Thursday, December 31, 2015



Complete DHS Report for December 31, 2015

Daily Report                                            

Top Stories

• Southern California Gas Co., located a breached underground in Los Angeles well December 27 that has been releasing noxious odors since October 2, prompting the evacuation of more than 5,000 residents. – Associated Press

1. December 29, Associated Press – (California) PG&E discovers source of Southern California breach. Southern California Gas Co., announced December 27 that it located the breached underground well that has been releasing noxious odors in a Los Angeles neighborhood since October 23, and prompted the evacuation of more than 5,000 residents. The utility stated that it will drill and connect a relief well which will allow crews to plug the breached pipe with cement. Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_29319882/pg-e-discovers-source-southern-california-breach

• Federal authorities monitored 19 vulnerable levees in Illinois and Missouri December 30 following a winter storm that caused river overflows and several road closures, among other disasters. – Associated Press

6. December 30, Associated Press – (Illinois; Missouri) 19 levees in Illinois, Missouri monitored for flooding. Federal authorities worked to monitor 19 vulnerable levees in Illinois and Missouri December 30 due to rising water levels in the Mississippi River following a winter storm that caused river overflows, evacuations, interstate and highway closures, and water treatment plant failures in both states due to severe flooding. Source: http://onlineathens.com/breaking-news/2015-12-30/19-levees-illinois-missouri-monitored-flooding

• California State officials are investigating media reports December 29 to verify whether the personal information of 191 million U.S. voters were compromised via an online database. – Los Angeles Times See item 12 below in the Information Technology Sector

• Severe rain storms in Missouri caused the Bourbeuse River to overflow, prompting the evacuation of 520 people and several commercial businesses December 29. – ABC News

15. December 29, ABC News – (Missouri) Historic flooding kills 13, sparks evacuation and road closures. Severe rain storms traveling across Missouri prompted the evacuation of 520 people and several commercial businesses including a McDonald’s and a Dollar General store December 29 due to the overflowing of the Bourbeuse River. Source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/historic-flooding-kills-13-sparks-evacuation-road-closures/story?id=35996045

Financial Services Sector

3. December 29, New York City International Business Times – (National) Ex-JPMorgan Chase bankers charged with forging ATM cards to steal from accounts. Two former JPMorgan Chase & Company bankers were indicted December 28 in Brooklyn, New York for stealing nearly $400,000 from about 15 client accounts, including those belonging to deceased clients, by issuing ATM cards without the account holders’ consent. All 15 accounts routinely received cash infusions via direct deposits from the U.S. Social Security Administration. Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/ex-jpmorgan-chase-bankers-charged-forging-atm-cards-steal-accounts-2242193

Information Technology Sector

10. December 30, SecurityWeek – (International) Linode hit by DDoS attacks. The Cloud hosting company, Linode reported that its Web site, Manager mobile application, Doman Name System (DNS) infrastructure, and data centers in Atlanta, Newark, and London were compromised after the company discovered hackers had conducted distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks for several hours. Security researchers from the company were able to patch the vulnerabilities. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/linode-hit-ddos-attacks

11. December 29, SecurityWeek – (International) Verizon’s Hum website found leaking credentials. Verizon Communications reported that it patched an information disclosure vulnerability in its Hum Web site after an independent researcher discovered the source code of the shopping page included a username and password “Weblogic12” and several domains listed. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/verizons-hum-website-found-leaking-credentials

12. December 29, Los Angeles Times – (National) State officials investigating potential data leak on millions of California voters. California State officials are conducting an investigation December 29 to verify media reports that the information of 191 million U.S. voters were compromised after a security researcher discovered an online database exposed voters’ names, addresses, and dates of birth, among other information. Source: http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-california-voter-records-leaked-online-20151229-story.html

Communications Sector

See item 11 above in the Information Technology Sector