The House Homeland Security Committee released a report on Wednesday regarding encrypted communications in the wake of the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino and Paris. The report, titled “Going Dark Going Forward: A Primer on the Encryption Debate,” is the … Read More
A coalition of research institutions published a report in the Clinical Infectious Disease Journal on Wednesday that analyzed the immune responses of Ebola patients treated in the United States. The coalition includes the U.S. Centers for Disease and Control (CDC), … Read More
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on Tuesday that found that the National Guard, part of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), has made progress incorporating the Homeland Response Force (HRF) into the chemical, biological radiological and nuclear … Read More
The National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) released a report on Tuesday detailing how a single dose of either of two experimental Zika vaccines protected mice infected with the virus for four to eight weeks after receiving the … Read More
Lockheed Martin’s Q-53 counter fire radar last week demonstrated its ability to identify and track unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and pass that information to a command and control node. Lockheed said that this capability will assist forces in a crowded … Read More
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Monday described how combining engineered anthrax toxin proteins and existing chemotherapy drugs could potentially yield a therapy to reduce or eliminate cancerous tumors. Data was provided by the National Institute of … Read More
U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY), along with other House members, was blocked by the Cuban government last week from entering the country to assess security risks associated with resuming air travel between the United States and Cuba. The Cuban government … Read More
The Greater Rochester International Airport, in a partnership with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, expanded its canine explosives detection program on Friday. A German Shepherd named Lola recently completed a three-month training program at … Read More
The Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) assisted the United States Armed Forces this month in protecting warfighters from exposure to chemical agents that could contaminate the coatings of contemporary combat vehicles. ECBC researchers who specialize in material decontamination learned that … Read More
The United States Senate voted 58-38 on Wednesday to reject an amendment that would enable the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to more quickly obtain the electronic transaction records of suspected terrorists. The amendment was offered by U.S. Sens. Richard … Read More
A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers on Wednesday provided an update on the progress made by the encryption working group. The coalition included U.S. Reps. Fred Upton (R-MI), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and John Conyers (D-MI). “We continue … Read More
A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers introduced legislation on Wednesday to protect critical energy infrastructure from potentially catastrophic cyber attacks. The Securing Energy Infrastructure Act of 2016 was co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Jim Risch (R-ID), Angus King (I-ME), Martin Heinrich (D-NM) … Read More
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), along with the scientific research organization Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, began a multi-country study on Tuesday to evaluate the magnitude of the health risks that Zika virus infection poses on pregnant women and their developing … Read More
U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ), held a field hearing on Tuesday on how to better understand how transit operators and first responders prevent, prepare for and respond to incidents on mass transit. The hearing, titled “Protecting Our Passengers: Perspectives … Read More
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) applauded the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday for finalizing a long-awaited rule governing the commercial use of small drones. “Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have the potential to totally revolutionize our economy and way of … Read More
The European Union (EU) Civil Liberties Committee endorsed a plan by the EU Commission on Tuesday that will systematically check all EU citizens entering or leaving the EU against wide and national security databases. The plan, authored by Monica Macovei … Read More
U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) voted in favor of H.R. 5293 on Friday to strengthen the military’s ability to combat terrorist threats posed by militant groups like ISIL and al Qaeda. “A primary duty of the federal government as enumerated … Read More
A U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released on Saturday found that the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) nuclear smuggling detection and deterrence (NSDD) program is addressing challenges but should improve its overall plan. The full GAO report examined NSDD’s … Read More
Legislation authored by U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) was included in a comprehensive bill package on Friday aimed at combating domestic terrorism in the wake of the Orlando nightclub shooting. The Countering Terrorist Radicalization Act, H.R. 5471, will seek to … Read More
The World Health Organization (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization presented evidence on Friday that yellow fever vaccine given at one-fifth of the regular dose could be used to control an outbreak in case of vaccine shortages. … Read More
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) released data from a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on Wednesday that shows that approximately 91 percent of known or suspected terrorists passed a background check to purchase a firearm or explosives between Feb. … Read More
U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bill Nelson (R-FL) urged the president on Wednesday to reevaluate the Relative Risk Score Threat Level applied to the Orlando area so that it qualifies for funding under the Urban Area Security Initiative. The … Read More
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Tuesday selected the California Department of Health, in partnership with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is Los Angeles, to serve a region covering Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and the Pacific Islands. With … Read More
The House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee held a hearing on Tuesday concerning the U.S. public health response to antibiotic resistant bacteria, otherwise known as “superbugs.” The hearing was initiated after the discovery of the MCR-1 gene in a Pennsylvania woman … Read More
The Biomedical Advance Research and Development Authority (BARDA) recently said that it is anticipating a threat posed by the bacterial gene mcr-1, which confers resistance to the antibiotic colistin and was found in a bacterium isolated from a patient in … Read More
Lockheed Martin entered into a partnership with Interset’s insider threat detection solution on Monday. The decision was announced at the 2016 Gartner Risk and Security Summit conference in National Harbor, MD. “Insider threats pose one of the highest risks to … Read More
U.S. Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) spoke out on Wednesday against the status quo of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) weapon acquisition system, which the DoD uses to procure weapons systems and related items from various defense. Coats said that the … Read More
The Los Alamos National Laboratory is holding its annual Robot Rodeo, a competition that tests the abilities of bomb disposal robots from companies throughout the southwest, this week. “The Robot Rodeo gives bomb-squad teams the opportunity to practice and hone … Read More
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA), along with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI), unveiled the House Republicans’ blueprint for security at home and abroad on Friday. The blueprint is part of the House GOP’s “A Better … Read More
U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) expanded his ongoing investigation on Wednesday into steps federal agencies are taking to better protect banks around the world against cybersecurity threats after multiple attacks against the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) system. … Read More
Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL) researchers took to the New York City subway system last month to aid in conducting a series of tests on how a biological agent, such as anthrax, might disperse throughout the rapid transit system as … Read More
U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and David Vitter (R-LA) introduced the Small Business Cyber Security Improvement Act of 2016 on Tuesday to enable the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) to work with the Department of … Read More
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on Tuesday detailing the security gaps in counterterrorism operations with overseas partners. The report warns that many countries involved with the visa waiver program (VWP) are not holding to the agreements they … Read More
Northrop Grumman Corp. entered into a collaboration on Monday with NEC Corp. to deliver the Japan-Cyber Operations Research, Training and Experimentation (J-CORTEX) system. The system is a private, cloud-based cyber range that quickly and effectively emulates customer environments for the … Read More
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed on Friday that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists discovered a long-horned beetle larvae inside a bamboo stick carried by a passenger from Mexico, marking the first recorded find of the … Read More
