Former Auto Dealer Employee Remotely Disables 100 Cars

A disgruntled former employee of Texas Auto Center car dealership remotely disables cars by using a web-based immobilization system from Payteck.

Using the web-based system the former employee, Omar Ramos-Lopez, allegedly disabled the cars or made their horns honk continuously, though the dealership disputes claims that it occurred after 9:00 PM local time.

Though the business maintains that they closed Omar's account when he was laid off, he allegedly used another persons account to log into the system to cause havoc of the course of a five day period. 

The trouble stopped after the accounts for the entire business were reset and then police traced IP address from access logs back to Omar's system.

NOAA: Imminent Flood Threat in Midwest, South and East Also at Risk

NOAA announced that flooding this year is imminent and in some places major flooding has already started as the spring thaw begins.

The above image of the released March 2010 flood map shows more than a third of the contiguous United States has an above average flood risk –– with the highest threat in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Iowa, including along the Red River Valley where crests could approach the record levels set just last year.

This week, by no coincidence is also national Flood Safety Awareness Week and both FEMA and NOAA have renewed their partnership to raise Flood awareness safety.

Disaster Tip of the Week: Turn Around Don't Drown

This is something that confronts all drivers at one time or another, you come across a large pool of water in the road and it looks to be only a few inches deep. You drive through it and nothing happens. So you do it again next time and the time after that.

Then one day your not so lucky, you drive through the same pool of water, in fact it looks like there is less water than last time, and next thing you know your car drops into a hole and the water is up to the middle of the window, and now you can't get out.

Lets face it, driving through standing water is a bad idea, and driving through flowing water can be even more dangerous, and here is why.

As I mention above, (watch the videos below) the water may be much deeper than you realize especially if it has caused the roadway to collapse which is a common occurrence. Another reason is that it takes two feet of water to float the largest of vehicles, even a bus. However, just six inches of water can float smaller vehicles and can be enough to cause larger vehicles to become unstable.

Add flowing water to the mix and you can easily be swept away. Six inches of fast moving water can knock a person off their feet and even less if the water is moving fast enough.

Next time you come across that pool of water in the road - "Turn Around Don't Drown"

Rescue from Submerged Vehicles

 Woman Drives into Pool of Water

Rescue After Water Main Break

 Fire Truck In Hole After Road Collapses

Safecastle Giveaway on Survivalistboards.com $6,000 Worth of Gear and Supplies

Recently I joined Survivalistboards.com and noticed they are having a contest through the forum where Safecastle is giving away $6,000 worth of gear with a winner everyday for the month of March.

If you are new to survival and preparedness it is a great place to get information, make friends and perhaps have a chance at winning some great gear and supplies.

Energizer Duo USB Battery Charger Trojan - Allows Remote Access

Downloadable software for use with the Energizer Duo USB Charger has been found to contain a Trojan that allows for remote control of the system US-CERT is reporting.

It is unknown at this time how long the Trojan has been in the software, but can be as long as its release three years ago.

According to Symantec "The Trojan still operates whether this device is found or not, so a USB charger doesn't need to be plugged in for the Trojan to be functioning."

US-CERT has issued a Vulnerability Note VU# 154421 with more details. Here is some information from that report:

The installer for the Energizer DUO software places the file UsbCharger.dll in the application's directory and Arucer.dll in the Windows system32 directory.

Arucer.dll is a backdoor that allows unauthorized remote system access via accepting connections on 7777/tcp.