Government
The United States Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) launched a program this week to improve information sharing with financial institutions.
The FinCEN Exchange program will include regular briefings with financial institutions to share information on... Read More »
Legislation introduced in the House of Representatives on Tuesday would add chip technology to Medicare identification cards to better protect seniors and to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.
Under the Medicare Common Access Card (CAC) Act, Medicare cards would use the same chip technology that... Read More »
Bipartisan leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee called on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Tuesday to lead the investigation into sonic attacks on personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba.
The State Department... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection officers at Arizona’s Port of Nogales recently arrested two individuals with “Trusted Traveler” status after finding drugs in their vehicles.
The two individuals were enrolled in the Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection (SENTRI) program,... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released Tuesday its end-of-year immigration enforcement statistics, which showed historically low border apprehension numbers but an increase in removals.
We have clearly seen the successful results of the President’s commitment to supporting the... Read More »
Efforts to enhance vetting of travelers to the United States, to intercept ISIS fighters fleeing Syria and Iraq, and to remain vigilant of “homegrown violent extremists” highlighted a Terror Threat Snapshot released by the House Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday.
Key developments... Read More »
The Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Department of Justice (DoJ) initiated a regulatory process on Tuesday to determine if bump stocks are illegal under federal prohibitions on machineguns.
The ATF has submitted an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking to the Office of... Read More »
With billions of dollars flowing into a focus on artificial intelligence, China poses both a military and commercial threat to the United States where artificial intelligence is concerned, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
While the exact amounts invested remain hazy, experts dub... Read More »
Mass amounts of marijuana and cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $1.3 million were recently intercepted by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Laredo Port of Entry in two separate seizures.
On Saturday, CBP officers found 53 pounds of cocaine hidden on a... Read More »
Despite gains made by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in foreign airport assessments and air carrier inspections, a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) study found “considerable regional variation” in compliance with security standards and recommended practices.... Read More »
Businesses would have to adhere to new customer notification requirements for data breaches under a bill introduced in the Senate on Thursday, and corporate employees could face new criminal penalties for deliberately concealing breaches.
Democratic members of the Senate Commerce, Science and... Read More »
During a 24-hour period last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted a total of 12,215 pounds of narcotics valued at more than $9.1 million at ports of entry along the California border with Mexico.
The officers seized 11,895 pounds of marijuana, 227 pounds of... Read More »
The Twenty-Second Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) recently appointed H.E. Ambassador Fernando Arias of Spain as the next director-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
Ambassador Arias will take over... Read More »
Efforts to modernize the Douglas Port of Entry in southeastern Arizona advanced on Friday with the General Services Administration (GSA) awarding a contract to Tuscon-based architectural firm Line and Space to conduct a feasibility study.
The feasibility study will aim to evaluate and identify... Read More »
With U.S. adversaries making steady gains in space capabilities in the decades following the first Gulf War, military leaders called for swifter action to secure U.S. space dominance and for reforms to procurement processes on Saturday.
Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and Air Force Gen. John... Read More »
U.S. Border Patrol has effectively deployed surveillance technology like radars, sensors, and cameras along the southern border, but data quality and efforts to assess the effectiveness need to be improved, a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) review found.
Although technology... Read More »
The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has published a new guidance document to aid hospitals’ response to disease outbreaks.
The new guide, published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology and titled,... Read More »
The response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone led to a less fragmented health system and the development of more effective mental health care services in the country, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report released on Thursday.
Prior to the outbreak, one specialist... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Director Elaine Duke testified before a House committee on Thursday that the Diversity Visa Lottery Program is “rife with fraud,” backing a bill that would eliminate the program.
During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Duke said that... Read More »
Romania agreed to purchase Raytheon Co.’s Patriot integrated air and missile defense system from the U.S. Army on Wednesday, a move that sets the stage for contract negotiations between Raytheon and the U.S. government.
Under the letter of offer and acceptance that the Romanian government... Read More »
The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Radiological Assistance Program (RAP) team recently led three days of training on countering a potential nuclear threat for more than 70 local, state, and federal responders in Hawaii.
RAP held the event at the request of the state of... Read More »
A provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) used by the intelligence community to gather intelligence on terrorists located outside the United States would be amended under a bill introduced in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The FISA Amendments Reauthorization... Read More »
Witnesses testified before a House subcommittee on Wednesday about the impact that two bills would have on efforts to eliminate access to banks by terrorist organizations, human traffickers, and drug cartels.
The Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit and Terrorism and Illicit Finance... Read More »
Top executives of the government’s national security agencies offered troubling assessments of the growing threats from terrorism, both internationally and domestically, during a congressional hearing on Thursday.
“Today, the magnitude of the threat we face from terrorism is equal to, and in... Read More »
At an American Security Today ceremony earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) found its efforts lauded, taking away four awards for current projects.
The annual ASTOR Homeland Security Awards recognizes physical, IT, and port... Read More »
A Canadian national and resident pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of computer hacking and other criminal offenses related to helping Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to access webmail accounts.
Karim Baratov, also known as Kay, Karim Taloverov, and Karim Akehmet Tokbergenov, was charged... Read More »
Programs that work to secure railroads, buses, public areas of airports and other “soft targets” for terrorist attacks would be revamped and restored under a bill introduced in the House of Representatives on Monday.
The Surface Transportation and Public Area Security Act of 2017 seeks to... Read More »
Following North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile test on Monday, lawmakers called for action on legislation that would require a strategy to confront the nuclear threat and step-up sanctions on North Korea.
U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Forces... Read More »
Two qualification flight tests of the B61-12 gravity bomb completed at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada earlier this month demonstrated the bomb’s non-nuclear functions and the ability of F-15E aircraft to deliver the weapon.
Led by the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of... Read More »
Border Patrol agents detained 13 Mexican nationals in Imperial Beach, California, after they allegedly entered the United States illegally aboard a panga boat in the early morning hours of Nov. 22.
Responding to reports of an incoming boat from Mexico, Border Patrol agents intercepted the... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations agents recently disrupted an attempt to smuggle three undocumented aliens via private aircraft at the Edinburg International Airport in Edinburg, Texas.
Following a pilot document and immigration inspection, air interdiction... Read More »
Civilians working for the Serbian government recently completed an advanced information systems security (INFOSEC) training session organized by NATO’s Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme in Belgrade and Tallinn.
Twelve representatives from Serbia’s Office of the National... Read More »
A congressional proposal to cut the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) by 44 percent would lead to 67 million additional malaria cases in the next four years, according to a recent mathematical model’s estimates.
PMI was launched in 2005 with a goal to reduce malaria by 50 percent in 15... Read More »
A federal organization with a varied history as part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate is marking 70 years of service to national security’s scientific needs this month.
The National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL) has worked under a... Read More »
States Parties from Asia gathered earlier this month to discuss potential adoption of national legislation regarding chemical weapons during a Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) forum held in The Hague in the Netherlands.
The Stakeholders Forum for States Parties in Asia on the Adoption of... Read More »