DHEC issues emergency orders on 63 dams.

Officials from South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control issued emergency orders on 63 dams October 16 following historic amounts of rainfall and flooding that caused 36 dams to fail, while damaging many others. The order asks owners to provide inspection documentation and may mandate lowering of water levels and other actions to reduce the possibility of dam failure.

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Explosion at GRDA power plant near Chouteau causes minor injuries.

The job site at the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) Power Station in Mayes County was shut down indefinitely while officials investigate an explosion and fire October 18 that left three people injured. The incident was a result of a construction-related work at the plant’s Unit 2 coal-fired generator.

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ISIS is attacking the US energy grid (and failing).

U.S. law enforcement and government officials reported that ISIS is beginning to perform cyberattacks on energy firms in the U.S., and that the attacks have been unsuccessful. Officials stated that hacking software for sale on black markets could contribute to attacks against industrial control systems at energy companies, including pumps and engines.

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Fire burns at hazardous waste plant near Beatty.

Officials reported October 19 that an October 18 fire at the U.S. Ecology industrial radioactive waste plant prompted nearby road closures and two school closures in Beatty, Nevada, after the fire began at one of the plant’s closed low-level radioactive disposal cells. Officials are monitoring the air quality in the area and no injuries were reported.

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Multiple structures damaged at Trade Days site in Canton, Texas.

Officials reported October 17 that at least 60 buildings were destroyed at the First Monday Trade Days site in Canton after a fire began at The Mountain, a location at the site. The cause of the fire and total amount of damages remain under investigation.

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Feds to require drone registration after close calls.

The U.S. Government announced October 19 that registration of drone aircraft will be required for all buyers, including consumers and hobbyists, to address the growing number of reported close calls and incidents that pose safety risks. The Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation are setting up a 25-to-30-member task force, including government and industry officials and hobbyists, which will recommend which drones should be required to register and which should be exempt.

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Southwest flight makes emergency landing at LAX after passenger ‘choked’ woman.

On October 18, a Southwest Airlines flight headed to San Francisco turned around and made an emergency landing in Los Angeles due to a physical altercation by one passenger against another. Law enforcement removed one passenger upon landing while the remaining 136 passengers continued their journey.

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One in four organizations have experienced an APT.

ISACA released findings from a study surveying over 660 cybersecurity professionals revealing that about 28 percent of those surveyed have experienced an attack from an advanced persistent threat (APT), that mobile device security continues to be an issue, and that most organizations tend to focus on technical controls instead of education and training when most APT attacks tend to employ social engineering, among other findings.

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Nuke units shut down at Surry Power Station.

A Dominion Virginia Power official reported October 20 that both nuclear units at its Surry Power Station located in Richmond were shut down after a generator problem triggered sensors that caused the first unit to shut down the week of October 12 and a scheduled refueling caused the second unit to shut down October 19. Authorities reported that three large pumps and three main transformers will be replaced and that Dominion Power will have sufficient power available while the units are down.

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Three teens charged with breaking into Commack schools’ computer system, police say.

Police in Suffolk County, N.Y., charged three Commack High School seniors for allegedly breaking into the district’s computer system and changing class schedules for approximately 300 students in May and June. The students obtained the login information of administrators by installing a device on a computer that tracked keystrokes.

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Oracle quarterly security update patches 154 vulnerabilities.

Oracle released a quarterly patch addressing 154 security issues in 54 products, including 24 vulnerabilities in Java SE, 16 remotely exploitable bugs in Fusion Middleware, and seven in Oracle Database, among others. Eighty-four of the patches address vulnerabilities that may be remotely exploitable without authentication.

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FCC fines Alaskan company over $600,000 for cell tower.

General Communications Inc., the parent company of The Alaska Wireless Network, agreed to pay $620,500 in a settlement reached with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) October 20 resolving allegations that the company failed to register 118 cellular communication facilities through the FCC’s Antenna Structure Registration system and failed to properly light three facilities to comply with flight safety rules.

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US fighter pilot killed after jet crashes in England.

U.S. military officials announced October 22 that a U.S. Marine Corps fighter pilot was killed October 21 when his F/A-18C Hornet aircraft crashed immediately after taking off from the Royal Air Force Lakenheath station in England. The plane was among six San Diego-based aircraft returning from a 6-month deployment in the Middle East.

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Mystery substance in “Ebola” vial forces evacuation of Danbury office building. Danbury Fire officials reported that about 150 employees were evacuated and told to go home from ComNet and several other businesses October 21 following an incident in which a man brought a vial marked “Ebola” into the building. The man allegedly claimed the vial contained a cure to the disease and officials found no threat to the environment.

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Five juveniles charged in bomb threats at Ohio schools.

Police arrested five juveniles October 22 in connection to a series of bomb threats that prompted evacuations and closures at several schools in central Ohio. Authorities determined that the bomb threats were unrelated and snowballed off of one another.

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