Thursday, March 24, 2016



Complete DHS Report for March 24, 2016

Daily Report                                            

Top Stories

• Henry’s Farm Inc., issued a recall March 22 for its Natto Soybean Sprouts and Soy Bean Sprouts products after surveillance and monitoring revealed that the products were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. – Food Safety News

11. March 23, Food Safety News – (Maryland; Virginia) Shuttered sprout grower issues Listeria-related recall. Henry’s Farm Inc., issued a recall March 22 for its Natto Soybean Sprouts products sold in 1-pound bags and Soy Bean Sprouts products sold in 10-pound bags after surveillance and monitoring revealed that the products were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The items were distributed to retailers in Maryland and Virginia. Source: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2016/03/shuttered-sprout-grower-issues-listeria-related-recall

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced March 22 new requirements for class-wide safety labeling changes for immediate-release (IR) opioid pain medications. – U.S. Food and Drug Administration

14. March 22, U.S. Food and Drug Administration – (National) FDA announces enhanced warnings for immediate-release opioid pain medications related to risks of misuse, abuse, addiction, overdose and death. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced March 22 new requirements for class-wide safety labeling changes for immediate-release (IR) opioid pain medications which include new boxed warning labels detailing the risks involved with ingestion, precautionary warnings that chronic maternal use of opioids during pregnancy can result in neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS), and several other safety labeling changes across all prescription opioid products. Source: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm491739.htm

• Developers from Microsoft Corporation and Samba worked to patch a critical vulnerability dubbed “Badlock” after discovering that the flaw could affect several versions of Windows and Samba software. – SecurityWeek See item 17 below in the Information Technology Sector

• The U.S. officials charged three members of the Syrian Electronic Army for allegedly deploying a spear-phishing attack in support of the Syrian government which aimed to compromise the computer systems of the U.S. Federal Government, international organizations, and other private-sector entities. – Agence France Presse See item 18 below in the Information Technology Sector

Financial Services Sector

2. March 22, Lamorinda Patch; San Francisco Bay City News – (California) Bearded bandit robs Lafayette bank Monday. Authorities are searching March 22 for a man suspected of committing a string of robberies at multiple banks in the San Francisco Bay Area including a Chase Bank branch and a Bank of Stockton branch March 21. The suspect is also tied to a March 11 robbery at a Wells Fargo bank branch in Concord. Source: http://patch.com/california/lamorinda/bearded-bandit-robs-lafayette-bank-monday-0

Information Technology Sector

17. March 23, SecurityWeek – (International) Microsoft, Samba preparing patch for severe “Badlock” flaw. Developers from Microsoft Corporation and Samba worked to patch a critical vulnerability dubbed “Badlock” after discovering that the flaw could affect several versions of Windows and Samba software. Researchers will release patches and details for the vulnerability April 12. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/microsoft-samba-preparing-patch-severe-badlock-flaw

18. March 23, Agence France-Presse – (International) ‘Syrian Electronic Army’ members face hacking charges. The U.S. Department of Justice charged three members of the Syrian Electronic Army for unauthorized access to computers, receiving proceeds of extortion, money laundering, and wire fraud after the trio allegedly deployed a spear-phishing attack in support of the Syrian government and president which aimed to compromise the computer systems of the U.S. Federal Government, a U.S. Marine Corps recruiting site, international organizations, media organizations, and other private-sector entities. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/syrian-electronic-army-members-face-hacking-charges

19. March 23, Softpedia – (International) CCleaner 5.16 released with Windows 10 Edge, Chrome, and Opera Improvements. Piriform released CCleaner 5.16, its privacy and cleaning tool system, which includes bug patches and improvements to Google Chrome cleaning, Microsoft Edge temporary file cleaning, and Opera browser application cache cleaning that aims to help users clear and protect their information after closing an application or using a browser. Source: http://www.softpedia.com/blog/ccleaner-5-16-released-with-windows-10-edge-chrome-and-opera-improvements-502076.shtml

20. March 23, Softpedia – (International) Microsoft adds new feature in Office 2016 that can block macro malware. Microsoft Corporation reported that it will be implementing a new feature in its Office 2016 suite that will allow corporate network administrators to stop the execution of macro malware that steal content from untrusted sources. The new feature can be controlled via Group Policy and configured per application. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/microsoft-adds-new-feature-in-office-2016-that-can-block-macro-malware-502058.shtml

Communications Sector

Nothing to report