The European Commission recently adopted a series of measures to strengthen the European Union’s (EU) ability to combat the financing of terrorist organizations and organized crime, which were included in the Feb. 2016 Action Plan Against Terrorist Financing. The initiatives … Read More
An undisclosed party of the 13-nation ownership group which operates the Patriot Integrated Air and Missile Defense System recently awarded Raytheon Company a direct commercial sales contract worth more than $600 million to bring its system configuration up to date. … Read More
El Paso Border Sector Patrol Agents assigned to the Forward Operating Base Bounds in Lordsburg, New Mexico rescued a group of undocumented migrants last week after they were abandoned during freezing weather conditions. The migrants, consisting of six adults and … Read More
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently awarded a $10 million grant to four Florida-based universities to collaborate on a newly-formed research center that will focus on combating diseases such as the Zika virus. The facility, called … Read More
According to a recently published study, an experimental Ebola virus vaccine, called rVSV-ZEBOV, was highly protective against the deadly virus in a major trial that took place in Guinea. The study was conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), along … Read More
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), recently launched a campaign to raise awareness about the problems with border corruption so that citizens and government employees who see misconduct or suspicious … Read More
A research team at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai recently published two studies that identify the three-dimensional shapes of two enzymes critical to replication and survival of the Zika virus. The first study, published in Nature Structural … Read More
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate, recently awarded a series of contracts for various technology initiatives related to border security. DHS first awarded $162,302 to Tamr, a … Read More
The U.S. Navy recently awarded a $32 million production contract to Raytheon Company for next-generation encryption systems to safeguard tactical military data transmissions across air, surface, subsurface and group assets. Raytheon’s Link Level Communication Security 7M encryptor (LLC 7M) provides … Read More
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently awarded $184 million in funding to states, territories, local jurisdictions and universities to support initiatives to protect Americans from the spread of Zika virus. The awards are part of the … Read More
Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit apprehended this week a resident of Crown Point, Indiana after being indicted on a felony charge of fraudulently obtaining U.S. citizenship after emigrating from Bosnia and Herzegovina. … Read More
A bipartisan coalition of House members of the encryption working group recently released a year-end report, which details observations from the current state of encryption services and what the next steps should be to improve them for public security. For … Read More
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs announced this week that Irfan Demirtas, a Dutch-Turkish dual citizen, was sentenced to 88 months in prison after providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization called the Islamic Movement … Read More
Soligenix, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing products to treat rare diseases, recently extended its collaboration with IDT Biologika for the manufacture of RiVax, Soligenix’s proprietary heat-stable ricin toxin vaccine. Ricin toxin is a by-product of castor oil production … Read More
The United States House Financial Services Committee’s Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing released the results this week of a two-year investigation into terror financing and the threat it poses to the U.S. financial system. “Combating terror financing is a … Read More
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents seized more than 13 pounds of narcotics concealed within everyday objects in unrelated incidents earlier this week. The first event began as agents with CBP’s Office of Field Operations working at the Columbus … Read More
The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) recently released a study using DNA markers to discern coccobacillus Francisella bacteria to provide a means to distinguish them from the harmful F. tularensis, a virulent pathogen that causes the disease tularemia. “This large … Read More
A research team at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston recently developed the first vaccine for chikungunya fever, which was made in part from an insect-specific virus that does not have any effect on people. The new … Read More
A new law that would protect first responders in the event of a terrorist attack using anthrax drew strong support from the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). The First Responder Anthrax Preparedness Act requires the Department of Homeland Security … Read More
The U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee recently released a report, titled “DHS Headquarters Consolidation at St. Elizabeths: Better Results for Less Money”, which confirms that taxpayers would save approximately $1.2 billion over the span of 30 years … Read More
A bill, authored by U.S. Reps. Jim Langevin (D-RI) and John Ratcliffe (R-TX), to strengthen collaborative cybersecurity research initiatives between the United States and Israel was signed into law last week. The bill, titled the United States-Israel Advanced Research Partnership … Read More
U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI), co-founder of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus, recently sent a letter to Speaker of the House U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) calling for the creation of a Select Committee on Cybersecurity. Approximately 80 committees and subcommittees … Read More
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) publicly called last week for the immediate declassification and public release of any intelligence related to Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, stating that Americans cannot wait much longer to get the facts. … Read More
Battelle, Inc.’s David Winkel was recently recognized by the Nuclear Biological and Chemical (NBC) Industry Group with the Dr. Billy Richardson Award, which recognizes young leaders who are committed to NBC-related defense initiatives. Winkel is the third Battelle researcher overall … Read More
The U.S. Border Patrol recently launched a new initiative called Se Busca Información, which will seek to expand on consequences against dangerous smugglers operating in the Del Rio Border Sector. The initiative will focus on obtaining information from the public … Read More
As the prevalence of smart meters has grown in recent years, utilities are now grappling with cybersecurity challenges presented by the need to protect large volumes of data. The potential for security breaches can rise exponentially as more smart meters … Read More
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agriculture Specialists at Port Huron recently discovered remnants of a khapra beetle, an insect designated for a high-risk of pest infection, in a cargo shipment of split and washed beans from India at the … Read More
The U.S. House Homeland Security Committee released last week a comprehensive review of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) use of intelligence to counter terrorist threats and activities. The report, “Reviewing the Department of Homeland Security’s Intelligence Enterprise Fighting … Read More
President Barack Obama signed last week the Northern Border Security Review Act, which passed Congress with bipartisan support and aims to assess and strengthen security at the U.S. border with Canada. The legislation would require the U.S. Department of Homeland … Read More
U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Tom Udall (D-NM) celebrated this week the passage of bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC), ensuring that first responders and law enforcement personnel are adequately trained for various nation … Read More
A coalition of international statesmen, including former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn (D-GA), Des Browne, Wolfgang Ischinger and Igor Ivanov, publicly called on Western and Russian leaders to de-escalate the risks of dangerous military confrontations by adopting measures outlined in a … Read More
U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) released this week a minority staff memorandum detailing federal support for public health research on gun violence and revealing a setback in federal efforts due to a lack of funding The memo was released on the … Read More
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) released this week an outline for a public-private partnership to deploy the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (Network), with provisions to ensure progress on key network components within the first 100 days of the … Read More
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently held a command ceremony to swear in Robert White as director of field operations (DFO) for CBP’s Chicago Field Office. White replaces DFO William Ferrara, who recently transferred to CBP’s Boston Field Office. … Read More
The reauthorization of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) Reform and Improvement Act of 2015 recently passed both houses of Congress and has been sent to the President’s desk for signature. The reauthorization bill ensures that federal law enforcement … Read More
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