Countermeasures
Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen announced Monday additional security procedures and recommendations for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP).
The additions include additional screening for certain nationals of countries identified as high-risk, a periodic review and... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) added government-wide personnel security clearance to its “High Risk List” on Thursday, which designates programs in need of transformational changes to reduce the risk of waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement.
GAO typically updates the High Risk... Read More »
Federal officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested 86 criminal aliens and immigration fugitives in North Texas and Oklahoma during a three-day enforcement action that occurred last week.
The operation targeted mostly aliens... Read More »
A total of seven Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers are headed to Minneapolis to provide x-ray inspections of all vehicles headed into the U.S. Bank Stadium, where Super Bowl LII will be held on Feb. 4.
While the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots face off, the CBP will... Read More »
An international public-private partnership called the Global Centre for Cybersecurity was launched last week during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to assess and tackle global cybersecurity challenges.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen highlighted U.S. efforts to... Read More »
After warning last year that lack of funding could force three of nine A-10C Thunderbolt squadrons to be grounded, the United States Air Force said that it would include funding for additional wings in its fiscal year 2019 budget request on Friday.
To maintain current levels, Congress included... Read More »
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently announced the implementation of stronger screening procedures for carry-on items at St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL), which were announced last year and have been rolling out across the country.
The new procedures require... Read More »
Ahead of Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis on Sunday, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is conducting measurements of naturally occurring background radiation using a low-flying helicopter.
Naturally occurring radiation measurements are a standard security... Read More »
The 2018 Joint Civil & DoD CBRN Symposium presented by the Defense Strategies Institute will take place on March 5-6 at the Mary M. Gates Learning Center in Alexandria, Virginia. The event will provide a forum for members of the Department of Defense, federal government, private industry, academia,... Read More »
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently sanctioned six individuals, designating them as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224.
OFAC designated four of the individuals -- Abdul Samad Sani, Abdul... Read More »
A report released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that birth defects linked to Zika virus infection during pregnancy saw a 21 percent rise over the second half of 2016 in parts of Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico.
Over a broader spectrum, about three out of... Read More »
In order to shield international financial markets from Iranian money laundering and terrorist financing, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) said last week that the Financial Action Task Force must continue to blacklist Iran and re-impose countermeasures.
Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs... Read More »
After a career spanning more than 30 years with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Customs Service, Alfonso Robles was tapped Thursday to serve as CBP’s director of field operations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Robles’ appointment marks his second posting in... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations (OFO) officers at multiple crossings within Laredo Port of Entry seized more than $770,000 of hard narcotics and controlled prescription medication in two separate, unrelated enforcement actions.
“These significant interceptions of... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) highlighted its efforts to enhance first responders’ ability to handle active shooter and other critical incidents in public places through multi-agency training exercises on Thursday.
In October, DHS’ Science and Technology Directorate (S&T)... Read More »
The Kansas Highway Patrol recently announced its decision to subscribe to FirstNet, a nationwide public safety broadband network designed specifically for first responders, become the first agency in Kansas to do so.
The update to their communications gives them access to a secure network that... Read More »
Chinese fentanyl sellers commonly use United States Postal Service (USPS) to traffic the drug into the United States because USPS and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have not yet adopted widespread use of advanced electronic data (AED), according to a Senate report released on Wednesday. ... Read More »
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Wednesday 16 individuals, nine entities, and six shipping companies that have been linked to North Korea’s development of weapons of mass destruction and other illicit activities.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) met this week with Homeland Security Secretary Kristjen Nielsen and a bipartisan group of Senators to develop a border security plan.
Tester is the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, which sets funding levels for security and... Read More »
Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked tech companies on Wednesday to explain their response to vulnerabilities known as Meltdown and Spectre that left devices using the companies’ processors susceptible to data theft.
The CEOs of Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Intel,... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) at the Hidalgo Port of Entry recently seized alleged methamphetamine valued at approximately $600,000 and arrested a man from El Salvador attempting entry posing as a U.S. citizen in separate, unrelated incidents.
... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) recently received a $6 million grant from the Open Philanthropy Project that will help strengthen its efforts to mitigate global biological threats that have increased as the world has become more interconnected.
According to Dr. Elizabeth Cameron, NTI’s... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced this week that it will be working bilaterally with Israeli counterparts through five separate divisions on projects meant to aid public security.
While the United States and Israel began annual bilateral... Read More »
An Ohio man who traveled to Syria to train and fight with a known terrorist organization was sentenced to 22 years in prison and 10 years of extended supervision on Tuesday in a U.S. federal court.
Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud, 26, pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Tuesday that it has issued a waiver to expedite the construction of barriers and roads near the international border near the Santa Teresa, New Mexico port of entry.
The waiver covers a variety of environmental, natural resources and land... Read More »
A congressional panel probed ongoing efforts to secure the nation’s transportation networks Tuesday in response to the rise of terrorist attacks around the world targeting rail, mass transit, and highways.
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Surface Transportation... Read More »
Democrats on the Congressional Task Force for Election Security are seeking answers from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristjen Nielsen regarding its responsibilities related to the now-defunct Presidential Commission on Election Integrity.
The commission was established to... Read More »
Decreased and episodic funding from the United States government has stakeholders questioning the true commitment federal lawmakers have for sustaining the nation’s preparedness and response capabilities during a catastrophic event linked to infectious diseases, natural disasters or chemical,... Read More »
A Seattle-based software company that keeps police officers, firemen and other first responders connected to essential information while they’re working in the field has strengthened its hold on the public safety market.
NetMotion Software Inc. has distributed its security, performance and... Read More »
A long-acting therapy to prevent malaria could supplant the current daily oral dosing regimen that is susceptible to non-adherence, researchers at the University of Liverpool and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have found.
Researchers set out to manipulate the molecular makeup... Read More »
With 35 confirmed cases of yellow fever and 20 deaths reported in Brazil from July 1, 2017, through Jan. 14, public health officials have launched an intensive vaccination campaign in an effort to head-off a widespread outbreak.
Yellow fever cases have been confirmed in São Paulo, Rio de... Read More »
Sandia National Laboratories announced Tuesday that a recent program to develop computer modeling and simulation methods for how blasts on the battlefield cause injury could help improve designs for helmets and body armor.
The project focuses on improving understanding of how impacts from... Read More »
Nuclear security experts from Scandinavia and the United States took part in a workshop hosted in Oslo last week that focused on leveraging international cooperation to enhance nuclear security and nuclear forensics.
Page Stoutland, vice president of scientific and technical affairs at the... Read More »
Mice immunized by a synthetic horsepox virus show promise in the development of an alternative smallpox vaccine, outside the boundaries of existing--often troublesome--vaccinia virus use.
In a study published in the Open Access journal PLOS ONE, researchers from the University of Alberta,... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Baltimore recently seized 2,990 stainless steel sinks for displaying a counterfeit UPC shield design that, if authentic, would have a suggested retail price of approximately $1.1 million.
The shipment of sinks arrived in Baltimore from... Read More »
