Complete DHS Report for
August 24, 2015
Daily Report
Top Stories
· Officials reported that toxic smoke was
still wafting through the area after fire crews contained an August 21 fire at
Alco Metal & Iron Company on Mare Island in California. – San Francisco
Chronicle
3. August 21,
San Francisco Chronicle – (California) Toxic smoke scare after
Vallejo metal recycling plant burns. Officials reported that toxic smoke
was still wafting through the area after fire crews contained an August 21,
3-alarm fire at Alco Metal & Iron Company on Mare Island in California that
destroyed a warehouse full of propane tanks, batteries, generators, and other
electronic waste, and prompted the brief closure of Highway 37 due to smoke.Source: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Ferocious-blaze-at-Vallejo-metal-plant-still-6457422.php
· New York health officials announced
August 20 that an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease was officially over, and
revealed that a cooling tower at the Opera House Hotel was responsible for
releasing the bacteria. – New York Daily News
15. August 21,
New York Daily News – (New York) Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in the South Bronx
officially over: NYC health commissioner. The New York City health commissioner
announced August 20 that the South Bronx outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease that
killed a dozen people and sickened another 127 was officially over after
revealing that a cooling tower at the Opera House Hotel was responsible for
releasing the Legionella bacteria in July. Federal health officials also
identified 14 South Bronx sites that tested positive for the bacteria, and were
subsequently disinfected. Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/legionnaires-disease-outbreak-south-bronx-article-1.2332192
· Fire crews battled at
least 15 fires in Washington that have combined, burned over 400,000 acres by
August 21, destroyed at least 100 homes and structures, and prompted the
evacuation of thousands of residents. – Los Angeles Times
18. August 21,
Los Angeles Times – (Washington) Washington state residents and officials are
worried about fires and money to fight them. Fire crews battled at least 15
fires in Washington that have combined, burned over 400,000 acres by August 21,
destroyed at least 100 homes and structures, and prompted the evacuation of
thousands of residents. Source:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-washington-wildfires-20150821-story.html
· About 13 buildings in Los Angeles
remained without power August 21 due to an explosion at a high-rise building
that left 4 people injured August 20. – KNBC 4 Los Angeles
27. August 21,
KNBC 4 Los Angeles – (California) High-rise explosion knocks out power in downtown
LA buildings. About 13 buildings in Los Angeles remained without power
August 21 due to an explosion at a high-rise building that left 4 people
injured August 20. The high-rise building was “red-tagged” and deemed
temporarily unfit for occupation, while the cause of the explosion remains
under investigation. Source: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Fire-Standard-Hotel-Downtown-322480471.html?4589
Financial Services Sector
4. August 21,
South Florida Sun-Sentinel – (Florida) ‘Filter Bandit’ robs eighth
bank, is considered armed and dangerous, says FBI. The FBI is offering a
$5,000 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect dubbed the
“Filter Bandit” who has allegedly stolen over $60,000 from 6 South Florida
banks since August 2014, including a SunTrust Bank in Coral Springs August 20.
The suspect is considered armed and dangerous.
Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-filter-bandit-strikes-again-20150820-story.html
5. August
20, Associated Press – (Virginia; Texas) Alexandria
man pleads guilty in tax refund fraud scheme. An Alexandria, Virginia man
pleaded guilty August 19 to charges related to a $20 million fraud scheme in
which he allegedly submitted false sales claims and tax refunds to Virginia and
Texas State tax authorities on behalf of 2 Ryan LLC corporate clients. Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/alexandria-man-pleads-guilty-in-tax-refund-fraud-scheme/2015/08/20/f4dd3336-473b-11e5-9f53-d1e3ddfd0cda_story.html
6. August 20,
Manassas Patch – (Virginia) Ex-fugitive pleads guilty to $7.4M mortgage fraud.
The former operator of Vilchez & Associates, Pino Title, and a branch
of Mount Vernon Capital Corp., pleaded guilty August 18 following extradition
from Peru to charges connected to a mortgage fraud scheme in which the suspect
and co-conspirators allegedly submitted fraudulent loan documents falsifying
the income of primarily Hispanic clients in Northern Virginia, resulting in
$7.4 million in profits and causing more than $15 million in losses to lenders.
Source: http://patch.com/virginia/manassas/ex-fugitive-pleads-guilty-74m-mortgage-fraud-0
7. August 20,
WCBS 2 New York City – (New York) FBI, NYPD see ‘Taxi Cab Bandit’ suspected in 6
bank robberies in New York. Authorities are offering a reward for
information leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect dubbed the “Taxi
Cab Bandit” who allegedly robbed 6 New York City banks, including a Santander
Bank August 19. Source: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/08/20/fbi-nypd-seek-taxi-cab-bandit-suspected-in-6-bank-robberies-in-new-york/
8. August 20,
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – (International) SEC charges
Florida man with participating in international boiler room fraud. The U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission charged a West Pam Beach, Florida man August
20 for his role in an international “boiler room”-type offering fraud in which
callers from Southeast Asia solicited $1.5 million from 58 investors in 14
countries for supposed U.S. securities purchases via a non-existent
broker-dealer, named Gruber and Green, Inc. The funds were distributed between
personal accounts of the suspect and bank accounts in Asia. Source: http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2015/lr23325.htm
Information Technology Sector
24. August 21,
Securityweek – (International) Thousands of hacked WordPress sites abused in
Neutrino EK attacks. Security researchers from Zscaler discovered a malware
campaign in which cybercriminals have compromised over 2,600 WordPress 4.2 and
prior Web sites in August by planting malicious iframes with redirects to
Neutrino exploit kit (EK) landing pages. The Neutrino landing page exploits
Adobe Flash Player vulnerabilities to inject CryptoWall 3.0 ransomware on
victims’ computers. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/thousands-hacked-wordpress-sites-abused-neutrino-ek-attacks
25. August 20,
Agence France-Presse – (International) New data leaked from ‘cheater’ site Ashley
Madison. Vice Media reported that Impact Team hackers released 20 gigabytes
(GB) worth of data August 20 related to a July Ashley Madison discrete dating Web site breach.
The release, containing internal corporate data and emails, follows an August
18 data dump of 32 million emails and user account information from the Web
site. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/new-data-leaked-cheater-site-ashley-madison
Communications Sector
26. August 20,
KJCT 8 Grand Junction – (Colorado) Widespread Charter outage hits
Mesa County. Overnight road construction in Mesa County, Colorado, August
19 damaged a Charter Communications fiber optic cable, temporarily disabling
Internet access businesses, residents, and schools for several hours. The State
Department of Human Services and The Workforce Center was closed due to the
outage. Source: http://www.kjct8.com/home/headlines/Widespread-Charter-outage-hits-Mesa-County-322291762.html