Friday, November 20, 2015



Complete DHS Report for November 20, 2015

Daily Report                                            

Top Stories

 • The governor of Washington declared a state of emergency November 18 after heavy rain storms November 17 killed 3 people, cut power to more than 350,000 homes, and caused flooding in the Northwest. – Associated Press

1. November 19, Associated Press – (National) Governor declares state of emergency after Northwest storm. The governor of Washington declared a state of emergency November 18 following heavy rain and a strong storm November 17 that killed 3 people, cut power to more than 350,000 homes, and caused rivers to flood in the Northwest. Schools remained closed November 19 and utility crews worked to restore power to over 72,000 customers that remained without service. Source: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/governor-declares-state-of-emergency-after-northwest-storm/ar-BBnbWy9

 • Wisconsin officials reported November 18 that 228 captive white-tailed deer at an Eau Claire County farm were euthanized after 26 deer were tested positive for chronic wasting disease. – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

10. November 18, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – (Wisconsin) State kills 228 deer at game farm after CWD found. Wisconsin officials reported November 18 that 228 captive white-tailed deer at an Eau Claire County farm were euthanized after 26 deer were tested positive for chronic wasting disease. No wild deer was found with the disease and State officials are closely monitoring the farm for further infection. Source: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/outdoors/state-kills-228-deer-at-game-farm-after-cwd-found-b99619273z1-351548311.html

 • The Washington College in Maryland reported that campus will remain closed until November 29 and classes will be cancelled until November 30 due to a warrant that was issued for a student believed to be armed with a gun. – WBAL 11 Baltimore

13. November 19, WBAL 11 Baltimore – (Maryland) Washington College to remain closed until Nov. 29 after gun threat. The president of Washington College in Maryland announced November 19 that the school will remain closed until November 29 and classes will be cancelled through November 30 due to an ongoing investigation following a warrant that was issued for a student believed to be armed with a gun. Source: http://www.wbaltv.com/news/washington-college-cancels-classes-over-gun-threat-involving-student/36495314

 • The Georgia Secretary of State announced November 18 that about 6.2 million registered voters may have had their Social Security numbers and personal information illegally disclosed October 13 after the secretary’s office inadvertently sent the information to 12 organizations. – Atlanta Journal-Constitution

15. November 18, Atlanta Journal-Constitution – (Georgia) Data breach in Georgia could affect 6 million voters. The Georgia Secretary of State announced November 18 that approximately 6.2 million registered voters may have had their Social Security numbers and personal identifying information illegally disclosed October 13 after the secretary’s office inadvertently sent the information to 12 organizations who subscribe to voter lists maintained by the State. An investigation into the incident is ongoing. Source: http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/data-breach-in-georgia-could-affect-6-million-vote/npQj8/

Financial Services Sector

3. November 19, Bergen County Record – (New Jersey; Pennsylvania) 9 arrested, 11 at large in North Jersey crackdown on fraud, ID theft. New Jersey officials reported that 9 suspects were arrested November 16 and 11 others were identified and remain at large in connection to an alleged identity theft and fraud ring that a Liberian national and business owner reportedly orchestrated in order to steal over $100,000 from victims’ bank accounts by changing the victims’ mailing addresses, opening bank accounts, and using counterfeit checks to make illegal withdrawals from their accounts, in addition to applying for fraudulent loans in the victims’ names. Source: http://www.northjersey.com/news/9-arrested-11-at-large-in-north-jersey-crackdown-on-fraud-id-theft-1.1457999

Information Technology Sector

16. November 19, Securityweek – (International) Microsoft blocks unauthorized code injection in Edge. Microsoft released several improvements to its Edge Software with the introduction of EdgeHTML 13 that adds a security feature to block dynamic-link library (DLL) injections into the browser process and only allow components signed by Microsoft and Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) signed-device drivers to load. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/microsoft-blocks-unauthorized-code-injection-edge

17. November 19, Softpedia – (International) 15-year-old Brit charged with DDoS attacks, bomb threats. British police arrested and charged a 15-year-old teenager November 16 for violating the Computer Misuse Act and Criminal Law Act after he launched a series of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks from his home targeting companies and servers in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America, as well as delivering several bomb threats against North American airlines via social media platforms. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/15-year-old-brit-charged-for-ddos-attacks-bomb-threats-496420.shtml

Communications Sector
 
18. November 18, Hanford Sentinel – (California) Comcast outage affects Valley web, phone, video services. An unknown amount of Comcast customers in Fresno and surrounding cities experienced a loss of telephone, video, and Internet services for more than 3 hours November 18 due to a fire at the company’s technical facility in Fresno. Source: http://hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/comcast-outage-affects-valley-web-phone-video-services/article_8ba92ac5-097a-5cc7-bf4c-9429ad9c0b51.html

For another story, see item 19 below from the Commercial Facilities Sector

19. November 18, Los Angeles Times – (California) Owner of Glendale-based ride-sharing company pleads guilty to multi-million dollar iPhone fraud scheme. Federal officials reported November 18 that the owner of Glendale-based Toro Ride, a ride-sharing company, pleaded guilty to a wire fraud scheme in which he received more than $13 million in selling Apple’s iPhone devices by convincing Verizon Wireless to sell him $0.99 per phone on false claims that the phones would be used by company drivers, following false pretenses that the company received $20 million from investors to expand nationwide. Source: http://www.latimes.com/socal/glendale-news-press/news/tn-gnp-owner-of-glendale-based-ride-sharing-company-pleads-guilty-to-multi-million-dollar-iphone-fraud-sche-20151118-story.html