Government
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers stationed at the Port of Nogales in Arizona arrested a 21-year-old man from Nogales, Sonora, Mexico on Jan. 9 for attempting to smuggle a large weapons cache into Mexico through the port.
During routine outbound operations, officers selected the... Read More »
In order to stay one step ahead of potential emergencies, the Houston Airport System has begun utilizing a new 40-foot mobile incident command vehicle equipped with cutting-edge technology to improve public safety.
The three airports in the Houston area form one of the largest airport systems in... Read More »
Federal advisory committees to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) voted on Monday to approve plans aimed at developing young people into the next generation of leaders that will support national preparedness and health emergency response efforts.
The Office of the Assistant... Read More »
In response to a series of reports that the Russian government interfered with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson publicly released last week plans to designate election systems as a critical infrastructure subsector.
“By... Read More »
Leidos, a Reston, Virginia-based technology company, was recently awarded a subcontract worth approximately $202 million to support the Joint Improvised Threat Defeat Organization (JIDO) for analytical operations, intelligence, and various training services under prime contractor CACI.
JIDO has... Read More »
The Center for Strategic and International Studies’ (CSIS) Cyber Policy Task Force released this week its final report titled From Awareness to Action - A Cybersecurity Agenda for the 45th President, which offered a series of recommendations on policy and resources for the President-elect.... Read More »
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released its Morbidity and Mortality Report, which highlights 10 critical contributions the agency has made in the fight against the spread of Zika virus in 2016.
CDC highlighted new public health surveillance and infection... Read More »
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently named Marlon Miller as the new special agent in charge of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office for three states.
Miller’s office will be based in Philadelphia and will have jurisdiction over operations in the states of... Read More »
With the recent release of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) FY 2016 statistics report, DHS immigration enforcement efforts showed an increase in prioritizing apprehension of convicted criminals and threats to public safety.
DHS saw a 19 percent increase in arrests compared to the... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Todd Breasseale recently issued an executive summary on malicious cyberattacks conducted by the Russian government, known as Grizzly Steppe, during the U.S. election cycle.
The report stated that Russia’s... Read More »
In response to multiple reports of Russian cyber interference in the recent U.S. election cycle, the Obama Administration issued a series of sanctions against the Russian Federation in violation of established international norms of behavior.
Among the actions issued by the President, 35... Read More »
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 presented by the... 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.
The contract was awarded on... 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 activity can report... 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 of Uzbekistan (IMU).... Read More »
The U.S. House passed this week a bipartisan bill authored by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) aimed at strengthening the response to acts of terrorism perpetrated by the militant group Boko Haram.
The bill requires a new five-year U.S. government strategy to counter the threats posed by Boko... Read More »
Emergent Biosolutions said on Thursday it signed a $911 million contract with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to supply vaccines to the Strategic National Stockpile to bolster U.S. national preparedness efforts in the event of a biological attack.
The global biopharmaceutical... Read More »
A coalition of Democratic Congress members recently urged the Obama Administration via letter to provide them with briefings on potential Russian interference during the recent U.S. presidential election.
In the wake of reports speculating that Russia may have interfered in the election,... Read More »
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action earlier this week to impede financial support networks of the terrorist group al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
The department designated AQAP leaders Al-Hasan Ali Ali Abkar and Abdallah Faysal... Read More »
The Alliance for Biosecurity commended the U.S. Senate’s passage of the 21st Century Cures Act, which contains provisions to promote innovation and efficiency in the development of new medical countermeasures.
A key issue the organization cited in the bill was a provision for the development... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently awarded Raytheon BBN Technologies multiple contracts to research and develop technologies to detect and respond to cyber attacks on U.S. power grid infrastructure.
The company will be developing... Read More »
The Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) recently indicated the agency plans to implement new technology into its training courses, including the latest evolution of ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) and Raman and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.
IMS technology revolves around a... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) recently publicly requested that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) improve and expand its oversight into the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s use of private, for-profit detention facilities.
Thompson’s request comes in the wake of a Homeland... Read More »
Legislation to protect first responders from anthrax exposure in the event of a biological attack passed the House on Tuesday and will now go to President Barack Obama to be signed into law.
The First Responder Anthrax Preparedness Act would authorize a pilot program for the Department of... Read More »
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in a recently passed resolution have called for greater cooperation between countries in Europe to strengthen security and defense to combat an increase in terrorism, cyber threats and energy insecurity.
“Our union is not equipped to face overwhelming... Read More »
The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) recently held a two-day workshop in Manila, Philippines on simplifying visa procedures for both Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and non-ASEAN nationals.
The workshop featured presentations from government, law enforcement,... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently opened a new temporary holding facility in Tornillo-Guadalupe, Texas in response to a recent surge in illegal border crossings by migrants along the southwest border of the United States.
The facility, housed at the CBP Tornillo-Guadalupe Port... Read More »
United Nations (UN) member states recently adopted a resolution by consensus to further strengthen collaboration between the UN and Interpol against transnational crime and terrorism.
Member states discussed issues related to counterterrorism during the 71st session of the UN General Assembly,... Read More »
The Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) recently conducted a demonstration for U.S. senators on the latest defense technology: a state-of-the art head-mounted, augmented reality (AR) display.
ECBC initially developed the AR headset to be used for military training, however, the center... Read More »
A coalition of local and national agencies recently took part in a four-day, full-scale exercise in Omaha, Nebraska to evaluate and test the ability to provide international medical transport for multiple patients with a highly infectious disease.
The drill was developed by the National... Read More »
As advancements are made in biotechnology and the treatment of diseases, the U.S. government must strengthen its security to combat the threat of states or individuals potentially launching a biological attack, argues the president’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).
In a... Read More »
The U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan bill introduced by U.S. Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Chris Coons (D-DE) that makes anthrax vaccines available to first responders.
The First Responder Anthrax Preparedness Act has been endorsed by the International Association of Fire... Read More »
The House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology and the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade held a joint hearing on Wednesday that examined the recent distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) on Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices.
On Oct. 21, hackers infiltrated... Read More »
According to a recent clinical trial conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the experimental Ebola virus disease (EVD) treatment ZMapp was found to be safe and well-tolerated amongst participants.
NIH said that while the treatment appeared to be effective for participants, the... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently issued a guide for Internet of Things (IoT) cybersecurity to equip stakeholders with the knowledge to make risk-based decisions as they design, manufacture and use internet-connected devices and systems.
DHS issued the set of strategic... Read More »
