Countermeasures
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently began the extensive process to dismantle the international Kelihos botnet, which has facilitated thousands of malicious attacks and cybercrimes throughout the world.
DOJ officials said the botnet played a part in harvesting thousands of login... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents assigned to the El Centro Sector in California recently apprehended two individuals suspected of drug smuggling and a previously-deported sex offender later that same day.
The first incident began as agents assigned to the Highway 86 checkpoint... Read More »
A delegation from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) recently visited the Blue Grass Chemical Weapons Destruction Facility (CWDF) in Kentucky after receiving an invitation from U.S. officials.
The visit comes in the wake of a deadly chemical weapons attack in the... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced that a new radiation detection system recently began operations at the Trans Pacific Container Service Corporation (TraPac) terminal at the Port of Los Angeles.
While all incoming cargo into the port is scanned by radiation... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently opened a new building at the Transportation Security Laboratory (TSL) to provide independent testing, evaluation, and certification of explosives detection equipment for use in checkpoint areas.
The... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) recently introduced a bill called the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act, which aims to restrict the use and export of dangerous cluster munitions to protect civilians during and after wartime.
Cluster munitions are defined as... Read More »
A coalition of international health institutes and organizations will soon be launching a large clinical trial of Ebola vaccine candidates to identify proper regimens that could prevent a future outbreak of the deadly disease.
The French National Institute of Health and Medicine Research... Read More »
The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) recently called for continued resources to support a long-term public health response against Zika virus.
The group’s request includes increased laboratory, epidemiological, and surveillance capacity, along with enhanced vector... Read More »
A research team at Rutgers University recently determined the three-dimensional structure of the target of the anti-tuberculosis drug rifampin and discovered a new class of drugs that could potentially kill multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (TB) bacteria.
Rifampin has been used as an anti-TB... Read More »
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation recently advanced legislation that seeks to provide protections and resources for digital assets of small businesses at risk of falling victim to a cyberattack.
The Making Available Information Now to Strengthen Trust and Resilience... Read More »
Battelle recently announced it has entered into a research and development agreement with Nanotherapeutics Inc. to expedite the creation of new medical countermeasures for deployed military forces facing a variety of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats.
The agreement... Read More »
According to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health, a monoclonal antibody treatment, MR191-N, successfully protected nonhuman primates against both the Marburg and Ravn viruses even when administered five days after infection.
The study was conducted by the University of Texas... Read More »
In the wake of a report published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that stated one in ten women infected with Zika virus gave birth to a child with virus-related effects, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators recently introduced a bill to provide local communities with resources... Read More »
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) released the April terror threat snapshot, which found that Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) had merged with Al-Mourabitoun and Ansar Dine to form a new extremist group called Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal... Read More »
According to a recent study conducted by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, individuals previously infected with West Nile virus or dengue fever may carry an increased risk of complications should they become infected with Zika virus.
In recent years, Zika virus has spread... Read More »
A bipartisan group of U.S. House members urged the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security this week to fund the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NGSP), valued at
$50 million, as part of the fiscal year 2018 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill.
The group was led by U.S.... Read More »
Officials from the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD) and the Army Material Command (AMC) recently called on the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) to provide assistance to increase efficiencies and reduce costs in the nation’s... Read More »
A pair of U.S. House members recently called upon the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense to continue its funding of key U.S.-Israel defense cooperation programs.
U.S. Reps. Peter Roskam (R-IL) and Grace Meng (D-NY) sent letters to both Subcommittee Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-TX) and... Read More »
The Georgia Department of Defense and the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency recently co-hosted the Vigilant Guard 17 emergency-response exercise to test emergency first response capabilities during a potential disaster scenario.
The exercise was conducted in response to... Read More »
FLIR Systems, Inc. released this week the latest version of its flagship video management solution, FLIR United VMS 8.0, along with three new high-performance security cameras.
The FLIR United VMS 8.0 is described as an enterprise-level video management system for managing video security... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents stationed at the Port of Nogales in Arizona recently apprehended two Mexican nationals and a U.S. citizen in connection to three separate narcotics smuggling incidents.
The first incident began as officers stationed at the Dennis DeConcini Crossing... Read More »
The Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) recently announced an immediate investment of $24 million and up to $24 million in additional, milestone-based payments over three years to accelerate the development of new antibiotics and diagnostics to treat... Read More »
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) recently came out in favor of the bipartisan Reinvigorating Antibiotics and Diagnostic Innovation (READI) Act, which provides a new tax credit for new antibiotics that treat serious or life-threatening infections and addresses unmet medical needs... Read More »
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), an organization under the direction of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), recently began its Phase 2/2b VRC 705 clinical trial, testing an experimental DNA vaccine designed to protect against Zika virus infection.
Zika... Read More »
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington recently arrested 84 foreign nationals during a three-day operation that targeted at-large criminal aliens, illegal re-entrants, and immigration fugitives.
Among those detained by ICE was a... Read More »
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators recently reintroduced the Surface Transportation and Maritime Security Act, which seeks to address concerns regarding the safety of the nation’s rail, transit, highway, and maritime passenger and freight transportation infrastructure.
The group includes... Read More »
CryptoMove, a company specializing in active defense data protection, was recently awarded a $200,000 contract from the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) to strengthen Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS)... Read More »
Emergent Biosolutions said on Friday it signed a $53 million modified contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in order to allow for future filling and deliveries of its botulism antitoxin to the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile.
The contract covers a... Read More »
A bipartisan coalition of U.S. senators recently introduced the Making Available Information Now to Strengthen Trust and Resilience and Enhance Enterprise Technology (MAIN STREET) Cybersecurity Act, which aims to help small businesses protect their digital assets from cybersecurity threats.
The... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) intercepted a go fast-type vessel this week, carrying approximately 3,500 pounds of alleged cocaine.
The incident began as a CBP DHC-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft detected a suspicious vessel traveling southbound without... Read More »
Throughout the month of March, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents stationed in Cincinnati seized 83 shipments of illegal synthetic narcotics, totaling more than 290 pounds.
Included in the seizures were more than 36 pounds of furanyl fentanyl, 233 pounds of the designer date rape... Read More »
Officials at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) recently outlined the organization's efforts to combat tuberculosis (TB), one of the world's most serious infectious diseases.
In a joint statement, NIAID Director Anthony Fauci and other NIAID officials said the... Read More »
A bipartisan group of House members recently introduced legislation to increase federal penalties for making bomb threats and provide $20 million in additional funding to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to help safeguard faith-based community centers across the country.
The members... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently conducted a report surveying the overseas inventory of Department of Defense (DOD) security cooperation, along with various State Department assistance efforts in order to determine if any redundancies exist.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001... Read More »
Smiths Detection was recently awarded a contract to supply Amsterdam Airport Schiphol with new baggage screening equipment, including 24 HI-SCAN 10080 XCT systems.
The contract includes an option for six additional scanners to be deployed at Lelystad, Rotterdam - The Hague, and Eindhoven... Read More »
