Countermeasures
A bipartisan bill was recently introduced in the Senate by U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), aiming to establish a National Commission of the Cybersecurity of United States Election Systems.
Based on a similar structure set by the 9/11 Commission, the new... Read More »
Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) recently announced that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan selected her to participate in an informal group of Republican members of Congress focusing on border security and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“Since taking office, I’ve made it... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives recently voted to change immigration law to make membership in a criminal gang both a deportable offense and justification for barring entry in the first place.
The bill, entitled the “Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act,” would allow the Department of... Read More »
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY) recently introduced the Cyber Diplomacy Act, which would create a U.S. international cyber policy and promote working with other countries on promoting this policy.
“The U.S. is increasingly under... Read More »
Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) proposed legislation last week to strengthen the anti-money laundering (AML) and countering terrorism financing (CTF) system in the United States.
The draft legislation, the Anti-Money Laundering Modernization Act, seeks to modernize the system and update the regulatory... Read More »
A bill to help streamline and enhance intelligence sharing at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was recently advanced by the U.S. House of Representatives.
The legislation, titled the Unify DHS Intelligence Enterprise Act, was authored by U.S. Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), who serves as... Read More »
Officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently announced that U.S. Border Patrol will soon begin testing small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) in an operational environment as part of a pilot program in late September.
According to CBP, each sUAS unit will allow agents in the... Read More »
The Board of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) recently approved its FY2018 budget of $73.5 million, which will provide a focus on continued deployment, operation, and oversight of its nationwide public safety broadband network.
The budget also includes provisions for public... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers stationed at the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge near Laredo, Texas recently seized more than $9.7 million of alleged cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine over three separate incidents.
On Thursday, Sept. 7, officers encountered a 2000 Ford Explorer SUV... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently conducted a study on the capabilities and challenges of medical device technologies in order to assess their abilities to rapidly diagnose infectious diseases.
As infectious diseases continue to pose a public health threat throughout the... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives advanced this week a bill that would require the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Intelligence and Analysis to evaluate the terrorist threat to the homeland for each of the next five fiscal years.
“The 9/11 Commission revealed that a “failure of... Read More »
A new experimental vaccine immunized genetically-altered mice from the Leishmania parasite, according to a recent study conducted by researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).
With more than 30 different strains, Leishmania is classified at the world’s... Read More »
Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY) announced this week that the U.S. House of Representatives advanced his amendment to restore funding to the National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL).
NUSTL, which is located in New York City, researches, develops and assesses new technologies for use by law... Read More »
A bipartisan group of 36 U.S. senators recently called for an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission into the sale of approximately $2 million in Equifax securities held by company management prior to the news... Read More »
A new drug called AQ-13 was shown to be effective against non-severe cases of malaria, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at Tulane University.
Results of the study may prove to be significant as worldwide disease researchers are increasingly finding that the parasite... Read More »
A training event focusing on hazardous chemical incident response was recently held for Latin American and Caribbean first responders in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, managed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
Part of the Exercise of Assistance and Protection for Latin... Read More »
Following a review of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) documentation on the effectiveness of six passenger aviation security countermeasures, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended that the agency explore methods to evaluate the effectiveness and cost of those... Read More »
An office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced that it would provide up to $62 million over the next five years to Summit Therapeutics for the development of an antibiotic to combat Clostridium difficile infections (CDI).
The secondary infection can occur... Read More »
Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-NC), vice chair of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance, recently sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin urging the exploration of sanctions against Qatar-based terrorism financiers.
Reps. Robert Aderholt (R-AL), David... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report exploring U.S. efforts to stop profits from drug trafficking from entering financial systems in the Western Hemisphere through money laundering.
The report describes U.S. agency oversight and monitoring of compliance with the... Read More »
A Russian hacker named Roman Seleznev has now pled guilty to a role in stealing credit card data and other personal information as part of a credit fraud ring known Carder.su.
To be specific, Seleznev, who has gone by the handles of Track2, Bulba and Ncux, pleaded guilty in two criminal cases to... Read More »
A complete scope of work is needed to develop timely cost and schedule information for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) uranium program, according to a recently published report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
As part of the FY2013 National Defense... Read More »
As a direct result of a cyberattack that saw the largest terminal at the Port of Los Angeles closed in June, the House Committee on Homeland Security has advanced a new cybersecurity bill this week.
The Strengthening Cybersecurity Information Sharing and Coordination in Our Ports Act is a bill... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the United States Postal Service (USPS) should assess whether the costs of the new Electronic Advance Data (EAD) program outweigh the benefits.
In 2014 and 2015, USPS and CPB launched two pilot programs at the New York International Service Center (ISC)... Read More »
Available now to the buying public is Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion (RSDL) from Emergent BioSolutions, a lotion that protects human skin against chemical warfare agents (CWAs).
Specifically, RSDL, which was previously only available to the military, is a patented, broad-spectrum liquid... Read More »
Artemisinin, a Chinese medicine used to treat malaria that often faces issues with an unstable supply, can be rapidly produced at an industrial rate by genetically engineering moss, according to a recent study conducted by researchers from the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education the University... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives recently advanced an amendment authored by U.S. Rep. John Delaney (D-MD) to fully fund the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC), reversing a decision by the Trump Administration to eliminate funding for the center in its proposed FY2018... Read More »
Seeking to overturn boundaries to the development of vaccines against pathogen outbreaks, the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) has announced a successful study of early immune response with serious implications.
DZIF scientists at the Heinrich Pette Institute and the University... Read More »
Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Off-Board Electronic Warfare (AOEW) system, developed to provide MH-60 helicopters with enhanced electronic warfare surveillance and countermeasure capabilities against anti-ship missile threats, recently passed its preliminary design review on schedule.
AOEW was... Read More »
ManTech International Corporation recently announced full operational capability of its Advanced Cyber Range Environment, a system that enables users to test and evaluate the cyber-preparedness of their networks and to train in the latest defensive cyber technologies.
With the new cyber range... Read More »
Researchers at Duke University recently developed a three-dimensional map of the complex molecular circuitry of Francisella tularensis, the bacteria that causes tularemia, in order to better understand how the pathogen becomes virulent.
"Now we have the coordinates for stopping one of the most... Read More »
Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health and Sanitation announced this week that half a million people in areas affected by floods and landslides will receive cholera vaccinations starting this month.
The two rounds of vaccines will come from the global stockpile funded by Gavi, the Vaccine... Read More »
The Advanced Off-Board Electronic Warfare (AOEW) system developed by Lockheed Martin recently passed Preliminary Design Review on schedule.
The AOEW will provide MH-60 helicopters with enhanced electronic warfare surveillance and countermeasure capabilities against anti-ship missile (ASM)... Read More »
Speaking at a recent meeting of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü highlighted the successes of the OPCW and reaffirmed its resolve to eliminate all chemical weapons through the Chemical... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) recently secured $5 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to assist Montana-based law enforcement agencies in their efforts to strengthen security along the state’s 540-mile international border with Canada.
"Terrorists and criminals will find... Read More »
