Countermeasures
A ribbon cutting ceremony recently was held for the KC-135 Flight Deck Simulator at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base near Lockbourne, Ohio.
In 2016, the Ohio U.S. Congressional members sent a letter to Gen. Carlton Everhart III, Air Mobility Command, on behalf of the Ohio Air National Guard... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-NJ) recently introduced the Modern School Threat Reporting Act, which seeks to help schools address school safety concerns.
The legislation creates new grants for states to develop a mobile application that allows students and teachers to report threats to local law... Read More »
Hurricanes are a devastating reality for the U.S. coastline, but the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is working to reduce their threat through predictive and support technology.
The tools form several important roles in crisis response. For one,... Read More »
A genomic analysis published in The New England Journal of Medicine this week revealed that an outbreak of Nigerian Lassa fever cases this year was not caused by any single virus strain or fueled by increased human-to-human transmission.
The analysis followed an unusual surge in Lassa fever... Read More »
A federal grand jury in Salt Lake City recently indicted William Clyde Allen, III, of Logan, Utah, on seven counts in connection with ricin-related threats.
While Allen pleaded not guilty, the indictment alleges Allen knowingly used ricin as a weapon, mailed a threat against President Donald... Read More »
The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) launched last week its Global Policing Goals and is encouraging the international law enforcement community to support them.
The Global Policing Goals serve as a framework for the international community to collectively address the... Read More »
SIGA Technologies announced this month that it has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases to study the post-exposure prophylactic use of TPOXX, a drug currently stockpiled by the U.S. government to treat smallpox outbreaks.
The Cooperative... Read More »
Operating on the knowledge that Ebola and malaria are both endemic to Central and West Africa, and that many people treated for Ebola have been found to be infected with malarial parasites as well, researchers from Texas Biomed and the University of Iowa are working to assess a connection between... Read More »
Even as tuberculosis (TB) becomes the most common infectious disease in the world, a new study by an international research team has determined that only around 25 percent of new cases of antibiotic-resistant strains are being detected.
Such a result marks a need for dramatic changes in... Read More »
The U.S. Air Force 90th Cyberspace Operations Squadron has developed a training tool to help the force’s Cyber Protection Teams, which defends priority Department of Defense networks and systems against such malicious cyber-physical acts, prepare for cyberattacks.
The tool, called Bricks in... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Justice charged the largest number of violent crime and firearm defendants in its history in fiscal year 2018.
Citing data from the Executive Office of United States Attorneys (EOUSA), the Justice Department said the number of people criminal felony offenses increased by... Read More »
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 »
BAE Systems technology successfully demonstrated its ability to provide U.S. intelligence organizations with data from BAE Systems’ Geospatial eXploitation Products (GXP) Platform and access to geospatial imagery.
The technology, XTS Guard 5, was equipped with the GXP platform demonstrated... 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 »
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) officials have initiated the first Marburg vaccine in a Phase 1 adult clinical trial evaluating safety and immunogenicity.
“Given the recent deadly outbreak of Marburg virus in Uganda, there is a critical need to develop a safe and effective... 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 opportunity for public health disasters is growing in the United States, fueled by falling vaccination rates reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week.
The data revealed that vaccinations are still common among children, but they are not as common as they were, or... 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 »
Emergent BioSolutions completed its acquisition of Adapt Pharma and its flagship product NARCAN Nasal Spray, which is used to treat opioid overdose.
Emergent paid $735 million to acquire Adapt Pharma, including an upfront payment of $635 million with up to $100 million in cash for potential... 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 »
An international collection of scientists have developed a new vaccine with the potential to shield people from both Lassa fever and rabies, and the drug has proven successful in preclinical testing.
Known as LASSARAB, the vaccine utilizes a weakened rabies carrier injected with genetic material... 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 »
