Countermeasures
U.S. Border Patrol has effectively deployed surveillance technology like radars, sensors, and cameras along the southern border, but data quality and efforts to assess the effectiveness need to be improved, a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) review found.
Although technology... Read More »
The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has published a new guidance document to aid hospitals’ response to disease outbreaks.
The new guide, published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology and titled,... Read More »
A recently published study from researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan, China, found that viral strains in bats contained all the necessary genetic building blocks of the human SARS coronavirus.
The findings, published in PLOS Pathogens, suggest that genetic recombination... Read More »
A study by researchers at Hokkaido University recently used mathematical models to determine that the risk of the pneumonic plague epidemic in Madagascar spreading elsewhere in the world is limited.
The researchers estimated that the number of exported cases was below 0.1 person in each country... Read More »
The response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone led to a less fragmented health system and the development of more effective mental health care services in the country, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report released on Thursday.
Prior to the outbreak, one specialist... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Director Elaine Duke testified before a House committee on Thursday that the Diversity Visa Lottery Program is “rife with fraud,” backing a bill that would eliminate the program.
During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Duke said that... Read More »
Romania agreed to purchase Raytheon Co.’s Patriot integrated air and missile defense system from the U.S. Army on Wednesday, a move that sets the stage for contract negotiations between Raytheon and the U.S. government.
Under the letter of offer and acceptance that the Romanian government... Read More »
While no effective vaccine yet exists against malaria, researchers from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have taken the world a huge step closer with the discovery of antibodies produced in the wake of malaria infection.
Using mice, they identified long-lived memory cells formed and... Read More »
Cyber researchers at the Sandia National Laboratories recently developed a simulation, which appears real but contains altered data, meant to trick hackers into believing they have infiltrated their target system.
When a hacker is discovered, instead of simply removing them from the data... Read More »
The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Radiological Assistance Program (RAP) team recently led three days of training on countering a potential nuclear threat for more than 70 local, state, and federal responders in Hawaii.
RAP held the event at the request of the state of... Read More »
A provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) used by the intelligence community to gather intelligence on terrorists located outside the United States would be amended under a bill introduced in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The FISA Amendments Reauthorization... Read More »
Witnesses testified before a House subcommittee on Wednesday about the impact that two bills would have on efforts to eliminate access to banks by terrorist organizations, human traffickers, and drug cartels.
The Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit and Terrorism and Illicit Finance... Read More »
Top executives of the government’s national security agencies offered troubling assessments of the growing threats from terrorism, both internationally and domestically, during a congressional hearing on Thursday.
“Today, the magnitude of the threat we face from terrorism is equal to, and in... Read More »
Public health officials warned that malaria response efforts are at a crossroad following the Wednesday release of a report that found 5 million more malaria cases were reported in 2016 than in 2015.
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Malaria Report 2017 concluded that funding... Read More »
At an American Security Today ceremony earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) found its efforts lauded, taking away four awards for current projects.
The annual ASTOR Homeland Security Awards recognizes physical, IT, and port... Read More »
Effective Jan. 1, 2018, Terry Wallace has been appointed director of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and president of Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS), which operates the laboratory for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
Norman J. Pattiz and Barbara E. Rusinko,... Read More »
A Canadian national and resident pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of computer hacking and other criminal offenses related to helping Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to access webmail accounts.
Karim Baratov, also known as Kay, Karim Taloverov, and Karim Akehmet Tokbergenov, was charged... Read More »
Programs that work to secure railroads, buses, public areas of airports and other “soft targets” for terrorist attacks would be revamped and restored under a bill introduced in the House of Representatives on Monday.
The Surface Transportation and Public Area Security Act of 2017 seeks to... Read More »
Following North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile test on Monday, lawmakers called for action on legislation that would require a strategy to confront the nuclear threat and step-up sanctions on North Korea.
U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Forces... Read More »
Researchers at Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) were recently recognized for developing testing methods for low-volatility agent permeation (LVAP) in clothing and protective gear, and for pioneering a system to use 3D printing to produce tactical gear.
The researchers were recognized... Read More »
While there appears to be hope for Madagascar with the slowing of a pneumonic plague outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns it is too early to call off containment measures.
The number of new infections has been in steady decline for several weeks now, according to the Madagascar... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently delivered 1,000 vials of anti-toxins and 17 tons of medical supplies to Sana’a, Yemen, after a three-week delay caused by the closure of sea and air ports.
“It is shocking that in 2017, there are children dying of an ancient disease that is... Read More »
Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) researchers recently delivered a prototype of a small machine that can perform fingerprinting and forensic analysis, which could help the U.S. armed forces identify insurgents responsible for planting explosive devices.
U.S. and coalition forces may... Read More »
Two qualification flight tests of the B61-12 gravity bomb completed at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada earlier this month demonstrated the bomb’s non-nuclear functions and the ability of F-15E aircraft to deliver the weapon.
Led by the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of... Read More »
Motorola Solutions recently unveiled the next generation of its future incident command concept for police and firefighters and its connected first responder concept, Responder Alert, at PMRExpo in Germany.
The updated incident command concept enables police and first responders to utilize an... Read More »
Border Patrol agents detained 13 Mexican nationals in Imperial Beach, California, after they allegedly entered the United States illegally aboard a panga boat in the early morning hours of Nov. 22.
Responding to reports of an incoming boat from Mexico, Border Patrol agents intercepted the... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is taking forward steps in the battle against Anthrax--notably by putting up $3,199,221 in funds to Tangen BioSciences for development of a new, low-cost diagnostic.
That money was doled out back in September, establishing a... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations agents recently disrupted an attempt to smuggle three undocumented aliens via private aircraft at the Edinburg International Airport in Edinburg, Texas.
Following a pilot document and immigration inspection, air interdiction... Read More »
A new study found that outbreaks of mosquito-borne viruses Zika and Chikungunya typically occur approximately three weeks after heavy rainfall.
The researchers also discovered that Chikungunya will predominate over Zika when they circulate simultaneously because of Chikungunya’s shorter... Read More »
The first human cases of yellow fever since June have been confirmed in Brazil, and public health officials continue to monitor an epizootic outbreak among primates in São Paulo, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday.
Seventy-one human cases of suspected yellow fever were... Read More »
Civilians working for the Serbian government recently completed an advanced information systems security (INFOSEC) training session organized by NATO’s Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme in Belgrade and Tallinn.
Twelve representatives from Serbia’s Office of the National... Read More »
A congressional proposal to cut the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) by 44 percent would lead to 67 million additional malaria cases in the next four years, according to a recent mathematical model’s estimates.
PMI was launched in 2005 with a goal to reduce malaria by 50 percent in 15... Read More »
A federal organization with a varied history as part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate is marking 70 years of service to national security’s scientific needs this month.
The National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL) has worked under a... Read More »
States Parties from Asia gathered earlier this month to discuss potential adoption of national legislation regarding chemical weapons during a Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) forum held in The Hague in the Netherlands.
The Stakeholders Forum for States Parties in Asia on the Adoption of... Read More »
More than $98 million in grants announced by the Department of Justice (DoJ) on Monday will help 179 law enforcement agencies across the nation hire 802 additional police officers in the coming years.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the funds would be awarded to state, local, and... Read More »
