Government
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 »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) is hosting an event this week in Virginia to bring together international government officials and nuclear industry experts to discuss radiological, nuclear and cyber security priorities.
The project was initially launched to define the Nuclear Security Summit... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently began recruiting military veterans under veterans’ recruitment appointment (RA) announcements for multiple CBP positions at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport complex.
The announcements began on... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) executive council on Friday voted to adopt a decision that condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic.
OPCW called on all parties identified in OPCW-United Nations Joint... Read More »
Daniel Espejo Amos, a former officer with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison on Friday for taking tens of thousands of dollars in bribes.
Amos was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald on charges stemming from a... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently began recruiting military veterans under veterans’ recruitment appointment (RA) announcements for multiple CBP positions at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport complex.
The announcements began on... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) on Friday announced the selection of Rick Bright for the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, and Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
“BARDA succeeds through... Read More »
A lack of biometric data sharing regarding terrorist groups at the international level creates a security gap that could be exploited by returning foreign fighters, Interpol said on Wednesday.
The Interpol General Assembly has said the threat needs to be addressed quickly, especially given that... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) recently urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to take action regarding consumer protections and Internet of Things (IoT) devices following a massive distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack last month that caused outages of many... Read More »
The National Security Agency (NSA), along with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), recently designated eight academic institutions as NSA/DHS National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense.
The designation is part of the president’s Cybersecurity National Action Plan... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and representatives from 20 countries recently gathered for the fourth plenary meeting of the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification (IPNDV) in Abu Dhabi to discuss technical challenges involved with nuclear verification.
The meeting... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) recently sent a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson stressing the importance of information sharing between government agencies and critical infrastructure companies.
Thompson’s letter comes in the wake of a massive... Read More »
The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and the World Customs Organization (WCO) recently conducted a global counter-smuggling operation that resulted in the seizure of more than $460 million in cash and bearer negotiable instruments (BNIs) and approximately 300 weapons.
The... Read More »
U.S. Rep Martha McSally (R-AZ) hosted Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) for a tour of Fort Huachuca and the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base last week.
“I appreciate Martha’s invitation to come and see first-hand the military capability in Southern... Read More »
Unisys Corp. was recently awarded a contract by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to help the agency continue achieving its dual mission of facilitating the free travel of people through U.S. borders quickly while maintaining strong security.
Unisys will modernize the agency's technology... Read More »
