Complete DHS Report for
May 18, 2015
Daily Report
Top Stories
· Officials
reported May 14 that Duke Energy Corporation pleaded guilty to 9 criminal
violations at several of its North Carolina facilities, and will pay over $102
million in fines, community service payments, and restitution.– U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
1. May 15,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – (North Carolina) Duke
Energy subsidiaries plead guilty and sentenced for Clean Water Act crimes/the
companies will pay a fine and conduct community service and wetlands
mitigation. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department
of Justice, and 3 U.S. Attorney’s offices in North Carolina announced May 14
that 3 subsidiaries of Duke Energy Corporation pleaded guilty to 9 criminal
violations at several of its North Carolina facilities, 4 of which involve the
2014 massive coal ash spill from the Dan River steam station into the Dan
River. The companies will pay a $68 million fine, a $24 million community
service payment, and provide $10 million to an authorized wetlands mitigation
fund, in addition to paying restitution to the Federal, State, and local
governments. Source: http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/12ec4eca30be9a5d85257e45006b4215
· Nebraska
declared a state of emergency May 14 after agriculture officials confirmed the
presence of H5N2 avian flu on a second farm in Dixon County. – Reuters
8. May 14,
Reuters – (Nebraska) Nebraska declares state of emergency in bird
flu outbreak. The governor of Nebraska declared a state of emergency May 14
after federal agriculture officials confirmed the presence of H5N2 avian flu on
a second farm in Dixon County, which contains 1.8 million egg-laying hens.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/14/us-health-birdflu-usa-idUSKBN0NZ29S20150514
· The U.S.
Department of Justice unsealed an indictment May 14 charging former Los Angeles
County Sheriff’s Department personnel for allegedly plotting to sabotage an FBI
investigation into corruption and civil rights abuses at County jails. – KTLA
5 Los Angeles
13. May
14, KTLA 5 Los Angeles – (California) Former L.A. County
undersheriff indicted, suspected of impeding FBI jail abuse investigation. The
U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment May 14 charging the former
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department undersheriff and the former
undersheriff’s captain for allegedly plotting to sabotage an FBI investigation
into corruption and civil rights abuses at county jails, after authorities
discovered that an inmate was an FBI informant. A total of 21 sheriff’s
officials were charged in the scheme that began in 2011. Source: http://ktla.com/2015/05/14/before-surrendering-ex-undersheriff-tanaka-calls-indictment-in-l-a-county-jail-corruption-scandal-baseless/
·
Approximately 100,000 Comcast customers in Boulder, Colorado lost internet and
cable service for about 8 hours May 14 after a work crew inadvertently cut a
fiber cable. – KUSA 9 Denver See item 16
below in the Communications Sector
Financial Services Sector
3. May 15,
South Florida Sun-Sentinel – (Florida) FBI hunts for serial bank
robber dubbed ‘Lucky Bandit’. The FBI is offering a $2,500 reward for
information leading to the arrest of the suspect dubbed the “Lucky Bandit”, who
is wanted in connection to 8 robberies in Pembroke Pines, Cooper City, and
Hollywood in a 6 month span. Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-lucky-bandit-fbi-hunt-20150514-story.html
4. May 14,
The Oregonian/OregonLive – (Oregon; Washington; Nevada) Theft
ring accused of using Oregon data breach to help steal $2 million in tax
refunds. Five suspects from Georgia and Maryland were indicted May 7 for
their roles in an identity-theft ring which they allegedly mined the personal
information of over 125,000 people to file $6.6 million in false tax returns
from 2013 – 2014, $2 million of which they successfully collected. Four of the
suspects have been arrested while one remains at large. Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2015/05/alleged_thieves_accused_of_usi.html
Information Technology Sector
14. May 15,
Softpedia – (International) Aparche fixes vulnerability affecting
security manager protections. The security team responsible for Apache
Tomcat discovered a vulnerability in multiple versions of the software’s
open-source web server and servlet container that could allow an attacker to
bypass protections for the Security Manager component and run malicious web
applications. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Apache-Fixes-Vulnerability-Affecting-Security-Manager-Protections-481312.shtml
15. May 14,
CNN – (International) Washington Post mobile site temporarily shut
down in apparent hack. The Washington Post confirmed that it was the victim
of an apparent hack May 14 after the paper’s mobile Web site was blocked and
redirected users to a site claiming to be run by the Syrian Electronic Army. No
customer information was impacted. Source: http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/14/politics/washington-post-mobile-website-hacked-syrian/
Communications Sector
16. May 14, KUSA 9 Denver –
(Colorado) 100,000 customers lose Comcast services. Approximately
100,000 Comcast customers in Boulder lost Internet and cable service for about
8 hours May 14 after a work crew inadvertently cut a fiber cable. Source: http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2015/05/15/100000-customers-loose-comcast-services/27353549/