Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Daily Report
Top Stories
• More than 146,000
homes and businesses reported power outages in and around Virginia as a result
of a snowstorm that hit several States in the Southeast. – Reuters
1.
January 18, Reuters – (Virginia;
National) More than 146,000 without power in Virginia after snowstorm. More
than 146,000 homes and businesses reported power outages in and around Virginia
as a result of a snowstorm that hit several States in the Southeast. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/18/utilities-storm-poweroutages-idUSL1E9CI3P220130118
• Interstate 65 in
Cullman County was jammed for miles with hundreds of cars and trucks after a
snowstorm covered the roadway with up to 4 inches of snow, causing several
accidents. – Associated Press
9.
January 18, Associated Press –
(Alabama) Ala. highway jammed as snow storm crosses south. Interstate 65
in Cullman County was jammed for miles with hundreds of cars and trucks after a
snowstorm covered the roadway with up to 4 inches of snow, causing several
accidents. Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20130118/us-winter-weather-south/?utm_hp_ref=homepage&ir=homepage
• A National
Tuberculosis Controllers Association survey of health departments illustrates
that around 80 percent of health facilities that treat tuberculosis (TB) are
finding a shortage of drugs that are able to treat the new, resistant strains
of TB. – Reuters
16.
January 17, Reuters – (National) U.S.
faces drug shortages in treating multidrug-resistant TB. A National
Tuberculosis Controllers Association survey of health departments illustrates
that around 80 percent of health facilities that treat tuberculosis (TB) are
finding a shortage of drugs that are able to treat the new, resistant strains
of TB. Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-rt-usa-healthtuberculosisl1e9chgno-20130117,0,3943781.story
• A report by the
Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration states prison
inmates filed over 173,00 fake tax returns in 2012 using false information. The
Internal Revenue Service halted $2.2 billion in fraudulent returns in 2012,
attributing $1.1 billion of it to a claim filed by two inmates. – Associated
Press
19.
January 17, Associated Press –
(National) 2 prison inmates claim $1.1 billion in tax refunds; 173,000
fraudulent prison tax returns uncovered. A report by the Treasury
Department's inspector general for tax administration states prison inmates
filed over 173,00 fake tax returns in 2012 using false information. The
Internal Revenue Service halted $2.2 billion in fraudulent returns in 2012,
attributing $1.1 billion of it to a claim filed by two inmates. Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/18/prison-tax-fraud-billion-refund-inmates_n_2502137.html?1358520561&icid=maing-grid7|maing10|dl17|sec1_lnk3&pLid=258775
Details
Banking and Finance Sector
3. January 17, KFXV 2
McAllen – (Texas) McAllen
cloned credit card scheme busted. Police in McAllen arrested two
individuals from Mexico for allegedly manufacturing fake credit cards used to
empty several ATMs of cash. $200,000 in cash plus machines used to create
counterfeit cards were found during their arrest. Source: http://www.foxrio2.com/74760/mcallen-cloned-credit-card-scheme-busted/
4. January 17, Federal Trade
Commission –
(National) FTC imposes $130M judgment against Ivy Capital Inc. for operating
fraudulent business 'coaching' scheme. The Federal Trade Commission imposed
a $130 million judgment against Ivy Capital Inc. and related companies and
individuals for running a business coaching program that misrepresented good
and services it offered, did not disclose or honor its refund policy, and took
more than $100 million from customers. Source: http://www.loansafe.org/ftc-imposes-130m-judgment-against-ivy-capital-inc-for-operating-fraudulent-business-coaching-scheme
5. January 17, KTVK 3
Phoenix – (Arizona) FBI
seeks bank robber dubbed 'Around Town Bandit'. The FBI asked for public
assistance identifying the "Around Town Bandit" suspected of robbing
multiple banks in the Phoenix area, including a Desert Schools Federal Credit
Union in a Safeway grocery store January 12. Source: http://www.azfamily.com/news/FBI-seeks-bank-robber-dubbed-Around-Town-Bandit-187370041.html
6. January 17, Forbes – (Georgia) SEC charges Georgia man
with insider trading in AirTran/Southwest Airlines merger. A Georgia man
was charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with insider trading
ahead of the 2010 merger of Southwest Airlines and AirTran Holdings, allegedly
making almost $160,000 in illicit profits. Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jordanmaglich/2013/01/17/sec-charges-georgia-man-with-insider-trading-in-airtransouthwest-airlines-merger/
7. January 16, Manhattan
Beach Patch –
(California) Seven arrested for alleged fraud activities. Seven
individuals were arrested and charged for their alleged involvement in two
fraudulent credit card manufacturing rings after a joint investigation by the
U.S. Secret Service and the Manhattan Beach Police. Source: http://manhattanbeach.patch.com/articles/seven-arrested-for-alleged-fraud-activities
See Item 19 above in Top Stories
Information Technology
21. January 18, Help Net
Security –
(International) Fox-IT analysts demystify the Pobelka botnet. Fox-IT
researchers revealed in a report that an individual known as 'Finist' operates
the Pobelka botnet, and published details on the botnet's operations and uses.
Source: http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=14259&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+HelpNetSecurity+(Help+Net+Security)&utm_content=Google+Reader
22. January 18, Softpedia – (International) FAKEM RATs
disguise their traffic as Yahoo! Messenger to avoid detection. A white
paper published by Trend Micro detailed the way that a series of remote access
trojans known as FAKEM disguises its traffic to appear as that of commonly used
applications or HTML to avoid detection. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/FAKEM-RATs-Disguise-Their-Traffic-as-Yahoo-Messenger-to-Avoid-Detection-322227.shtml
23. January 18, Softpedia – (International) Security
explorations identifies two vulnerabilities in Java 7 Update 11. Security
Explorations researchers discovered a pair of vulnerabilities in the newest
version of Java that can allow attackers to perform a complete sandbox bypass.
Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Security-Explorations-Identifies-Two-Vulnerabilities-in-Java-7-Update-11-322390.shtml
24. January 18, Krebs on
Security –
(International) Polish takedown targets 'Virut' botnet. Polish authorities
moved against 23 domains being used to operate the for-hire Virut botnet. Over
890,000 IP addresses were found to be infected by Virut, and Polish authorities
redirected traffic to sinkhole sites while attempting to assist users infected
with the botnet's malware. Source: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/01/polish-takedown-targets-virut-botnet/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+KrebsOnSecurity+(Krebs+on+Security)&utm_content=Google+Reader
25. January 18, Softpedia – (International) Red October
removal tool released by Bitdefender. A tool designed to remove malware
used in the recently-discovered Red October cyberespionage campaign was
released by Bitdefender. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Red-October-Removal-Tool-Released-By-Bitdefender-322241.shtml
Communications Sector
26.
January 17, WKMG 6 Orlando – (Florida)
Outage hits CenturyLink phone customers in Winter Park. Authorities were
working to restore land-lines went down for CenturyLink consumers in
Winterpark. Source: http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Outage-hits-CenturyLink-phone-customers-in-Winter-Park/-/1637132/18170002/-/13t31dr/-/index.html
27.
January 17, Daytona Beach News-Journal –
(Florida) Bright House cable back online after software glitch. After a
12 hour loss of service, cable was restored January 17 to all Bright House
customers. Source: http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20130117/NEWS/130119782?Title=Bright-House-cable-back-online-after-software-glitch&tc=ar