2013 National Night Out, August 6th 2013, Join the celebration and participate in being the "eyes & ears" to report crime!

     August 6th 2013: National Night Out is coming to community near you!

The 30^th Annual National Night Out is designed to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness; generate support and participation in local anti-crime programs; strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships, and lastly send a message to criminals to let them know that your community, your neighborhoods are organized and fighting back. 

2013 National Night Out (NATW)

State of Michigan Health Website Breached - "50,000" individuals from MI Cancer Consortium- reported on July 5th 2013

July 5^th 2013, The Michigan Department of Community Health's cancer section was utilizing a password-protected portion of the Michigan Cancer Consortium website, hosted by a private company, to post cancer test reports, according to a statement provided by an MDCH spokesperson.
Hackers were able to access a portion of the website, but it's unknown if the reports were accessed, the spokesperson said.
The compromised information includes names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, testing results and testing dates.
Impacted individuals were notified of the breach and were provided information about protecting against identity theft, the MDCH spokesperson said. It's unclear whether the department is providing impacted individuals with complimentary credit monitoring services.

*The MDCH nor the MCC has posted an update as of 7/8/13. This breach is being reported on the Gov In Security and website and WWJ News Radio 95 in Detroit MI.

MCC

Michigan 2012 Fireworks Law Amended / National Fire Prevention Assoc. Fireworks Safety

Michigan's Fire Works Law- Amended to provide local government controls

On June 12^th 2013, the Michigan legislature amended the 2012 Fireworks Safety Act. The proposal would allow any city, township or village to enact an ordinance banning overnight "ignition, discharge or use" of consumer fireworks on the day before or after a national holiday. Local units of government already have the ability to limit usage on other days of the year. Smaller communities (townships and villages) will be able to prohibit use from 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. around all national holidays. A maximum civil fine of $500 could be imposed on violators.

The National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) has posted information on the dangers of fireworks and a video interiew with personnel from a New Hampshire CT. fire department and a family that was attending an event and became the victim of a fire due to fireworks.

Patrick and Marci Foy, and their daughter, Olivia, were attending a family celebration in Pelham, NH, on July 3, 2012. They were among the more than dozen people injured during a consumer fireworks incident. Watch as the Foy’s give a first-hand account of their experience and the impact it continues to have on their lives.

Click on the link below to see the video posted at the NFPA website:

NFPA- Fireworks Safety Video

FBI Warns of Spear-Phishing Attacks: Be careful of responding to emails from financial institutions

Cyber Criminals Continue To Use Spear-Phishing To Compromise Computer Networks

On June 25^th 2013, the FBI reported that spear-phishing attacks continue to rise. What is spear-phishing? The phisher deploys a web site, which mimics portions of a legitimate financial institution or other e-commerce websites. The phisher then creates an e-mail message that appears to be from the organization represented on the phishing website. The e-mail message notifies a potential victim of a problem with their account and instructs them to login to the phishing site where the account information will be "verified". Utilizing spam, the phisher sends this e-mail to hundreds and thousands of potential victims. If the victim falls for the scam, they end up compromising their account, their credit card, and potentially could become a victim of other identity theft crimes. For more details on the current spear-phishing, attacks click on the image below.