The United States is increasingly turning to biodefense as threats against the homeland continue to grow, but the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey’s Dr. Raymond Zilinskas recently warned that the larger problem remains that no one knows the … Read More
The Centers for Disease Control on Wednesday detailed the valuable work its crisis communicators do during disease outbreaks, natural disasters, biological threats and other disaster-related incidents. Crisis communicators work primarily through detailed plans and outlined goals, all of which are … Read More
Sandia National Laboratories announced on Wednesday that it has signed a a memorandum of agreement with the California Fire and Rescue Training Authority (CFRTA) to incubate and develop new concepts for fire rescue and safety operations. Sandia’s plans for developing … Read More
The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) announced a call to consumers this week to make digital devices an additional target of annual spring cleaning activities. The NCSA and the BBB encouraged businesses to go … Read More
Tenable Network Security, Inc., announced the findings from the Trends in Security Framework Adoption Survey on Monday, noting that overall security confidence is higher for organizations utilizing the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity. “Historically, CISOs have been hesitant to … Read More
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced two separate incidents of significance on Monday, including one seizure and one arrest of a possible murder suspect. Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended a Mexican national over the Easter weekend. The suspect, … Read More
The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) held a workshop on Friday in Lyon, France, to enhance the capacity of authorities in Iraq to better prevent, detect and respond to biological threats. “I am confident this workshop will deepen our levels … Read More
The U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) released information on Thursday regarding its new Non-Traditional Agent Defense Test System, a collection of specialized test chambers designed to test chemical protection agents, as well as detection and decontamination equipment. The … Read More
The Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense’s “National Blueprint for Biodefense” warned that “the United States is underprepared for biological threats,” adding that “biological events may be inevitable, (but) their level of impact on our country is not.” To combat … Read More
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), along with the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction (SCC-WMD) and the Joint Force Headquarters for Elimination (SJFHQ-E), released its 2016-2020 strategic plan on Thursday. The four-point plan … Read More
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) announced on Thursday that its agents were able to intercept a semi-submersible vehicle in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, leading to the arrest of four people and the disruption of … Read More
Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, along with a coalition of U.S. officials, met with the Republic of Korea’s Minister of Public Safety and Security Park Inyoung on Wednesday to discuss a range of shared homeland security-related issues. The coalition … Read More
Scientists from both the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) joined together at a March 7-8 conference to discuss progress and the objective projections for a joint biosurveillance project. “The goal of the program … Read More
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists managed to intercept a shipment containing a longhorn beetle on Tuesday. The event marks the first recorded instance of that particular species of beetle … Read More
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Wednesday announced that officers seized more than 5,500 rounds of assorted ammunition on Tuesday at the Port of Nogales. Officers were performing routine outbound inspections when a GMC SUV was flagged for further … Read More
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), and rankings members Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) and John Conyers (D-MI) announced the formation of a working group on encryption on Monday. The group … Read More
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agency announced on Monday that its Office of Field Operations (OFO) at the Hidalgo and Anzalduas International Bridges had seized $2,350,000 worth of cocaine and methamphetamine. The seizures came from two unrelated incidents … Read More
The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the Counterterrorism Screening and Assistance Act of 2016, H.R. 4314, authored by Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), on Tuesday. “Today the House acted decisively to shut down the jihadist superhighway that allows extremists … Read More
FLIR Systems, Inc., announced on Monday that it has been awarded new contracts totaling $38 million for FLIR man-portable multispectral targeting systems and integrated mobile long-range multispectral imaging and command and control systems. The buyer is an international military customer, … Read More
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced the opening on Friday of a new Global Entry Enrollment Center at the Boise Airport in Boise, Idaho. Global Entry, a CBP trusted traveler program, allows for easy and expedited clearance of pre-approved, … Read More
The U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) announced on Thursday that it had dispatched a team to the Sonoran Desert for a project supporting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville Center, and the U.S. … Read More
Soligenix, Inc., announced on Wednesday that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has exercised its option to accelerate the regulatory activities with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Soligenix’s heat stable ricin toxin vaccine RiVax. … Read More
U.S. Representative John Katko (R-NY) introduced the Securing Aviation from Foreign Entry Points and Guarding Airports through Enhanced Security Act, H.R. 4698, on Wednesday. The act aims to to protect passengers and improve airline safety at last point of departure … Read More
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) outlined the next phase of its strategic roadmap leading to the deployment of the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN) on Wednesday. FirstNet officials highlighted key roadmap milestones as well as other key activities … Read More
Fire Chief Rhonda Mae Kerr, International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) president and chair of the board, testified on Tuesday that the agency is greatly concerned about the Obama administration’s “draconian” cuts to FEMA’s grant program in the FY 2017 … Read More
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on Wednesday that a vaccine jointly developed by the NIH and the FDA had yielded positive results in a clinical trial in which volunteers were infected with dengue virus six months … Read More
Homeland Preparedness News recently interviewed Dr. Asha George, co-director of the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense, a bipartisan organization recommending changes to U.S. policy and law to strengthen national biodefense. HPN: The Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense is … Read More
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced more than $1.6 billion on Monday for 10 DHS preparedness grants programs as part of the release of a FY 2016 Notices of Funding Opportunity. Funding will be provided to state, local … Read More
The National Institutes of Health announced last week that it is aiming to develop new and improved therapeutics to treat injuries from exposure to chemical threats. The grant is entitled the “Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats (CounterACT): Identification of Therapeutic Lead … Read More
In the wake of the House passage of a three month Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization patch – H.R. 4721 – ahead of its March 31 expiration, U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) released a statement calling for even further action. … Read More
U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced on Friday that Martel Valencia-Cortez, a known criminal and human trafficker, had turned himself in to authorities at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Martel Valencia-Cortez is a known human trafficker and has been … Read More
U.S. Army Cyber Command and Second Army (ARCYBER) recently announced that it had launched several new initiatives to realize Secretary of Defense Ash Carter’s vision for greater cooperation between DOD and Silicon Valley. One of these initiatives is the Silicon … Read More
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), in cooperation with the National Authority of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, began a new training course last week dealing with potential transfers of chemical weapons in certain areas. The … Read More
A new report released on Monday by the Syrian-American Medical Society revealed that more than 600 chemical attacks have killed 1,491 people during the five years of ongoing conflict in Syria. The report, “The New Normal, Ongoing Chemical Attacks in … Read More
The United Kingdom’s Highly Innovative Technology Enablers in Aerospace (HITEA) program announced on Thursday that its proof-of-concept, laser-based aircraft tracking system HYPERION has been successfully tested in-flight. HYPERION was designed to aid disaster relief workers in monitoring, surveying, search and … Read More
