Monday, August 24, 2015



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.

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