CISA, FBI warns about North Korean cyberthreat on ATMs
Federal authorities are issuing an alert about an automated teller machine (ATM) cash-out scheme by North Korean government cyber actors. This scheme is referred to as “FASTCash 2.0: North Korea's BeagleBoyz Robbing Banks.” The alert – issued by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure... Read More »
Senators to introduce bill to restore full funding to National Guard
A group of Democratic senators will introduce a bill to restore full federal funding for the National Guard so it can respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Aug. 3, President Donald Trump signed a memo terminating the 100 percent federal cost share with the National Guard that had been in effect... Read More »
Coast Guard executes international narcotics seizures
Coast Guard officials said crews recently executed narcotics seizures in international waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean Sea. The Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton crew offloaded approximately 11,500 pounds of cocaine and... Read More »
DHS S&T funding to aid development of flood hazard modeling process
Deltares USA and Deltares have secured $950,000 in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) funds to develop a flood hazard modeling process. The endeavor, which officials said would utilize open source data, models, and software, is in accordance with the... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Warren, Smith press large test labs for data on COVID-19 test processing capacity
In response to reports that rising COVID-19 cases in July strained lab capacity and caused a decline in daily tests, U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Tina Smith (D-MN) wrote letters to several COVID-19 testing labs requesting information on the processing capacity for each. June and July... Read More »
NIAID creates Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases with $82M investment plan
Seeking greater investigations into how and where viruses and other pathogens can crossover from wildlife to people, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) officially created the Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases (CREID) this week through an initial 11... Read More »
Infectious diseases society cautions FDA commissioner on COVID-19 vaccines
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) are urging the Food and Drug Administration to make sure that rigorous safety and efficacy data support the approval of a COVID-19 vaccine. Full licensure of a vaccine is preferable to an Emergency Use... Read More »
Rep. Green introduces bill to strengthen CISA
U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) introduced legislation to strengthen the ability of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to address cyberthreats on Federal government systems. The bill, called the Protecting Federal Networks Act, gives CISA the authority to address threats and... Read More »
Lawmakers seek cryptocurrency seizure insight
Two Democratic legislators forwarded correspondence Tuesday to Attorney General William Barr and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin seeking insight regarding the recent seizure of cryptocurrency raised by designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations. U.S. Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) Emanuel... Read More »
DARPA gains explosives trace detection technology
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has gained explosives trace detection technology via the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T). The Next-Generation Mass Spectrometry Explosive Trace Detector or Next-Gen Mass Spec ETD was developed in... Read More »
Abbott gains emergency use authorization for 15-minute COVID-19 antigen test
Abbott gained emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week for a COVID-19 antigen test known as BinaxNOW, which proposes to test patients for $5, with a 15-minute turnaround on results. Quick, portable, and affordable, Abbott intends for its tool to be... Read More »
