014-Report-468721.shtml

26. December 30, Securityweek – (International) Android malware increasingly packaged with HTML5 apps: Trend Micro. Trend Micro reported that hackers repackaged legitimate HTML5 applications into Android malware at an increase of 200 percent in 2014 compared to 2013, while the number of potentially unwanted applications (PUAs) and pieces of malware also increased, with nearly half of such Android threats being disguised as games. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/android-malware-increasingly-packaged-html5-apps-trend-micro

27. December 30, Softpedia – (International) Fake Apple store purchase notification lures to phishing page. A researcher with Hoax-Slayer found a malicious email campaign that delivers messages claiming to be from Apple and informs the user that TomTom navigation has been purchased from their store, and provides a link to cancel the purchase which leads to a phishing page in an attempt to steal banking information. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Fake-Apple-Store-Purchase-Notification-Lures-to-Phishing-Page-468678.shtml

28. December 30, Threatpost – (International) XXE bug patched in Facebook careers third-party service. Facebook rewarded a researcher who discovered a blind XXE (XML External Entity) Out of Band bug in its third-party service that handles resumes on Facebook’s careers page. The vulnerability was patched after the researcher found that he was able to upload a .docx file with some additional code that was not vetted by the third-party service, which could allow an attacker to carry out a number of malicious activities. Source: http://threatpost.com/xxe-bug-patched-in-facebook-careers-third-party-service/110151

29. December 30, Threatpost – (International) Majority of 4G USB modems, SIM cards exploitable. Positive Technologies’ researchers found that 4G USB modems contain exploitable vulnerabilities which could allow attackers to gain full control of the machines to which the devices are connected to, including SIM cards via SMS over 4G networks. The vulnerabilities could also allow access to subscriber accounts on relevant carrier portals, and the impact of attack methods include smartphones, industrial control systems (ICS), and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) machines. Source: http://threatpost.com/majority-of-4g-usb-modems-sim-cards-exploitable/110139

Communications Sector

Nothing to report