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Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Ted W. Lieu
(D-CA) recently introduced bicameral legislation that would create a voluntary cybersecurity certification program for Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
“The IoT will also stand for the Internet of Threats unless we put in place appropriate... Read More »
A bill that aims to strengthen American security at airports in Cuba and on commercial flights between the two countries was recently introduced to the Senate by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).
The Cuban Airport Security Act would require the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to... Read More »
A group of 28 Senators led by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) to require private sellers to conduct background checks for the sale or transfer of firearms, with certain exceptions.
The requirements of the Background Check Expansion Act would apply to all unlicensed sellers, whether they sell firearms... Read More »
A bipartisan bill that seeks to combat the growing opioid epidemic in the United States was advanced this week by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Authored by U.S. Reps. Niki Tsongas (D-MA) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), the International Narcotics Trafficking Emergency Response by Detecting... Read More »
A bill that establishes an interagency task force of federal law enforcement agencies to help eradicate the illicit trade of fentanyl and heroin throughout the United States was recently introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins (R-WV).
The bill, titled the... Read More »
During a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) prodded federal officials on the nation’s cyberdefenses and the need for a national doctrine for deterrence of cyber attacks.
Witnesses included Christopher Krebs, the senior official undertaking duties of... Read More »
The Alliance for Biosecurity formally recognized the sustained efforts of U.S. Rep. Charles Albert “Dutch” Ruppersberger, D-Md., to improve how the United States prevents and combats biosecurity threats with its Congressional Biosecurity Champion Award.
Congressman Ruppersberger on Oct. 19... Read More »
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) recently sent a letter to Nuance, a health care technology company affected by June’s NotPetya malware outbreak, asking for additional information about the incident.
The outbreak affected Nuance’s ability to provide transcription... Read More »
A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) study identified 16 public or nonprofit programs that encourage safe storage of firearms on the national and local levels and also indicated that safe gun storage has not been extensively studied.
The programs, GAO said, predominantly involved... Read More »
According to a recently published report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) should use sound program management and oversight practices in its technology infrastructure modernization (TIM) plan to avoid repeating past... Read More »
Air passenger travel is steadily increasing, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, and with an influx of passengers comes the need for more highly trained canines to protect the public and support law enforcement, experts say.
The FAA reports in an aerospace forecast that passenger... Read More »
A group of House Energy and Commerce Committee members sent a letter Monday to the General Services Administration (GSA) to request information on its data security vetting for awarding government contracts.
The committee members also sent a letter recently to the Internal Revenue Service... Read More »
Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently convened with representatives from state and federal agencies for the first Government Coordinating Council (GCC) for the Election Infrastructure Subsector.
Joining DHS were representatives from the Election Assistance... Read More »
The Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense, a privately funded group established in 2014 to ascertain the current biodefense capabilities of the United States and issue expert recommendations to encourage change, has grown increasingly worried about microbial forensics and biological... Read More »
Reps. Norma J. Torres (D-CA), Bradley S. Schneider (D-IL), and Eliot L. Engel (D-NY) introduced a bill Wednesday that would require federal firearms licensees to report the sale of two or more long guns within a five-day period.
This requirement already exists for handguns, but long guns, such... Read More »
A research team at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) was recently awarded more than $2 million from Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. to begin a Zika virus vaccine trial in Brazil.
Led by David Diemert and Jeffrey Bethony, both professors of... Read More »
Amendments to the Border Security for America Act that include provisions to conduct thorough threat assessments, equip front-line agents with the latest technology and ensure accountability from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) were recently passed by the House Homeland Security... Read More »
A joint project between private, academic and military interests has the potential to make screening and treating populations for infectious diseases easier and safer.
The $11.7 million multi-year project, to create a new universal surveillance platform for infectious disease outbreaks, will be... Read More »
In the wake of the recent shooting in Las Vegas, which left 59 dead and hundreds more injured, a group of 18 Democratic U.S. senators introduced a bill that effectively bans the importation, sale, manufacture, transfer or possession of gun magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.... Read More »
A bipartisan bill that would establish a bug bounty program using “white hat” ethical hackers to search for and identify vulnerabilities within U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) networks was recently advanced by the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.... Read More »
After evaluating 36 women and fetuses exposed to Zika from January 2016 to May, researchers at Children’s National Health System found that 89 percent of those infected were exposed through a mosquito bite and 48 percent of were also exposed through an infected sexual partner.
Roberta... Read More »
There is something to be said for adapting to modern technology, but the Los Alamos National Laboratory is taking that a step further – leveraging technology with a project that combines Brazilian social media and traditional clinical data to track the growth of infectious diseases.
Nick... Read More »
The recent active shooter attack in Las Vegas serves as a reminder of the ever-present threats facing the United States and the importance of such events as New York’s Excelsior Challenge.
Modeled after other real-world incidents that have recently occurred in Orlando, London, Paris, and... Read More »
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) recently delivered official notice of State Plans to governors regarding the nationwide broadband network for public safety personnel.
Governors have until Dec. 28 to choose to either accept the FirstNet/AT&T plan to deploy the network or begin... Read More »
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) needs to improve the management policy and practices of its Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN), according to a recently published report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)
For its report, GAO was tasked by... Read More »
Members of the Qatar National Committee for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (NCPW) recently visited with leaders from the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) to discuss potential collaborative efforts on developing Qatar as a leader in biosecurity ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
The... Read More »
A plan to protect subways in the event of a chemical or biological attack is ready to be put into place and implemented, scientists say.
Mark Tucker, engineer at Sandia National Laboratories, is leading a project to study how to decontaminate chemical and biological weapons attacks, such as... Read More »
Democratic members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee recently sent a public letter to Comtech President and CEO Fred Kornberg, requesting a briefing regarding reports that company outages have prevented people from connecting with 911 operators.
The letter was sent by U.S. Reps. Frank... Read More »
A bill that gives the children of fallen law enforcement officers, firefighters, and EMS workers the maximum Pell grant authorized by federal law was recently advanced by the U.S. Senate.
The legislation, titled the Children of Fallen Heroes Scholarship Act, was introduced by U.S. Sens. Bob... Read More »
Raytheon’s Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) recently demonstrated its ability to acquire and track multiple threat-representative targets simultaneously during its third dedicated flight test held at the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii.
"The speed, range,... Read More »
A roundtable discussion on the current landscape of biological risks posed by technology advancement in the fourth industrial revolution was recently hosted in New York City by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the World Economic Forum (WEF).
While the first industrial revolution centered... Read More »
Following a decision by the United Nations’ (UN) General Assembly to negotiate a legally-binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons and their eventual elimination, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) Council recently pushed back against the move, stating that a total ban would... Read More »
The U.S. Senate approved this week a reform package aimed at making government IT spending more efficient and accelerating the government’s transition to modern technology.
The Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act creates an incentive for the federal government to streamline IT systems... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives recently advanced an appropriations bill that would fund President Trump’s wall on the Mexican border and various other security initiatives.
The bill includes funding for the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, Military Construction and Veterans... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions said on Monday it has been awarded a contract valued at approximately $63 million by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for the development of the first antidote spray device for treatment of acute cyanide poisoning.
The single-use... Read More »
