Complete DHS Report for
October 1, 2015
Daily Report
Top Stories
• Officials released findings on a November
2014 toxic chemical leak at a DuPont plant in Texas and found that that a
combination of building, maintenance, and human errors led to the release of
nearly 24,000 pounds of methyl mercaptan. – KPRC 2 Houston
4. September
30, KPRC 2 Houston – (Texas) Report finds series of errors caused deadly DuPont
plant accident in La Porte. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released
findings from an interim investigation into a November 2014 toxic chemical leak
at a DuPont manufacturing plant in La Porte which killed 4 employees, revealing
that the chain of events leading up to the incident was set in motion 5 days
prior, when a water dilution system was inadvertently activated, and that a
combination of building, maintenance, and human errors led to the release of
nearly 24,000 pounds of methyl mercaptan. CSB made seven safety
recommendations, including a comprehensive engineering analysis of the building
along with safer design options to be reported to the agency.
Source: http://www.click2houston.com/news/dupont-to-speak-on-deadly-chemical-leak-near-la-porte/35571142
•
Ford Motor Company issued recalls September 30 for approximately 380,000 model
year 1998 – 2016 vehicles due to various compliance and mechanical issues. – WWJ
62 Detroit
5. September
30, WWJ 62 Detroit (National) Ford issues six separate recalls for 380K vans,
trucks, SUVs, and cars. Ford Motor Company issued recalls September 30 for
approximately 340,000 model years 1998 – 2003 Windstar minivans due to
potential risks of corrosion and cracking in vehicle axles, about 37,000 model
year 2015 F-150 trucks due to an issue with the vehicle’s adaptive cruise
control system that could cause it to engage its automatic brakes and collision
warning system when passing large, highly reflective trucks, and about 1,500
model year 2016 F-53 and F-59 stripped chassis vehicles due to a potential
issue with the vehicles’ shift brackets which could allow shifting into reverse
without braking. The announcement included recalls for more than 1,000
additional vehicles due to various compliance and mechanical issues.Source: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2015/09/30/ford-issues-six-separate-recalls-for-380k-vans-trucks-suvs-and-cars/
• Thirteen manufacturers and distributors
issued recalls September 29 for about 1.3 million bicycles due to an issue
which could stop the front wheel abruptly or separate it from the bicycle. – U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission
6. September
29, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission – (National) Thirteen
manufacturers, distributors recall bicycles with front disc brakes to replace
quick release lever due to crash hazard. Thirteen manufacturers and
distributors issued recalls September 29 for about 1.3 million bicycles in the
U.S. equipped with front disc brakes and quick release levers due to an issue
which could cause an open quick release lever to contact the front disc brake
rotor, stopping the front wheel abruptly or separating it from the bicycle. The
products were sold at various retailers nationwide from 1998 – 2015. Source: http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/2015/Thirteen-Manufacturers-Distributors-Recall-Bicycles-with-Front-Disc-Brakes-to-Replace-Quick-Release-Lever/?utm
•
Proofpoint published research revealing that the Dyreza trojan has been used to
phish information technology (IT) supply chain credentials for up to 20
organizations. – Threatpost See
item 25 below in the Information
Technology Sector
Financial Services Sector
7. September
30, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – (National) SEC
sanctions 22 underwriting firms for fraudulent municipal bond offerings. The
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced enforcement actions September
30 against 22 municipal underwriting firms under the Municipalities Continuing
Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) Initiative, reportedly finding that the firms
violated Federal securities laws by selling municipal bonds using offering
documents containing materially false statements or omissions regarding the
bond issuers’ compliance with disclosure obligations. The underwriting firms
agreed to cease all operations of such violations and pay civil penalties. Source:
http://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2015-220.html
8. September
29, WBBM 2 Chicago – (Illinois) FBI searching for ‘North Center Bandit.’ The
FBI is searching for information leading to the arrest of a suspect dubbed the
“North Center Bandit,” who allegedly robbed 3 bank branches in North Center
from August 21 – September 25. Source: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/09/29/fbi-searching-for-north-center-bandit/
Information Technology Sector
22. September
30, Help Net Security – (International) Scammers use Google
AdWords, fake Windows BSOD to steal money from users. Security researchers
from Malwarebytes discovered that cybercriminals are using Google’s AdWords to
place malicious links at the top of Google’s search page for common searches,
which would lead to a fake “Blue Screen of Death” (BSOD) page prompting users to
call a toll-free “helpline” with scammers that would solicit payments for
support services and personal and bank account information. Source: http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=18913
23. September
30, Softpedia – (International) Microsoft Exchange Server fixed against
information disclosure bug. Microsoft released an update for Exchange
Server 2013 addressing a vulnerability in Outlook Web Access (OWA) that could
allow an attacker to gain access to an active Webmail session by forcing Exchange
Server to dump debug data via a maliciously crafted Uniform Resource Locator
(URL), granting access to previously inaccessible cookie session information. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/microsoft-exchange-server-fixed-against-information-disclosure-bug-493157.shtml
24. September
30, Threatpost – (International) Apple Gatekeeper bypass opens door for
malicious code. Security researchers from Synack discovered that Apple’s
Gatekeeper security platform could be bypassed by tricking a user into
downloading a signed and infected application from a third-party source, or by
loading a malicious library over an insecure HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
download via a man-in-the-middle (MitM) position to gain access to the system. Source:
https://threatpost.com/apple-gatekeeper-bypass-opens-door-for-malicious-code/114851/
25. September
29, Threatpost – (International) Dyreza trojan targeting IT supply chain
credentials. Security researchers from Proofpoint published research
revealing that the Dyreza trojan has been used to phish information technology
(IT) supply chain credentials for up to 20 organizations, including software
companies supporting fulfillment and warehousing, and computer distributors.
Researchers believe that hackers intend to infect all points of the supply
chain to possibly divert physical shipments, issue payments and invoices to
artificial companies, or enact large-scale gift-card issuances. Source: https://threatpost.com/dyreza-trojan-targeting-it-supply-chain-credentials/114836/
26. September
29, Threatpost – (International) SAP patches 12 SQL injection, XSS
vulnerabilities in HANA. SAP released updates addressing 12 structured
query language (SQL), cross-site scripting (XSS), and memory corruption
vulnerabilities in its HANA in-memory management system that could allow an
attacker to abuse management interfaces and compromise stored information, or
lock users out of the platform, among other exploits. Source: https://threatpost.com/sap-patches-12-sql-injection-xss-vulnerabilities-in-hana/114840/
27. September
29, Securityweek – (International) Linux XOR DDoS botnet flexes muscles with
150+ Gbps attacks. Security researchers from Akamai Technologies released
details of a botnet targeting primarily corporations in Asia that is capable of
launching 150+ gigabit-per-second (Gbps) distributed denial-of-service (DDoS)
attacks from Linux systems compromised by the XOR DDoS trojan, as well as being
able to download and execute arbitrary code and self-update. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/linux-xor-ddos-botnet-flexes-muscles-150-gbps-attacks
For another story, see item 16 below from the Government Facilities Sector
16. September
30, Softpedia – (New Jersey) Despite new equipment, Rutgers University goes
down after DDoS attack. Rutgers University announced September 28 that the
university experienced network issues due to a distributed-denial-of-service
(DDoS) attack, which limited access to the Internet for several hours. The
attack was allegedly orchestrated by a hacker known as Exfocus, and followed
four previous attacks against the university between March and May. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/despite-new-equipment-rutgers-university-goes-down-after-ddos-attack-493155.shtml
Communications Sector
Nothing to report