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Family Research Council Guard Shot by Gunman in D.C.
Washington Post (08/16/12) Duggan, Paul; Flaherty, Mary Pat
A security guard is being called a hero for preventing what could have been a mass shooting at the offices of the conservative lobbying group the Family Research Council in downtown Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. Authorities say that the alleged gunman, 28-year-old Floyd Lee Corkins II of Herndon, Va., arrived at the Family Research Council's headquarters at about 10:45 a.m. armed with a 9mm handgun. After entering the building, Corkins reportedly made a number of statements expressing his opposition to the Family Research Council's agenda, which according to the group's Web site is focused on issues of faith, family, and freedom. Specifically, the organization opposes abortion and euthanasia and has said that it considers homosexuality to be sinful. At some point Corkins allegedly shot security guard Leo Johnson in the arm, wounding him. Johnson and Corkins then got into a struggle which resulted in Johnson and several other individuals wrestling the alleged gunman to the ground and subduing him until police arrived at the scene. Despite reports that Corkins had made statements against the Family Research Council and that he was carrying a bag from the fast food chain Chick-fil-A--a company that has been at the center of a controversy following recent remarks by its president against same-sex marriage--authorities are still trying to determine what motivation Corkins may have had for entering the Family Research Council's building. The motive for the shooting could determine whether the FBI charges Corkins with attempting a terrorist act.
Discover Employee Faces Terroristic Threatening, Criminal Trespassing Charges
Delaware Online (08/10/12) Sanginiti, Terri
A Discover Card Bank employee in New Castle, Del., was arrested Aug. 8 after he reportedly made threats to bring a gun to his workplace and carry out a mass shooing. Brandon Miller had been placed on administrative leave for threatening a co-worker on Aug. 6 and was told not to return to the building until contacted by his employer. Building security immediately called police after Miller showed up on Aug. 8. Miller was arrested inside a picnic area near the building and a subsequent search of his car and home turned up a BB gun and 4.4 grams of marijuana, though not the AK-47 he had allegedly threatened to bring with him. Miller faces charges of felony terroristic threatening, terroristic threatening, criminal trespassing, and possession of marijuana. He was released on $4,500 bail and ordered to have no contact with Discover Card Bank.
2-Day-Old Baby Stolen From Pune's Sane Guruji Hospital
Daily News and Analysis (India) (08/14/12) Khan, Alifiya; Dighe, Sandip
Police in Pune, India, are saying that a major security lapse allowed a two-day-old baby boy to be stolen from his mother and grandmother while they slept at a hospital in the suburb of Hadapsar. According to officials at the Sane Guruji Hospital, the unnamed newborn was stolen from his mother, Vidya Nilesh Sutar, and grandmother, Janabai Sutar, around 4:30 am Aug. 13 by an unknown woman who had apparently been stalking the ward for two days beforehand. Closed-circuit TV (CCTV) footage from the hospital shows the suspect leaving the hospital at 4:45 am with a large bag, which police and hospital authorities believe she was using to hide the child. "That the suspect was in the ward for two days and could leave the hospital without being checked means there was a major security lapse at the hospital," said Hadapsar police Inspector S. Pandharkar. According to Sane Guruji General Administrator Sandip Mhevase the suspect had spent the two days previous to the kidnapping posing as a relative of another patient and had befriended Vidya Sutar and her mother, though when shown CCTV footage of the suspect, both claimed not to know her.
African Mine Clash Takes Deadly Turn
Wall Street Journal (08/14/12) Maylie, Devon
The conflict between two rival labor unions turned deadly over the weekend at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine in South Africa, leaving at least three people dead and four wounded in separate incidents. The trouble began on Friday when some 3,000 rock drillers, allegedly supporters of the newly arrived Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), staged an illegal strike over low wages at Marikana. Over the weekend and into Monday at least four workers were hospitalized for gunshot wounds, while another was found shot to death in a mine shaft. On Sunday, a pair of Lonmin security guards were pulled from their vehicle and reportedly hacked to death and robbed of their weapons. The violence is the latest this year as the AMCU challenges the established National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which is an ally of the country's ruling African National Congress. This February, clashes between the AMCU and NUM closed down Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd.'s largest mine for six weeks, resulting in a loss of roughly $250 million for the company. Employment is down and wages stagnant in the platinum mines, as European demand in the last years has fallen.
Medical Tech's Arrest Shows Flaws in Hospital Security
Anchorage Daily News (AK) (08/14/12) Caruso, David B.; Ramer, Holly
Radiology technician David Kwiatkowski has been charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Hampshire with tampering with needles and infecting at least 31 people with hepatitis C who were treated at Exeter Hospital. Hospital officials say that Kwiatkowski was stealing syringes filled with addictive painkillers and replacing them with other, often dirty syringe, filled with a dummy fluid. It has now been found that Kwiatkowski was accused of stealing a syringe with an opioid painkiller in it and sticking it down his pants by a coworker at a temporary job at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center-Presbyterian in 2008. He was not arrested at the time nor did the hospital or the temporary staffing agency he worked with inform the national accreditation organization for radiology technicians. As a result of that oversight, several days after Kwiatkowski was fired he was able to start a new job at a hospital in Baltimore. In the next four years, he was employed at 10 hospitals, all of which had no knowledge of his history when they hired him. It is unknown how many patients Kwiatkowski may have infected by planting syringes tainted with his blood, but eight states-- Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York and Pennsylvania--are now testing patients who may crossed his path to assess the extent of the damage. Security experts say that Kwiatkowski's case shows the need for better regulation of hospital technicians, who currently do not have to undergo the same scrutiny as physicians and nurses.
British Bank in $340 Million Settlement for Laundering
New York Times (08/15/12) Silver-Greenberg, Jessica
Britain's Standard Chartered Bank has settled allegations brought by the New York Department of Financial Services that it laundered money for Iran and lied to regulators. According to the New York state agency, Standard Chartered facilitated 60,000 transactions for Iranians between January 2001 and 2007 that funneled $250 billion to terrorists and Iran's nuclear weapons program. Benjamin M. Lawsky, the head of the Department of Financial Services, said it was impossible to know how the money was used by the Iranians because Standard Chartered did not properly report the transactions that had been sent through its branch. But Lawsky also noted that Standard Chartered broke New York State law by hiding the identities of its clients in Iran, lying to regulators, and hindering efforts by U.S. authorities to uncover money laundering. Officials at Standard Chartered say that nearly all of the transactions involved legitimate Iranian banks and corporations and that none of the transactions were used to finance terrorism. Standard Chartered decided to settle the allegations in part because it wanted to put an end to the public relations problems that have been caused by the controversy. Under the terms of the settlement, Standard Chartered will pay $340 million to the Department of Financial Services. In addition, the bank will also a monitor for at least two years to scrutinize its money laundering controls, while other officials will perform audits of the bank's internal procedures.
Report: Anti-terrorism Program Led to Racial Profiling in Boston Airport
Associated Press (08/12/12)
Thirty-two Transportation Security Administration officers working at Boston's Logan International Airport have reported that the "behavior detection" program at that airport has led to rampant racial profiling of minorities. The program was previously seen as a model system for other airports around the nation and taught TSA officers how to hone in on suspicious behaviors as signs of potentially dangerous or illegal activity. However, according to the Boston officers, who submitted complaints to the TSA during a meeting last month, pressure from local managers to increase the number of stops, searches, and criminal referrals led to officers abusing the program. Officers reportedly developed several profiles for minorities, such as African-Americans and Hispanics, allegedly because searches of such individuals were more likely to yield drug busts, outstanding warrants, or immigration status issues. Similar behavior was recorded by the TSA at Newark, N.J.'s Liberty International Airport in 2008 and 2009, where officers also claimed to have been under pressure from managers to up their number of law enforcement referrals. The TSA has condemned such practices, saying in a statement, "If any of these claims prove accurate, we will take immediate and decisive action to ensure there are consequences to such activity."
Agency Probing How NY Man Stranded in Bay Easily Breached Kennedy Airport's Security System
Associated Press (08/13/12)
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is investigating how a man on a personal watercraft who became stranded in New York City's Jamaica Bay was able to easily breach John F. Kennedy International Airport's security system by walking through two runways and into a terminal. According to officials, the man swam to a Jamaica Bay shore before walking past the motion sensors and surveillance cameras that are part of the airport's Perimeter Intrusion Detection System. The 31-year-old man reportedly climbed an 8-foot tall perimeter fence before making his way to Terminal 3. Authorities were called after the man approached a Delta Airlines employee. He has been charged with criminal trespass.
FBI: Man in Ireland Charged with Pitt Bomb Threats
Associated Press (08/15/12)
A Scottish man living in Dublin, Ireland, was indicted on Wednesday for his alleged role in a series of e-mailed bomb threats made against the University of Pittsburgh in April. Adam Stuart Busby, 64, also allegedly e-mailed threats to federal courthouses in Pittsburgh, Erie, and Johnstown, Pa., as well as to David Hickton, the U.S. Attorney leading the investigation into Busby's threats against the University of Pittsburgh. Busby is a member of the Scottish separatist group the Scottish National Liberation Army and was convicted in Ireland in 2010 of e-mailing bomb threats against international flights between London and New York. While the spate of bomb threats at the University of Pittsburgh began in February with threats scrawled on bathroom walls, it is alleged that Busby was responsible for the bulk of the e-mailed threats made between April 6 and 21, including two alleging to come from a group identifying itself as "The Threateners" which demanded the university retract a $10,000 reward it had offered for information on the person sending the threats. When Busby is extradited from Ireland he will face 17 counts of wire fraud, 16 counts of sending false information or hoaxes, and two counts of international extortion for the "Threateners" e-mails. According to university officials, the bomb threats cost the school $300,000, not counting the cost to students and faculty in lost time due to the frequent evacuations.
Niger Struggles Against Islamist Militants
Washington Post (08/17/12) Raghavan, Sudarsan
Sandwiched between two of the the most active hotspots of Islamic terrorism in Northwest Africa, officials and citizens in Niger are already feeling the creeping influence of militant Islam and some worry that it is only a matter of time before their country is caught up in the violence occurring across its borders. Many young men from Niger once supported whole families working across the northern border in Libya, but following the fall of the regime of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi last year those men have returned and their income dried up, causing a spike in theft and other crimes. At the same time arms from the defunct regime were flowing through Niger to neighboring Mali, the northern half of which is now ruled by al-Qaida-allied Islamic extremists armed with those same weapons. In the south, the influence of Nigeria's Boko Haram has been spreading, with the town of Zinder becoming an incubator for the group's radical religious ideology, which is beginning to displace the more moderate Sufi Islam practiced by Muslims in Niger. The local Christian community, meanwhile, worries it will soon become the target of attacks. Authorities in Niger have managed to keep violence in check so far, but many worry that without military intervention, especially in Mali, that could soon change.
FBI Warns of Drive-By Attacks From Reveton Virus
Government Computer News (08/10/12) McCaney, Kevin
The FBI is warning users about a new iteration of a drive-by virus that locks users' computers, tells them they have violated federal law, and asks them to pay a fine through a prepaid card service. The message appears to come from the FBI or the Justice Department's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, the FBI said in its advisory about the virus. Although the ploy may seem obvious to most users, Donna Gregory of the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) said some people have actually paid the so-called fine. Although it often will try to hide on the user's computer, this particular malware variation, known as Reveton ransomware, immediately freezes the user's computer and displays a message declaring that the user has violated federal law, usually tied with child pornography or other illegal activity, and orders the user to pay the fine. The FBI says it first came across Reveton in 2011 and IC3 issued a warning about it in May 2012, but security experts say the drive-by malware has proliferated domestically and overseas since then.
Stepped-Up Computer Monitoring of Federal Workers Worries Privacy Advocates
Washington Post (08/17/12) Rein, Lisa
Concerns about the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive documents, such as the thousands of documents that were released during the WikiLeaks scandal, have prompted some federal government agencies to take steps to monitor their employees' computer usage. Three federal agencies--the Food and Drug Administration, the Transportation Security Administration, and the Federal Maritime Commission--have already come under scrutiny from lawmakers for using employee monitoring software, though experts say that such software is used in practically every arm of the federal government. One monitoring application that is used by dozens of federal agencies, including the FDA, monitors employee e-mails--including messages sent via personal Web mail accounts over government computers--as well as messages sent over Twitter and Facebook. The software is also capable of capturing screenshots of workers' computers, logging their keystrokes, retrieving files from their hard drives, or searching keywords. In addition to monitoring government computers, some federal agencies also track employees' activities on their government-issued smartphones, iPads, or other devices that are used on federal networks. The practice of monitoring employees has come under fire from some who say that it could compromise the privacy of federal whistleblowers. Indeed, scientists at the FDA have filed a lawsuit against the agency that alleges that it monitored them because they were blowing the whistle on a review process that they believed to be unethical. The FDA, for its part, has said that it was concerned that the scientists were improperly sharing trade secrets.
Tridium Issues Fixes for Online Control System
Washington Post (08/15/12) O'Harrow Jr., Robert
Security holes have been plugged in Tridium's Niagara Framework software, a system used by hundreds of thousands of companies and organizations in 52 countries, according to a new Department of Homeland Security advisory. Niagara is used to remotely control equipment such as medical devices, elevators, furnaces, video cameras, and security systems. The vulnerabilities in the system were revealed in a Washington Post article last month that featured Billy Rios and Terry McCorkle, the researchers who discovered them. The vulnerabilities would allow breaches of the systems by hackers seeking usernames and passwords. According to DHS' Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team, "these vulnerabilities can be exploited remotely ... An attacker with medium skill could exploit these vulnerabilities." Tridium is urging all of its users to download the new security patches for Niagara.
Adobe Patches Critical Flash, Reader and Acrobat Vulnerabilities
ZDNet (08/15/12) Clark, Jack
Adobe published patches to critical flaws in its Flash Player, Reader, and Acrobat software products that let attackers wield control of Windows systems and execute malicious code. The most critical vulnerability, CVE-2012-1535, affects Adobe Flash Player 11.3.300.270 for Windows, Macintosh and Linux, and all earlier versions. It lets attackers remotely control a machine and is being exploited in the wild in "limited targeted attacks," according to Adobe. The flaw is being spread through infected Microsoft Word documents and targets the ActiveX version of Flash Player for Internet Explorer on Windows platforms. Adobe recommends Windows and Macintosh users update Adobe Flash Player to its most recent version, and says Google Chrome users need not worry as the software automatically updates. In addition, Adobe issued a critical security update for its Reader and Acrobat software to amend a set of flaws that could let attackers carry out malicious code. The company also released an update for Adobe Shockwave Player to address a vulnerability that could allow remote code to run on the system. The company suggests users of Adobe Shockwave Player 11.6.5.635 update to the latest version, 11.6.6.636.
Microsoft Patches Critical Security Holes in Windows, Office, IE
IDG News Service (08/14/12) Perez, Juan Carlos
Microsoft has patched 26 vulnerabilities in a broad range of its software products, according to its monthly security patch report. The vulnerabilities are described in nine security bulletins, five marked critical and four marked important. The critical bulletins describe vulnerabilities in products ranging from Office to Internet Explorer to various Windows OSes. Qualys CTO Wolfgang Kandek says the most important bulletins deal with vulnerabilities in Windows Common Controls, which could be triggered by visiting a malicious Web site, and in Microsoft Exchange Server's WebReady Document Viewing feature, which can be exploited through previewing files in the Outlook Web App. The four important bulletins describe vulnerabilities in the Windows kernel-mode drivers, JScript and VBScript scripting engines for 64-bit Windows, Microsoft Office, and Visio. Systems and software setup to automatically download and install Microsoft updates should already have the new patches, but IT administrators running systems not set up for automatic updating should download the appropriate patches.
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