Countermeasures
Researchers from Singapore’s Duke-NUS Medical School recently identified and characterized a new genus of filovirus in fruit bats.
Their findings -- published in the journal Nature Microbiology -- called the virus Mengla, for the Chinese county in which it was discovered. It was identified... Read More »
Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) introduced Jan. 4 a bill to provide relief for Americans affected by hurricanes, typhoons, wildfires, and other natural disasters.
The bill would authorize $12.1 billion in emergency spending, including $3.0 billion for infrastructure and economic and community... Read More »
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter Monday to David Pekoske, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) administrator, inquiring about how the government shutdown is affecting agency employees.
The partial government shutdown has... Read More »
Reps. Will Hurd (R-TX) and Robin Kelly (D-IL) introduced last week a measure designed to enhance national cybersecurity efforts by modifying the Federal Chief Information Officer's (CIO) role.
The representatives said the legislation elevates and reauthorizes the duties and responsibilities of... Read More »
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) recently introduced a bill designed to enhance various Department of Defense (DOD) civilian workforce initiatives.
Calvert said the Rebalance for an Effective Defense Uniform and Civilian Employees (REDUCE) Act would require the DOD to systematically execute civilian... Read More »
By running data on flavivirus-positive species through a machine-learning model of known mammal and bird species, scientists from the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) believe they have honed in on those animals most likely to host future flaviviruses.
Flavivirus refers to troublesome... Read More »
A bipartisan bill that would help combat tech-specific threats to national security posed by foreign nations and would improve interagency coordination across the U.S. government recently was introduced in the U.S. Senate.
The legislation seeks to establish the Office of Critical Technologies... Read More »
The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), commended the inclusion of an election security reforms in a bill introduced in the House last week.
The bill, the For the People Act (H.R. 1), would establish a series of reforms in the election process.... Read More »
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) recently offered a review of 2018 cybersecurity threats and election security efforts via a blog post on the agency's website.
David P. Fidler noted that for the first time in the nation's history in 2018, the country conducted elections amid efforts to... Read More »
Scientists from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Institut Pasteu have potentially found the most likely source of Yemen’s worst cholera epidemic in recorded history.
The disease, which has stricken more than 1 million people and killed nearly 2,500 people since it first appeared in the... Read More »
Four U.S. senators re-introduced the Extreme Risk Protection Order and Violence Prevention Act last week. The act would give law enforcement the authority to prevent individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others the ability to purchase or possess firearms.
The act was first introduced in... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) today reintroduced a bill last week into the new Congress that would use money forfeited to the U.S. government from drug lords to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The bill -- called the Ensuring Lawful Collection of Hidden Assets to Provide Order (EL CHAPO)... Read More »
The House Homeland Security Committee released a report this week examining the mobility of Special Interest Aliens (SIAs) and efforts to curtail their entryways to mitigate terrorist threats.
“Individuals who may pose a serious national security threat, known as Special Interest Aliens... Read More »
Researchers in Australia have identified the main factors contributing to pandemic vulnerability in cities as growing populations centered around airports and air travel itself, as population growth outpaces the response capabilities of urban infrastructure.
Such were the conclusions reached by... Read More »
ERADA Technology Alliance Ltd, a diagnostic infectious diseases solutions company, plans to release a saliva test for malaria.
The test is the first to use saliva. Traditional tests use blood and must be processed by trained clinicians.
The test detects a unique biomarker from female... Read More »
The House Homeland Security Committee completed the 115th Congress with several legislative accomplishments under the chairmanship of Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX).
The committee introduced 113 bills that passed through the House and had 35 of them become law during this session. Among them are the... Read More »
Air Force officials are espousing the benefits of a new course designed to aid future squadron commanders in thriving in command posts.
Air University’s Leader Development Course for Squadron Command is structured as a foundational course that builds on leadership experiences and education,... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) published a four-volume set of voluntary cybersecurity practices for the healthcare industry at the end of last year.
The publication covers healthcare environments big and small and comes as a result of two years’ work between industry... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is looking for proposals from small businesses to address technology needs as part of the DHS Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
The new solicitation contains 10 topic descriptions including eight from the Science and Technology... Read More »
The Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense recently bid farewell to one of its founding members, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, the newly elected U.S. Representative for Florida, and welcomed former White House Homeland Security Advisor Lisa Monaco to fill those... Read More »
The Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Shipbuilding Division has been awarded contracts totaling more than $930 million to build two additional National Security Cutters for the Coast Guard.
Officials said the fixed-price incentive contracts are valued at $468.75 million for NSC 10 and $462.13... Read More »
A partnership between FLIR Systems, Inc. and civilian drone company DJI will provide their Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual drone with Lepton microthermal imaging cameras for greater close-range capability.
The Lepton is a compact camera, integrated into drone systems to give pilots greater side-by-side... Read More »
The U.S. Justice Department seized 15 internet domains associated with denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks in December.
The sites offered customers DDoS attacks that targeted computers with information and prevent them from being able to access the internet. These services are referred to as... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions submitted an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for potential emergency use of a new anthrax vaccine the company recently developed.
The vaccine, called NuThrax, is being developed as an anthrax vaccine for post-exposure prophylaxis of disease... Read More »
Federal authorities recently said two members of a Chinese hacking group have been charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
The charges against Zhu Hua and Zhang Shilong were announced this week by Rod J. Rosenstein,... Read More »
A collection of data scientists, engineers, human physiologists, pilots, and other experts gathered under the guidance of the Air Force Physiological Episodes Action Team (AF PEAT) this week with the goal of reducing physiological episodes.
“Hackathons,” as it was called, are sprint-like... Read More »
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently awarded a $287 million contract to SLSCO Ltd. to construct up to 15 miles of primary pedestrian replacement wall and up to 14 miles of secondary wall within the U.S. Border Patrol’s (USBP) San Diego, Yuma, and El... Read More »
Lockheed Martin has secured a $1.8 billion contract to produce and deliver Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) and PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) interceptors.
“PAC-3 and PAC-3 MSE give our customers unmatched, combat-proven hit-to-kill technology to address growing and... Read More »
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held the largest training course on the creation and management of dosimetry labs last week, preparing more than ever in the measuring of radiation doses.
"In scope and reach, this training represents a milestone in our efforts to boost dosimetry... Read More »
The first certified third-party canine team began screening air cargo for explosive devices last week, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said.
The development of standards for the use of third-party canines for air cargo screening fulfills a requirement in the TSA Modernization... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent a letter to outgoing U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis asking him to consider establishing the headquarters for the U.S. Space Command in Florida.
Rubio supports the reestablishment of the U.S. Space Command under the auspices of the U.S. Air Force. Rubio... Read More »
The United States has invoked Section 235 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen announced last week, which states that anyone entering the United States from Mexico, either illegally or without proper documentation, can be returned to Mexico... Read More »
The Farm Bill, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump last week, includes recommendations proposed by the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense to protect the nation’s food and agriculture sector from biological attacks and outbreaks.
Among the provisions in the Agricultural... Read More »
A pair of cyber security bills introduced by U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) advanced the Senate last week and will now head to the president’s desk for signature.
Both bills aim to strengthen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cyber defenses, establishing both... Read More »
A group of Chinese cyber actors, known publicly as APT 10, is conducting a campaign of cyber-enabled theft targeting global managed service providers, cloud service providers, and their clients, the U.S. Government reported.
The Department of Energy (DOE) recently said APT 10, which is... Read More »
