Monday, January 9, 2017



Complete DHS Report for January 9, 2017

Daily Report                                            

Top Stories

• A Mission, Texas-based businessman pleaded guilty January 3 to using the U.S. banking system to help three former governors from Mexico launder tens of millions of dollars. – San Antonio Express-News See item 3 below in the Financial Services Sector

• TransUnion, Equifax, Inc., and their subsidiaries were ordered January 3 to pay more than $17.6 million in restitution to consumers and $5.5 million in fines for misleading consumers about the usefulness and actual cost of credit scores the companies sold. – U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
See item 5 below in the Financial Services Sector

• An electrical malfunction at the Blucher Poole Wastewater Treatment Plant in Bloomington, Indiana, caused 104,500 gallons of untreated wastewater to be released into Bean Blossom Creek January 5. – WBIW 1340 AM Bedford

14. January 5, WBIW 1340 AM Bedford – (Indiana) CBU officials respond to wastewater release at Blucher Poole Wastewater Treatment Plant. An electrical malfunction related to the pumping system at the Blucher Poole Wastewater Treatment Plant in Bloomington, Indiana, caused 104,500 gallons of untreated wastewater to be released into Bean Blossom Creek January 5. The cause of the electrical failure remains under investigation. Source: http://www.wbiw.com/local/archive/2017/01/cbu-officials-respond-to-wastewater-release-at-blucher-poole-wastewater-treatment-plant.php

• The State of Michigan removed the director of the Unemployment Insurance Agency January 5 after a review uncovered that 93% of fraud allegations against over 22,000 unemployment insurance applicants were false. – Detroit Free Press

17. January 5, Detroit Free Press – (Michigan) Chief of Mich. unemployment agency out amid false fraud allegations. The State of Michigan removed the director of the Unemployment Insurance Agency January 5 after a review performed partly at the request of the Federal Government uncovered that 93% of fraud allegations the agency made against over 22,000 unemployment insurance applicants from October 2013 – October 2015 were false, resulting in more than $15 million being unlawfully taken from claimants through wage garnishees, seizures of income tax returns, and other methods in 2015 alone. Michigan officials report that around $5.4 million has been refunded to 2,571 claimants wrongly accused of fraud.

Financial Services Sector

3. January 5, San Antonio Express-News – (International) Valley businessman pleads guilty in Mexico corruption probe. A Mission, Texas-based businessman pleaded guilty January 3 to using the U.S. banking system to help former governors from Coahuila, Aguascalientes, and Tamaulipas, Mexico, launder tens of millions of dollars by compelling the officials to direct inflated payments for road work to the defendant’s Mexican asphalt company, which the defendant subsequently moved to his account for his U.S. firm, Rodmax Inc. The defendant had the exclusive rights to sell a certain kind of paving machine and paid bribes to the Mexican government representatives in exchange for contracts to perform the road work. Source: http://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Valley-businessman-pleads-guilty-as-part-of-10834876.php

4. January 4, WABC 7 New York – (New Jersey) Police investigating ATM skimming incidents at banks in New Jersey. New Jersey authorities are investigating after recent ATM skimming incidents at banks across the State, including the Lakeland Bank branch in Oak Ridge from December 2016 – January 2017, as well as at banks in Bloomingdale and Lincoln Park. More than 100 potential victims of these ATM skimming incidents have been identified to date. Source: http://abc7ny.com/news/thieves-using-skimmers-to-steal-customers-account-info-at-nj-banks/1686118/

5. January 3, U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – (National) CFPB orders TransUnion and Equifax to pay for deceiving consumers in marketing credit scores and credit products. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) January 3 ordered TransUnion, Equifax, Inc., and their subsidiaries to pay more than $17.6 million in restitution to consumers and fines worth $5.5 million to the CFPB for misleading consumers about the usefulness and actual cost of credit scores the companies sold by leading consumers to think they were the same credit scores lenders commonly used to make credit decisions, and for persuading consumers to pay expensive recurring fees for credit scores and credit-related products that the firm’s falsely claimed were free or low-cost, from at least July 2011 – March 2014. As part of the settlement, TransUnion and Equifax must clearly notify consumers about the nature of credit scores they are selling, must obtain the consumer’s consent prior to enrolling them in any credit-related product with a negative option feature, and must offer consumers a simple way to cancel the purchase of any credit-related product. Source: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-orders-transunion-and-equifax-pay-deceiving-consumers-marketing-credit-scores-and-credit-products/

Information Technology Sector

19. January 5, SecurityWeek – (International) KillDisk malware targets Linux machines. ESET security researchers reported that the KillDisk malware recently observed adding encryption capabilities and behaving like ransomware is now targeting Linux systems, including workstations and servers. The Linux variant of the malware overwrites the bootloader entries and displays the ransom text within the GRUB bootloader

20. January 5, SecurityWeek – (International) “MM Core” APT malware now targets United States. Forcepoint security researchers reported that two new versions of the malware “MM Core,” dubbed BigBoss and SillyGoose, have been used to target the news and media, government (defense), oil and gas, and telecommunications industries in Africa and the U.S. The trojan was designed to collect information on the infected computer and set up a backdoor for remote access.

Communications Sector

See item 20 above in the Information Technology Sector