Complete DHS Report for
July 30, 2015
Daily Report
Top Stories
· About 15 million gallons of water spilled
out after a 54-inch pipe broke at the Crystal Springs reservoir July 27 in San
Bruno that went unfixed for over 13 hours. – KRON 4 San Francisco
18. July 28,
KRON 4 San Francisco – (California) 15 million gallons of water wasted. About 15
million gallons of water spilled out after a 54-inch pipe broke at the Crystal
Springs reservoir July 27 in San Bruno. Officials reported that the water leak
went unfixed for over 13 hours in order to ensure that water pressure in
surrounding neighborhoods would not be affected.Source: http://kron4.com/2015/07/28/15-million-gallons-of-water-wasted-in-san-bruno-water-main-break/
· The governor of Oregon ordered State
agencies July 28 to reduce water consumption by at least 15 percent or more on
average across all State-owned. – Reuters
20. July 28,
Reuters – (Oregon) Oregon Governor orders State agencies to reduce
water consumption. The governor of Oregon ordered State agencies to reduce
water consumption by at least 15 percent or more on average July 28 across all
State-owned facilities
on or before December 31, 2020. The executive order comes as the governor has
declared drought emergencies for 23 of the State’s 36 counties. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/28/usa-oregon-drought-idUSL1N10835R20150728\
· An alleged self-professed Islamic State
adherent was charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction
against a person or property within the U.S. July 28 after planning to remotely
detonate a timer bomb on a public beach in Key West. – U.S. Department of
Justice
25. July 28,
U.S. Department of Justice – (Florida) Florida resident charged with
attempting to use weapon of mass destruction. A self-professed Islamic
State adherent was charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction
against a person or property within the U.S. July 28 after planning to remotely
detonate a timer bomb on a public beach in Key West. The suspect was arrested
July 27 after taking possession of an inert device.Source: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-resident-charged-attempting-use-weapon-mass-destruction
· Investigators involved in a previously
unreported May or June breach of United Airlines’ computer systems reported
links between the hackers and the Chinese threat group that breached the
records from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Anthem Inc., among other
organizations. – Bloomberg See
item 35
below in the Information Technology
Sector
Financial Services Sector
9. July 29,
Associated Press – (International) Floridian last of 12 convicted in Texas for timeshare
fraud. A Florida man was convicted July 28 for leading a $10 million
timeshare scam in the U.S. and Canada in which he scammed over 5,000 timeshare
owners by hiring telemarketers to solicit fees in false buying promises. Eleven
other suspects have pleaded guilty in connection to the scheme.
10. July 28,
Montgomery News – (Pennsylvania) Two sought for allegedly stealing more than
$100K through fraudulent credit card accounts. Authorities reported July 28
that they
are seeking the owners of the Fort Washington-based Centra-Spike heating,
ventilation, and air conditioning company on charges that the pair allegedly
stole $124,981 by using stolen identities of at least 8 victims to obtain
fraudulent loans. Source: http://www.montgomerynews.com/articles/2015/07/28/ambler_gazette/news/doc55b7b4e598593326989643.txt
11. July 28,
Reuters – (National) Western Union’s Paymap to pay $38.4 mln over
mortgage ads. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported July
28 that Paymap Inc., a unit of Western Union Co., agreed to pay $38.4 to
resolve U.S. regulatory allegations that the company deceived consumers into
signing up for a LoanCare LLC program that promised false savings. LoanCare LLC
will pay a $100,000 civil fine, and both companies agreed not to advertise the
mortgage program’s benefits without providing supporting evidence. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/28/sec-paymap-settlement-idUSL1N10827Q20150728
For additional stories, see
item 21 below from the Healthcare and Public
Health Sector
and item 32 below in the Information
Technology Sector
21. July 28,
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – (International) SEC charges
Mead Johnson Nutrition with FCPA violations. The U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission announced July 28 a $12 million settlement with Mead
Johnson Nutrition Company over allegations that its Chinese subsidiary violated
the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by offering cash and other incentives to
healthcare professionals to recommend Mead Johnson Nutrition products at
government-owned hospitals. The company also failed to accurately record over
$2 million in improper payments made during a 5-year period. Source: http://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2015-154.html
Information Technology Sector
29. July 29,
Securityweek – (International) Russian hacker tool uses legitimate Web services to hide
attacks: FireEye. Security
researchers from FireEye discovered that the APT29 threat group is employing a
malicious backdoor dubbed “HAMMERTOSS” that utilizes a multi-stage process
involving social media, steganography, and PowerShell to hide malicious
activity within legitimate network traffic. Researchers believe that the
backdoor is only being deployed against critical targets, possibly as a backup
in case other tools fail or are disrupted. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/russian-hacker-tool-uses-legitimate-web-services-hide-attacks-fireeye
30. July 29,
Securityweek – (International) BIND update patches critical DoS
vulnerability. The Internet Systems Consortium released updates for the
popular BIND Domain Name System (DNS) software addressing a critical remotely
exploitable vulnerability in the handling of TKEY recorded queries in which an
attacker could use a specially crafted DNS packet to trigger a
denial-of-service (DoS) condition. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/bind-update-patches-critical-dos-vulnerability
31. July 29,
Softpedia – (International) Row Hammer DRAM bug now exploitable via
JavaScript, most DDR3 memory chips vulnerable. Security researchers from
universities in Austria and France released findings revealing that the Row
Hammer exploit can be initiated and actively exploited remotely via JavaScript,
making it the first documented “remote software-induced hardware-fault attack.”
Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/row-hammer-dram-bug-now-exploitable-via-javascript-488050.shtml
32. July 29,
Securityweek – (International) Black Vine espionage group attacked
aerospace, energy, healthcare industries. Security researchers from
Symantec reported that the Black Vine espionage group responsible for the 2014
Anthem system breach has been active since 2012, used custom-built malware,
zero-day exploits, and watering hole attacks to target organizations across the
aerospace, healthcare, energy, military, defense, finance, agriculture, and
technology industries, primarily in the U.S. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/anthem-hackers-targeted-multiple-industries-2012-symantec
33. July 29,
The Register – (International) Microsoft admits critical .NET Framework 4.6
bug, issues workaround. Microsoft released a workaround addressing a
critical codegen bug for those running 64-bit processes on .NET Framework 4.6,
in which incorrect parameters could be passed, leading to unpredictable
results. Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/29/microsoft_acknowledges_net_framework_46_critical_bug_issues_workaround/
34. July 29,
Homeland Security News Wire – (International) Cellphones can
steal data from isolated “air-gapped” computers. Researchers at the
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Cyber Security Research Center discovered a
way to use central processing unit (CPU) firmware-modification software to turn
an air-gapped system into a cellular transmitting antenna, making it possible
for any mobile phone infected with malicious code to use GSM phone frequencies to
steal data from infected air-gapped systems. Researchers recommended mitigation
measures including defined “zones” where mobile phones and other devices are
not allowed near at-risk air-gapped computers. Source: http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20150729-cellphones-can-steal-data-from-isolated-airgapped-computers
35. July 29,
Bloomberg – (International) China-tied hackers that hit U.S. said to
breach United Airlines. Investigators involved in a probe of a previously
unreported May or June breach of United Airlines’ computer systems reported
links between the hackers and the Chinese threat group that perpetrated the
theft of security-clearance records from the U.S. Office of Personnel
Management and medical data from Anthem Inc., as well as at least seven other
travel and health insurance organizations. Officials believe that the breach
may have compromised movement data of millions of Americans and opened the
airline’s systems to future disruptions and attacks. Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-29/china-tied-hackers-that-hit-u-s-said-to-breach-united-airlines
36. July 28,
IDG News Service – (International) Xen patches new virtual-machine escape
vulnerability. The Xen Projected released updates for its virtualization
software addressing a vulnerability in the CD-ROM drive emulation feature of
the QEMU open-source hardware emulator that could allow an attacker to bypass
the security barrier between virtual machines and their host operating systems
(OS). Source: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2952638/security/xen-patches-new-virtual-machine-escape-vulnerability.html#tk.rss_security
Communications Sector
37. July 28,
Jersey Journal – (New Jersey) 800 Verizon customers in Bayonne without service
after fiber optic cable is damaged, company says. A Verizon Wireless
spokesman reported that an estimated 800 customers in Bayonne are without
phone, Internet, and TV service after a fiber optic cable was accidentally
damaged July 28. Crews are working to repair the damaged cable and hope to have
service restored later in the day. Source: http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/07/verizon_customers_without_service_after_fiber_cabl.html
For additional stories, see item 34 above in the Information Technology Sector and item 41 below from the Commercial
Facilities Sector
41. July 28,
Associated Press – (California) Bomb threat forces evacuation of CHP building in
LA. Approximately 60 people from the California Highway Patrol
communications center in Los Angeles were evacuated for over 2 hours July 28
due to a bomb threat. Bomb-sniffing dogs and several police crews responded to
the incident and found no explosive device.