Government
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is recommending the Department of Defense upgrade Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) units' ability to operate and maintain U.S.-purchased equipment.
GAO officials said House Report 114-537 included a provision for the agency to review... Read More »
The South Texas-based Operation Stonegarden has united federal U.S. Border Patrol officers with state and local law enforcement agencies in an effort to enhance the area’s border security.
To date, they have rescued more than 120 aliens from stash houses and have seized weapons, drugs and... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently signed a memorandum of agreement to strengthen cybersecurity in healthcare systems and medical devices.
Together, the two agencies will seek to create greater coordination and cooperation on... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced the launch of a new voice-activated system to help first responders gather critical data while at the scene of an emergency.
The system, called AUDREY (Assistant for Understanding Data through Reasoning, Extraction, and Synthesis), is... Read More »
Federal law enforcement officials have unveiled a series of initiatives targeting transnational organized crime.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the effort stems from an executive order from President Donald Trump to dismantle transnational criminal organizations, which Sessions defined as... Read More »
An operation conducted jointly between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF) ended in the seizure of 2,325 pounds of cocaine from a vessel in Puerto Rico last week.
That cocaine has a street value of $29.6 million, all of it left aboard an... Read More »
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently released a plan to expand the use of biometrics technology to enhance security and increase efficiency.
Biometric technology will speed up the passenger experience. The TSA and airlines currently verify traveler identity primarily by... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently introduced a measure designed to permanently re-authorize funding for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF).
Sens. Cory Gardner (R-CO), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), and Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY),... Read More »
Both state and industry representatives from 25 nations gathered in Qatar earlier this month as part of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and collectively agreed to increase cooperation in the future.
“All chemical industries regardless of the size and scale need... Read More »
When two separate individuals attempted to enter the United States at the Port of San Luis in Arizona earlier this month, it was new facial comparison technology that identified inconsistencies between the passports and the people who stood before Customs and Border Protection (CBP)... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen recently hosted the second day of the Conference on Prosperity and Security in Central America, which focused on improving personal safety and security in the region.
Discussions included combating organized crime and gangs,... Read More »
The bill that would fund a roughly $23 billion wall along the southern border was introduced in Congress last week.
The Build the Wall, Enforce the Law Act of 2018, H.R. 7059, also includes measures to cut off funds to sanctuary cities and facilitates the deportation of immigrant gang... Read More »
Department of Energy (DOE) officials said the agency has adopted national security measures designed to prevent China’s diversion of U.S. civil nuclear technology for military or other unauthorized purposes.
“The United States cannot ignore the national security implications of China’s... Read More »
Javier Alfredo Valle Anaya, a former intelligence agent of a disbanded Colombian intelligence agency, was arrested Oct. 5 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for immigrating under false pretenses.
The former agent was convicted and wanted in Colombia for the 2004 murders of a... Read More »
Ballistic imaging equipment used by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) recently was deployed in 22 state and local law enforcement agencies.
NIBIN is the nation’s only crime gun ballistic network. It... Read More »
A group of Democratic U.S. Senators are calling on the Trump Administration to look into reports of Chinese government efforts to secretly manipulate U.S. technology.
The request is in response to an Oct. 4 article in Bloomberg Businessweek that said the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA)... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report this week detailing four recommendations to improve the nation’s Air Force, which they noted has declined in readiness for nearly 20 years.
A lack of modernization is a critical part of this problematic scenario.
The Air... Read More »
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced this week that a strategic partnership between the department and Johnson & Johnson will seek to advance efforts against chemical, biological, radiation, nuclear, disease, and antimicrobial threats in the United States.
The two... Read More »
Yanjun Xu, a deputy division director of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS), was extradited to the United States this week and was charged with conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage and stealing trade secrets from multiple U.S. aerospace and aviation companies.
The... Read More »
A range of global security issues, including terrorism, were discussed during a recent meeting between U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock.
Sessions and Stock touched on several joint initiatives, including a project to strengthen the capacity of law... Read More »
A large-scale biological event shouldn’t mean that the nation’s thousands of state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) governments fend for themselves waiting for federal assets to arrive, a new bipartisan report of the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense says.
“We can take steps now... Read More »
As a founding director of the nation’s first bioterrorism preparedness program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1999, Dr. Scott Lillibridge didn’t realize then what would emerge as the almost surreal scope of biothreats now challenging the United States.
But now he knows,... Read More »
Charles P. Verdon is the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) new Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs.
Verdon, who was recently sworn to duty by Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette, will lead NNSA’s mission to maintain a nuclear deterrent that is modern, robust,... Read More »
A new Strategy for Protecting and Preparing the Homeland against Threats from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) and Geomagnetic Disturbance (GMD) was released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this week.
The strategy focuses on DHS efforts to counteract threats to critical... Read More »
Raytheon Co.’s long-range DeepStrike missile recently met the U.S. Army's Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) requirement.
In July in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Raytheon integrated its new launch pod missile container into the Army's M270 MLRS and M142 HIMARS launchers. Marines and soldiers assisted... Read More »
Faced with mounting challenges in protecting its weapon systems from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has stepped up its efforts to address weapon systems cybersecurity.
In a new report, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that... Read More »
Leaders of the U.S. intelligence community focused on security threats posed by China, with little attention paid to Russia, during an annual oversight hearing by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
FBI Director Christopher Wray and Homeland Security... Read More »
Private contractor Lockheed Martin is actively upgrading the U.S. Army’s operational capability through enhanced energy storage developments.
Some of the upgrades have included a Lithium-based energy storage system, intelligent microgrids and supporting infrastructure to help them function.... Read More »
A recently published House Homeland Security Committee report highlighted the scope of ISIS external operations against Western countries, as well as other terrorist incidents inspired by the group.
The Committee has been tracking terrorist activity linked to ISIS since the group’s formation,... Read More »
In a report to Congress, the 911 Implementation Coordination Office addressed the $9.5 billion to $12.7 billion cost necessary to transition the United States into a next generation 911 system (NG911) that increasingly incorporates not just calls, but data as well.
The National Emergency Number... Read More »
On Friday, President Donald Trump signed into law H.R. 302, which includes the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, the largest reform of the U.S. disaster preparedness and recovery system since Hurricane Katrina.
The act reforms the Federal Emergency Management Agency to include predisaster mitigation... Read More »
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, released the October Terror Threat Snapshot last week, highlighting that 159 homegrown Jihadist cases in 30 states have been uncovered since 2013.
The cases included plots to attack the country, overseas travel,... Read More »
Defense contractors Raytheon and Northrop Grumman/Ball Aerospace will compete for the right to be mission payload providers on the U.S. Air Force’s Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared missile warning satellite system.
The next-gen system replaced the traditional Space Based Infrared... Read More »
Connecticut recently launched three school safety programs -- Start With Hello, Say Something, and SOS Signs of Suicide -- designed to increase school safety.
The programs will help train students, educators, and school administrators identify, assess, intervene, and get help for those... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) commended President Donald Trump for signing into law a bill to help Americans who are victimized by acts of terrorism while abroad get justice.
Trump signed into law the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act of 2018 (S. 2946), which will improve access to justice in... Read More »
