Complete DHS Report for January 28, 2015
Daily Report
Top Stories
· Nearly
8,000 flights throughout the U.S. were cancelled through January 29 due to a
severe winter storm in the Northeast. – USA Today
11. January 27, USA Today – (National) Boston, coast take brunt
of mighty Northeast storm. Nearly 8,000 flights throughout the U.S. were
cancelled through January 29 due to a severe winter storm in the Northeast that
prompted the evacuation of residents in Massachusetts, cancelled schools for
millions of kids, knocked out power for thousands, shut down the New York
subway system for several hours, and prompted driving bans for several States
January 26. Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/01/27/bracing-for-blizzard-millions-hunker-down-across-northeast/22388241/
· An
estimated 46,000 gallons of sewage was dumped into Gwynns Falls in Maryland due
to a clogged Baltimore City sewer line January 26. – Baltimore Brew
18. January 26, Baltimore Brew – (Maryland) Second sewer spill
reported along the Gwynns Falls. An estimated 46,000 gallons of sewage was
dumped into Gwynns Falls due to a clogged Baltimore City sewer line January 26.
This is the second spill in Gwynns Falls following a January 15-16 spill that
released an estimated 19,000 gallons of sewage due to blocked sewer pipes.
Source: https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2015/01/26/second-sewer-spill-reported-along-the-gwynns-falls/
· The
U.S. Federal Communications Commission announced January 26 that Verizon will
pay a $5 million penalty in a settlement after the company admitted that it
failed to investigate whether its rural customers were able to receive long
distance and wireless phone calls. – Ars Technica See item 31
below in the Communications Sector
· Propel
Braddock Hills High School in Pennsylvania was closed January 27 after the
school went on lockdown January 26 while 2 students were arrested for allegedly
bringing guns on campus. – WTAE 4 Pittsburgh
22. January 27, WTAE 4
Pittsburgh –
(Pennsylvania) Guns found at Propel school in Braddock Hills; 2 students
arrested. Propel Braddock Hills High School in Pennsylvania was closed January
27 after the school went on lockdown January 26 while 2 students were arrested
for allegedly bringing guns on campus prompting a police response. Police
recovered one loaded gun and a second unloaded gun after a search. Source: http://www.wtae.com/news/3-handcuffed-outside-propel-school-in-braddock-hills/30927490
Financial Services Sector
8. January
27, Baton Rouge Advocate – (National) Secret Service investigating
ATM thefts along I-10 corridor. Whitney Bank Louisiana warned its customers
and anyone who may have used their ATMs about a fraud scheme after it detected
unauthorized activity at several ATM locations along the Interstate 10 corridor
January 24 that may have also affected cities in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama,
and Florida. The bank deactivated and will reissue approximately 7,100 debit
cards as authorities are continue to investigate. Source: http://theadvocate.com/news/neworleans/neworleansnews/11434700-123/secret-service-investigating-atm-thefts
9. January
26, Bucks Local News – (Pennsylvania) Bucks County family accused of using massive
insurance fraud scheme to finance life of luxury. A Buckingham Township
woman, four members of her family, and two others were arrested and charged
January 22 for allegedly conspiring to defraud insurance companies in excess of
$20 million for personal use. Approximately $7 million in assets were seized as
a result of an investigation that was initiated following an October 2013 fire
at the family’s home, the third fire at the residence in 5 years. Source: http://www.buckslocalnews.com/articles/2015/01/26/bucks_news/doc54c25e7ecb11f863886711.txt?viewmode=fullstory
10. January
27, Philadelphia Business Journal – (Pennsylvania) Nifty Fifty’s
accountant pleads guilty to tax fraud scheme. The accountant for the
restaurant chain Nifty Fifty’s, pleaded guilty in federal court January 26 for
his role in a conspiracy to commit tax evasion to avoid paying millions of dollars
in personal and employment taxes by failing to properly account for more than
$15 million gross receipts. Five individuals previously pleaded guilty to
charges for their roles in the fraud scheme. Source: http://www.theintell.com/news/local/nifty-fifty-accountant-pleads-guilty-in-tax-fraud-scheme/article_277be81f-f089-56bb-9532-0d82407925ce.html
Information Technology Sector
27. January 27, Securityweek – (International) Super
Bowl fans warned about vulnerable NFL mobile app. Researchers at Wandera, a
mobile gateway company, reported a vulnerability in the official National
Football League (NFL) mobile apps for iOS and Android that exposes users’
personal information immediately after the user signs into the mobile app in a
secondary unencrypted API call, and can be intercepted through
man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/super-bowl-fans-warned-about-vulnerable-nfl-mobile-app
28. January 27, Softpedia – (International) Regin
cyber-espionage platform manned by the NSA. Researchers at Kaspersky Lab
discovered a link in the keylogger dubbed QWERTY, a plugin for the WARRIORPRIDE
malware framework, to be identical in functionality to Regin malware plugin
50251, responsible for kernel-mode hooking. The Regin platform targets
telecommunication companies, government organizations and political entities,
financial institutions, academia and specific individuals. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Regin-Cyber-Espionage-Platform-Manned-by-the-NSA-471349.shtml
29. January 27, Help Net Security – (International)
Supposedly clean Office documents download malware. Bitdefender is
warning Microsoft Office users of a new spam campaign that resembles a tax
return, a remittance, or form of bill from a bank and carries a Microsoft Word
or Excel attachment that will automatically execute a piece of malware with a
macro code disguised to bypass traditional antivirus if downloaded. Source: http://www.net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=2947
30. January 27, Help Net Security – (International)
Android Wi-Fi Direct DoS vulnerability discovered. A researcher from the
CoreLabs Team discovered a Denial of Service (DoS) vulnerability in some
Android devices that could allow an attacker to send a specially crafted 802.11
Probe Response frame causing the Dalvik subsystem to reboot because of an
Unhandle Exception on WiFiMonitor class. The Android security team was informed
of the flaw in September 2014. Source: http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=17874
Communications Sector
31. January 26, Ars Technica –
(National) Verizon punished for failing to investigate phone problems in
rural areas. The U.S. Federal Communications Commissions announced January
26 that Verizon will pay a $5 million penalty in a settlement after the company
admitted that it failed to investigate whether its rural customers were able to
receive long distance and wireless phone calls. As part of the settlement,
Verizon will pay a $2 million fine to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and
commit another $3 million over the next 3 years to address the issue of rural
call completion on a company and industry-wide basis. Source: http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/01/verizon-punished-for-failing-to-investigate-phone-problems-in-rural-areas/
For another story, see item 28 above in the Information Technology
Sector