Monday, November 30, 2015



Complete DHS Report for November 30, 2015

Daily Report                                            

Top Stories

• Two suspects were arrested November 24 after allegedly stealing nearly 1,000 pounds of copper wire from solar panels on land belonging to Mike Jackson Farms in California, causing an estimated $1 million in damage. – Hanford Sentinel

November 25, Hanford Sentinel – (California) Alleged copper theft conspiracy broken up in Kettleman City. Two suspects were arrested November 24 for their involvement in an alleged scheme to steal nearly 1,000 pounds of copper wire from solar panels on 4 installations November 17 – 18 on land belonging to Mike Jackson Farms in Kettleman City. The total amount of damage to the solar panels was an estimated $1 million.  Source: http://hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/alleged-copper-theft-conspiracy-broken-up-in-kettleman-city/article_6206497c-a7f1-56f2-8c61-fd2a165ceb07.html

• A Florida man was arrested November 25 for allegedly creating more than $1 million worth of counterfeit credit cards after authorities found nearly 103 advanced counterfeit cloned credit cards in the man’s car. – WBBH 20 Fort Myers See item 2 below in the Financial Services Sector

• Taylor Farms Pacific, Inc., issued a recall November 26 for numerous products containing celery after testing found that a Celery and Onion blend was contaminated with E. coli bacteria. – U.S. Food and Drug Administration

13. November 26, U.S. Food and Drug Administration – (National) Taylor Farms Pacific, Inc. recalls celery products because of possible health risk. Tracy, California-based Taylor Farms Pacific, Inc., issued a recall November 26 for numerous products containing celery distributed to different stores nationwide after testing by the Montana State Department of Health found that a Celery and Onion blend was contaminated with E. coli bacteria. Authorities confirmed that the tainted celery was used in Costco Wholesale Corporation’s chicken salad products that were recalled November 23 due to an E. coli outbreak. Source: http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm474601.htm


• A 2-alarm fire at A&H Industries in Pennsylvania caused approximately $3 million in damages, halted railroad traffic for 3 hours, and prompted fire crews to remain on site for several hours containing the incident November 25. – Lebanon Daily News

24. November 25, Lebanon Daily News – (Pennsylvania) Two-alarm fire damages Myerstown business. A 2-alarm fire at A&H Industries in Myerstown, Pennsylvania, caused approximately $3 million in damages, halted railroad traffic for 3 hours, and prompted fire crews to remain on site for several hours containing the incident November 25. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is unknown. Source: https://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/2015/11/26/two-alarm-fire-damages-myerstown-business.html

Financial Services Sector

2. November 26, WBBH 20 Fort Myers – (Florida) ID thief with over $1M in fake credit cards busted by LCSO. A Florida man was arrested November 25 for allegedly creating more than $1 million worth of counterfeit credit cards after Lee County Sheriff’s Office found nearly 103 advanced counterfeit cloned credit cards in the man’s car during a traffic stop violation. Officials believe the man allegedly used credit card skimmers to access cardholder information and create the cards. Source: http://www.nbc-2.com/story/30611672/lcso-id-thief-with-over-1m-in-fake-credit-cards-busted

3. November 25, Whitley Republican News Journal – (Kentucky) Former local car lot owner accused of scheme to defraud banks. The former owner of Myers Chevrolet-Oldsmobile-Cadillac Inc., Tri-County Cycles LLC, and Check Properties, LLC in Knox County was indicted November 19 for allegedly defrauding 2 banks of more than $1.4 million by writing or causing the writing of 567 fraudulent checks between October – November 2008 to float money and loans between his various businesses. Source: http://www.thenewsjournal.net/details/9447/sitemap.cfm#comments

4. November 24, U.S. Department of the Treasury – (International) Treasury targets criminal network of fugitive Mexican drug lord. Officials from the U.S. Department of the Treasury reported November 24 that 2 Mexican nationals were charged with drug trafficking and money laundering for the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico after an investigation revealed the two men were part of the Sinaloa Cartel organization. The suspects’ assets were frozen and U.S. citizens were prohibited from conducting business with them. Source: https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl0285.aspx

Information Technology Sector

20. November 27, Softpedia – (International) VPN vulnerability “Port Fail” reveals user’s real IP address. Network security experts from Perfect Privacy discovered a vulnerability in virtual private network (VPN) providers’ internal routing table and port forwarding settings, which can allow an attacker to learn a victim’s real Internet Protocol (IP) address by directing victims to access a resource (image embedded on a site) hosted on the same VPN server. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/vpn-vulnerability-port-fail-reveals-user-s-real-ip-address-496808.shtml

21. November 26, Securityweek – (International) CryptoWall 4.0 spreading via Nuclear exploit kit. Security researchers from Rackspace discovered that the BizCNgate actor has been disseminating the CryptoWall 4.0 ransomware through the Nuclear exploit kit (EK) via newly developed Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to allow the EK to exploit a flash vulnerability on Web sites and successfully infect Microsoft Windows hosts. The updated threat encrypts file names, prevents victims from recognizing them, and features an updated ransom note, in addition to encrypting the content of files on infected machines. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/cryptowall-40-spreading-nuclear-exploit-kit

Communications Sector

Nothing to report