Countermeasures
The National Security Council’s release of a new charter for the Vulnerabilities Equities Process (VEP) drew praise from U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI) on Wednesday for bolstering transparency and for bringing diverse stakeholders into the conversation.
Cybersecurity Advisor Rob Joyce... Read More »
Companies would be required to take minimum steps to prevent data breaches that expose the personal information of customers and to make timely notifications when breaches occur, under a bill introduced in the Senate on Tuesday.
The Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2017 would establish... Read More »
In a move that would head-off the potential closure of the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC) at Fort Detrick, the House of Representatives approved a mandatory study of the facility and the nation’s biodefense vulnerabilities on Tuesday.
The House approved the... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released Tuesday a pair of Joint Technical Alerts detailing tools and infrastructure used by the North Korean government to conduct malicious cyber activity.
The activity noted in the alerts is part of a... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is collaborating with first responders to prevent, detect, and mitigate illegal jamming of communications systems through exercises, data collection, outreach and education campaigns and proposed new tools.
In... Read More »
The University of California, Riverside has a team of researchers genetically engineering mosquitoes to insinuate themselves among other, disease-carrying insects and suppress the spread of infectious disease.
The team published a study this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of... Read More »
During a visit to Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) headquarters in Glynco, Georgia, on Tuesday, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke received an operation briefing, observed training programs, and toured a port of entry training simulator.
FLETC trains most of the... Read More »
Questions were raised by members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday about reports that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) discontinued funding for research on gun violence under the Trump Administration.
In a letter to NIH Director Francis Collins, U.S. Reps. Frank... Read More »
BAE Systems will develop a space evaluation and analysis testbed that enables the military to develop, integrate and analyze advanced space enterprise command and control (C2) under a contract announced by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on Tuesday.
Under the contract,... Read More »
A group of 15 Democratic senators urged the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) on Monday to subject online political ads to the same requirements as political ads aired on television, radio and satellite.
U.S. Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) submitted... Read More »
Researchers from Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos national laboratories recently successfully conducted a critical experiment using plutonium in order to enhance nuclear safety.
The test was the first successfully conducted critical experiment designed by Livermore Lawrence National Laboratory... Read More »
Research from an assortment of international institutions could yield improved efforts to control and contain cholera outbreaks, thanks to two comprehensive studies that have traced 60 years of outbreaks across the world.
Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean were all the focus of the... Read More »
Steven Walker will lead the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s efforts to target investments in emerging technologies to advance national security as the 21st director of DARPA, the agency recently announced.
Prior to his appointment as director, Walker had been serving as the deputy... Read More »
Researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology recently found that immunity to dengue can defend against the Zika virus and identified cytotoxic T-cells that can protect against both infections.
“In some parts of the world Zika is almost like a secondary infection,” Sujan... Read More »
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said that it agreed with the findings of recent covert testing conducted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) and said it would implement the OIG’s recommendations.
Members of the Office of Inspector... Read More »
A team of researchers from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, the University of Georgia, and North Carolina A&T State University have attained a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation for computer-driven methods of disease forecasting.
The institutions hope to develop tools,... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers recovered 424 pounds of cocaine inside a tractor-trailer hauling paper towels across World Trade Bridge in Laredo, Texas, on Nov. 6.
The cocaine, which has an estimated street value of $3.2 million, was discovered after a CBP officer referred the... Read More »
Following a job fair called “Continue Your Service to America” held in August, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Thursday that job offers had been extended to 207 veterans.
Approximately 2,500 veterans attended the two-day job fair. Onsite job interviews were given to... Read More »
Progress in eliminating chemical weapons stockpiles and the appointment of a new director general will highlight the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) upcoming 22nd Conference of the States Parties (CSP-22) scheduled from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1.
Hamid Ali Rao, the deputy... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently announced that it would hold a series of Biometric Technology Rallies to support technological advancement relevant to DHS and Homeland Security Enterprise (HSE) operations.
The first rally will... Read More »
New legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) this week is seeking to update voter system protections and out-of-date infrastructure.
U.S. intelligence community assessments have found that at least 21 state election systems were attacked by Russian-affiliated hackers in the 2016... Read More »
Following the recent church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, that left 26 people dead, Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill on Thursday that would make it illegal to sell, transfer, manufacture or import military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
The bill, titled the... Read More »
Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee requested a review on Thursday to gauge how federal agencies are using predictive modeling and simulations to prepare for and respond to Zika, Ebola and other infectious disease outbreaks.
A recent Government Accountability (GAO) report found... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report last week examining the deployment strategy of U.S. Border Patrol agents and activities at immigration checkpoints in the Southwest region of the United States.
U.S. Border Patrol deploys agents along the southwest border in areas both... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a letter to the Department of Defense (DOD) seeking answers and reforms related to the reporting system failure that enabled the gunman in Sunday’s mass shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, to obtain firearms.
Under the National Instant Criminal... Read More »
The Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) awarded research grants totaling $27.5 million to researchers at Cornell University and the University of Notre Dame, NNSA announced this week.
The researchers will receive the funds the Stewardship Science... Read More »
A new bill from the Democrat side of the aisle in Washington, D.C. seeks to ban the sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
The push is coming from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and ranking member of the Senate... Read More »
Researchers from the Baylor School of Medicine released a report Tuesday that documents a link between West Nile virus and brain damage years after the original infection, even among those who did not experience any symptoms at the time of infection.
Baylor researchers released a report on... Read More »
Contrary to early theories, high rates of microcephaly and other neurological deficits recorded during a 2015 Zika outbreak in Brazil were not the result of modern mutations of the virus, scientists from the Columbia University Medical Center concluded in a report released this week.
Zika virus... Read More »
A testbed will be established in the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York City for chemical detection sensors under an agreement announced between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Tuesday.
The agreement outlines the... Read More »
Officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) at the Progreso/Donna Port of Entry recently confiscated over 69 pounds of alleged heroin valued at over $1.5 million.
“This weekend’s seizure is a vast illustration of the dedication and commitment... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported recently that the three previously reported cases of Marburg virus disease in the Kween District of Eastern Uganda had died as of November 3, resulting in an overall case-fatality rate of 100 percent for the outbreak.
The Ugandan Ministry of Health... Read More »
The global security and risk management advisory firm known as The Chertoff Group has become one of a select few companies to be granted a SAFETY Act “qualified anti-terrorism technology” designation for its methodology by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The company uses what they... Read More »
America's long-range ballistic missile defense system recently added a 44th interceptor as Boeing and the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) team announced that a missile had been loaded into a silo.
The GMD system consists of command and control facilities, communications terminals, and a... Read More »
The invasive Asian tiger mosquito that is proliferating across the United States and Europe can spread Zika and dengue virus infections three times more effective than previously believed, according to a study presented on Tuesday.
After noting that earlier risk assessments of the Asian tiger... Read More »
