Complete DHS Report for
November 10, 2015
Daily Report
Top Stories
• The U.S. President
announced November 6 that he voted against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline,
claiming that the pipeline would not advance U.S. interests. – Associated
Press
1. November
6, Associated Press – (National) U.S. President quashes Keystone XL in bid to boost
climate leverage. The U.S. President announced November 6 that he sided
with the U.S. Department of State and voted against the proposed Keystone XL
pipeline, claiming that the pipeline would not advance U.S. interests and would
have undercut efforts towards a global climate change deal.Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-sources-obama-administration-nixes-keystone-xl-pipeline-160930718--finance.html
• The former CEO of
the failed Nebraska-based TierOne Bank was found guilty November 6 of
concealing more than $100 million in loan and real estate losses. – Reuters See item 6 below in the Financial Services Sector
• A Scottish
national was charged November 5 after he set up Twitter accounts as market
research firms and falsely reported that two companies were under Federal
investigation, sending their stock prices plunging and costing investors $1.6
million in losses. – Reuters See item 10 below
in the Financial Services Sector
• Five tanker cars
of a BNSF Railway freight train derailed near Alma, Wisconsin, November 7 and
leaked ethanol into the Mississippi River, prompting the evacuation and the
closure of the railway and area highways. – Associated Press
14. November
7, Associated Press – (Wisconsin) Ethanol leaks into Mississippi River after train
derailment. Five tanker cars of a BNSF Railway freight train derailed near
Alma, Wisconsin, November 7 and leaked an unknown amount of ethanol into the
Mississippi River, prompting the evacuation of 150 people and the closure of
the railway and area highways while crews worked to clean the spill. Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/11/07/train-derails-in-wisconsin-prompting-voluntary-evacuation/
Financial Services Sector
5. November
7, Washington Post – (Virginia) FBI seeks a bandit ‘loyal’ to his trade. Agents
from the FBI are looking for a suspect known as the “Forever Loyal Bandit” tied
to a string of five bank robberies in the northern Virginia area beginning in
June 2014. The suspect’s most recent robbery took place at a Capital One bank
branch in Arlington November 6. Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/fbi-seeks-forever-loyal-bandit/2015/11/07/e4174ae4-85ae-11e5-8ba6-cec48b74b2a7_story.html
6. November
6, Reuters – (National) Ex-CEO of failed Nebraska bank found guilty of
fraud. The U.S. Department of Justice reported November 6 that the former
CEO of the failed Lincoln, Nebraska-based TierOne Bank was found guilty of
concealing more than $100 million in loan and real estate losses from shareholders
and the Federal government during and after the financial crisis, in addition
to falsely reporting the bank’s revenues. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/07/tierone-ceo-conviction-idUSL1N1312P520151107
7. November
6, KSNV 3 Las Vegas – (Nevada) Six charged in $2.7 million tax refund fraud scheme.
Federal authorities charged six people November 6 for their roles in a $2.7
million Internal Revenue Service tax refund scheme where suspects would acquire
the personal information of deceased persons from genealogical databases and
use it to create fraudulent W-2 forms, driver’s licenses, and Social Security
cards to file for tax refunds. Source: http://www.news3lv.com/content/news/local/story/tax-refund-fraud-scheme-federal-Bogden/ozIX-4ppL0elVnvhzVsHuA.cspx
8. November
6, South Florida Sun-Sentinel – (Florida) Broward man admits
$10 million in investment fraud. A Broward County man pleaded guilty
November 6 for his role in a three person scheme where the suspects lied to
investors for more than a decade about the status of their investments to
defraud them out of $10 million that was subsequently spent or deposited in
offshore accounts. Officials believe that the third suspect is living overseas
and has not yet been arrested. Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-burton-greenberg-guilty-brf-20151106-story.html
9. November
6, KOMO 4 Seattle – (Washington) ‘Beardo’ bandit wanted for 6 bank robberies. Police
are searching for a suspect involved in six armed bank robberies in the
Everett, Washington area beginning June 1 with the most recent robbery
occurring at a Bank of Washington branch October 30. Source: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Beardo-bandit-wanted-for-six-bank-robberies-342104181.html
10. November 5,
Reuters – (International) U.S. charges Scottish man over fake tweets
that hurt stocks. The U.S. Department of Justice reported November 5 that a
Scottish national was charged after he set up Twitter accounts as market
research firms Muddy Waters Research and Citron Research and falsely reported
that Audience Inc., and Sarepta Therapeutics Inc., were under Federal
investigation, sending their stock prices plunging and costing investors $1.6
million in losses in an effort to profit from illegal trading. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/06/us-usa-crime-tweets-idUSKCN0SV07G20151106
For another story, see item 40 below from the Commercial Facilities Sector
40. November
7, Southwest Michigan Herald-Palladium – (Michigan) Four Winds warns of
credit card breach. An official from Four Winds Casino Resort reported
November 5 that its network system was compromised revealing cardholder names,
card numbers, expiration dates, and internal verification codes for an unknown
number of customers at its properties in New Buffalo, Hartford, or two
facilities in Dowagiac following an investigation that found a program was
installed onto the casino’s network to search for payment card data from
October 2014 – October 2015. Source: http://www.heraldpalladium.com/news/local/four-winds-warns-of-credit-card-breach/article_62ddc82a-64af-54e1-863c-b4052d000819.html
Information Technology Sector
31. November
9, Securityweek – (International) User data compromised in Touchnote breach. UK-based
postcard-sending service, Touchnote revealed that its systems were compromised
in an attack that stole customers’ personal information including names, email
addresses, postal addresses, and other histories that may be used to trick
victims into supplying attackers with more sensitive information. The company
has notified impacted customers and an investigation is ongoing to find the
attackers. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/user-data-compromised-touchnote-breach
32. November
9, IDG News Service – (International) No surprise here: Adobe’s Flash is a hacker’s
favorite target. Researchers from Recorded Future released a new study
November 9 revealing that Adobe Systems’ Flash plugin was the highest targeted
software program used by cybercriminals to install malware onto computers
following research that revealed 8 of the 10 top vulnerabilities were seen
targeting Adobe’s Flash plugin. Source: http://www.computerworld.com/article/3003062/security/no-surprise-here-adobes-flash-is-a-hackers-favorite-target.html#tk.rss_security
33. November
8, Softpedia – (International) Security flaws found in Google Chromecast,
Home Security Systems, Smart Coffee Makers. Security researchers from
Kaspersky discovered several vulnerabilities in Internet of Things devices
(IoT) including a “rickrolling” vulnerability in Google Chromecast devices that
enables attackers to hijack smart TV content, a vulnerability in a smart coffee
maker device that exposes the user’s Wi-Fi password, allowing attackers to spy
on homeowners by connecting to Internet protocol (IP) cameras used in Webcams
and baby monitors, as well as infiltrate a home security system by using
powerful magnets that allows attackers to gain access to homes without
triggering the alarm. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/security-flaws-found-in-google-chromecast-home-security-systems-smart-coffee-makers-495864.shtml
34. November
6, Softpedia – (International) Ransomware found targeting Linux servers and
coding repositories. Researcher from Russian-based antivirus maker Dr. Web
discovered a new ransomware that targets Linux Web servers and attacks Web
development environments used to host Web sites or code via a downloaded file
containing the public RSA key used to store AES keys that add .encrypt
extension to each file, as well as a ransom text message where it encrypts
data. The ransomware was detected as Linux.Encoder.1 and uses the PolarSSL
library. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/ransomware-found-targetting-linux-servers-and-coding-repositories-495836.shtml
Communications Sector
35. November
9, Outer Banks Voice – (North Carolina) Fiber optic cable cut caused overnight
AT&T outage. AT&T officials reported that a fiber optic cable was
cut November 8 causing an overnight outage for wireless customers on the Outer
Banks and across much of northeastern North Carolina. Technicians repaired the
damage and restored service November 9.Source: http://outerbanksvoice.com/2015/11/09/update-fiber-optic-cable-cut-caused-overnight-att-outage/