Wednesday, September 16, 2015



Complete DHS Report for September 16, 2015

Daily Report                                            

Top Stories

 • New York officials conducted an inspection September 14 on rail cars and tracks across the State and found 95 defects. – Albany Times Union

8. September 14, Albany Times Union – (New York) Inspectors find four ‘critical’ safety defects on CSX tracks. New York Department of Transportation and the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration conducted an inspection September 14 on rail cars and tracks across the State and found 95 defects, 4 of which were considered critical including damaged hazardous materials placards, thin brake shoes, and inoperative lights, among other findings. Railroads were given 30 days to repair noncritical defects. Source: http://blog.timesunion.com/business/inspectors-find-four-critical-safety-defects-on-csx-tracks/68925/

 • Classes were cancelled September 15 at Delta State University in Mississippi after a teacher shot and killed his live-in girlfriend September 14 and then shot and killed another teacher at the university’s Cleveland campus before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.– Jackson Clarion-Ledger; USA Today

13. September 15, Jackson Clarion-Ledger; USA Today – (Mississippi) Police: Delta State killer turned gun on himself. Classes were cancelled September 15 at Delta State University in Mississippi after a teacher shot and killed his live-in girlfriend in Gautier September 14 and then shot and killed another teacher at the university’s Cleveland campus before apparently dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound when he was confronted by police. The university was placed on lockdown and students were dismissed while police pursued the teacher. Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/09/14/mississippi-shooter-delta-state-university/72255856/

 • Two high school students in Houston, Texas, were killed and 2 others were hurt along with the bus driver September 15 after their school bus was involved in an accident. – Houston Chronicle

14. September 15, Houston Chronicle – (Texas) 2 students dead, 2 others and bus driver injured as school bus plummets from 610 loop in Houston. Two Furr High School students were killed and 2 others were hurt along with the bus driver September 15 after their school bus reportedly overcorrected when it was struck by another vehicle and careened from the overpass, plunging from the 640 Loop in southeast Houston. Source: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/school-bus-crash-along-south-loop/ar-AAejauv

 • Security researchers discovered attacks across multiple industries and government agencies on 3 continents in which Cisco 1841, 2811, and 3825 routers were implanted with the SYNful Knock malware. – Reuters See item 21 below in the Information Technology Sector

Financial Services Sector

4. September 15, Denver Post – (Colorado) FirstBank warns customers some local ATMs had illegal “skimmers.” FirstBank notified an undetermined number of customers that their accounts may have been breached after the bank found skimming devices on ATMs inside grocery stores at University Blvd in Englewood, E. Ninth Avenue in Denver, and 30th Street in Boulder. The bank has issued new cards to users and older cards will no longer work starting September 15.Source: http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_28811727/firstbank-warns-customers-some-local-atms-had-illegal

5. September 14, Reuters – (National) U.S. charges two more in multimillion-dollar text message fraud. Two men were charged on September 14 for allegedly helping a “cramming” scheme which involved charging thousands of unsuspecting mobile phone users $9.99 a month for unsolicited texts from 2011 - 2013 by using their positions as mobile aggregator executives to continue and protect the scheme. Six other suspects were previously charged in connection to the scheme. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/14/usa-crime-textmessaging-idUSL1N11K1YX20150914

Information Technology Sector

19. September 15, Help Net Security – (International) The rise of repeated “low and slow” DDoS attacks. Neustar released research findings revealing an increase in small, repeated distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks from 2014 to early 2015, with 54 percent of companies surveyed being hit by at least 6 attacks. Research also found that the duration of DDoS attacks is increasing, with 10 percent of attacks lasting about a week, among other findings. Source: http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=18853

20. September 15, Securityweek – (International) Popular mobile travel apps have critical security issues: Report. Bluebox Security released report findings revealing that the top ten most popular mobile travel applications contain critical flaws, including failures to encrypt sensitive data stored on mobile devices, a lack of certificate pinning which leaves users vulnerable to man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks, and a lack of anti-tampering measures, among other findings. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/popular-mobile-travel-apps-have-critical-security-issues-report

21. September 15, Reuters – (International) Cisco router break-ins bypass cyber defenses. Security researchers from FireEye discovered attacks in August across multiple industries and government agencies on three continents in which Cisco 1841, 2811, and 3825 routers were implanted with the sophisticated SYNful Knock malware, which can duplicate normal router functions and jump from router to router using device syndication functions. Researchers believe attackers accessed the devices by stealing valid network administration credentials or by gaining direct physical access.Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/15/us-cybersecurity-routers-cisco-systems-idUSKCN0RF0N420150915

22. September 14, Securityweek – (International) TLS communications exposed to KCI attacks: Researchers. Security researchers from Research Industrial Systems Engineering revealed that a flaw in the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol could be leveraged to execute a Key Compromise Impersonation (KCI) attack, allowing a man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacker to take over client-side code running on a victim’s browser, intercept communications, arbitrarily replace Web site content, and perform actions on the victim’s behalf. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/tls-communications-exposed-kci-attacks-researchers

Communications Sector
 
23. September 14, WOWK 13 Huntington – (West Virginia) Copper theft impacts hundreds of Frontier customers. A Frontier Communication official reported that approximately 600 customers in Kanawha County, West Virginia, were left without Internet and phone service September 14 following a September 7 incident in which thousands of copper cables were stolen and fiber cables cut. An investigation is ongoing to find the culprit. Source: http://www.wowktv.com/story/30028859/copper-theft-impacts-hundreds-of-frontier-customers