Policy
TSA could better measure effectiveness of cargo screening, GAO says
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued three recommendations to improve how the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) inspects air carriers and assesses foreign airports in regards to U.S.-bound air cargo. The GAO examined the TSA’s screening process to monitor the... Read More »
Groups seek funds countering biological threats
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) has joined over 60 global health security organizations in calling for bolstered funding in the Trump Administration’s 2020 budget request to counter biological threats. The groups forwarded correspondence to Secretary of Health and Human Services and Chair... Read More »
Council on Foreign Relations encourages global initiative to combat botnets
A global initiative of public and private organizations is needed to eliminate computer-effecting botnets, according to a new paper from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). The report was written by Robert Knake, senior fellow for cyber policy at CFR and senior research scientist at... Read More »
New York woman pleads guilty to providing material support to ISIS
Zoobia Shahnaz, from Brentwood, New York, recently pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert to providing material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). Between March and August 2017, Shahnaz defrauded numerous financial institutions, according to prosecutors.... Read More »
Conference targets Mediterranean intelligence dialogue
During the recent NATO-hosted Mediterranean Dialogue Conference, representatives from six nations shared intelligence insights as a means of broadening the scope of challenges the region faces. The NATO Joint Intelligence and Security Division welcomed to the NATO Headquarters Intelligence... Read More »
Interpol names new president at General Assembly
Kim Jong Yang of the Republic of Korea has been elected the new president of Interpol, a network of police forces from 194 countries around the world. Kim has served as Interpol’s Vice President for Asia since 2015 and was the head of Interpol’s National Central Bureau in Seoul from 2011 to... Read More »
Texas lawmakers land fire department grant
Reps. Will Hurd (R-TX) and Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) recently secured a $1.6 million federal grant to increase the La Salle County Fire Rescue Department's staffing level. The lawmakers said funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Staffing for... Read More »
First Responder Network committee appoints chairman
The First Responder Network (FirstNet) Authority’s Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) recently appointed Todd Early as its new chairman. Early has more than 25 years of leadership experience in public safety. He is Texas’ contact person for public safety communications and is assistant... Read More »
DHS works with Houston-area first responders on integrating new technologies
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate is working with public safety officials in the Houston-area to evaluate first responder technologies. DHS, along with industry partners and 13 local Houston-area public safety agencies on a HAZMAT-related scenario... Read More »
Merck nears approval of experimental Ebola vaccine
Merck has started the submission of a rolling Biologics License Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an investigational vaccine to combat the Zaire strain of the Ebola virus, the company recently announced. The V920 vaccine, scientifically known as rVSV-ZEBOV, falls under... Read More »
GAO addresses attack submarine maintenance delays
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is recommending the Navy conduct a business case analysis as part of an effort to address attack submarine maintenance delays. The GAO said the effort would assist in pinpointing maintenance workload allocation across public and private... Read More »
Future direction of OPCW to be discussed in upcoming conference, review sessions
The next five years of focus for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will be decided at the 23rd session of the Conference of the States Parties and fourth Review Conference beginning today. For the next two weeks, member states will discuss budgets, programs,... Read More »End of BioWatch looms near, Blue Ribbon Study Panel members learn
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) outdated BioWatch Program, launched in 2003 as an early warning system for potential bioterrorist attacks in the United States, is being replaced, a federal expert told members of the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense on Nov. 14 during a report... Read More »
Griffiths selected for artificial intelligence panel
Dakota State University President José-Marie Griffiths has been selected to serve as a member of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Chairman Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) recently announced Griffiths appointment to... Read More »
Air Force Chief of Staff visits Colombia to strengthen partnership
U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein recently returned from a two-day visit to Colombia where he pledged to accelerate joint training activities with the Colombian Air Force. Colombia has worked closely with the United States for decades on security and regional concerns. ... Read More »
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act signed into law
President Donald Trump on Nov. 16 signed into law a bill that creates the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which establishes a new agency within the Department of Homeland Security to lead the federal government’s civilian response to cyber threats. The CISA will be a... Read More »
Firm lands Arizona border wall contract
Barnard Construction Company has received a $172 million Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Army Corps of Engineers base contract to build 14 miles of Arizona Primary Pedestrian Replacement Wall. The total contract value, which includes up to 32 miles and options, is $324 million, with work... Read More »
Automated screening lanes come to San Francisco airport
The Transportation Security Administration recently unveil new Automated Screening Lanes (ASLs) at San Francisco International Airport’s (SFO) Terminal 3. ASLs moves passengers faster and more efficiently through security checkpoints. The technology does this in several ways. United Airlines... Read More »
Senate bill demands accountability from Saudi Arabia for Khashoggi murder
A bipartisan group of Senators introduced legislation to ensure Congressional oversight of U.S. policy on Yemen and demand accountability from Saudi Arabia for the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The Saudi Arabia Accountability and Yemen Act of 2018 would suspend weapons... Read More »
National Security Council official frames nation’s biodefense plan for Blue Ribbon Panel members
Against the backdrop of a spreading Ebola outbreak in Congo, where a worsening war has stymied U.S. aid amid increasing security concerns, the Trump administration is trying to wrap its arms around what is and isn’t working in biodefense against man-made, accidental, naturally occurring... Read More »
Man pleads guilty in attempting to provide material support to ISIS
Law enforcement officials said a New York man has pleaded guilty to attempting to provide and conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers and U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman for the... Read More »
Arizona officers seize $512,000 of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl over Veteran’s Day weekend
Officers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized $512,000 worth of cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl in four separate instances at Arizona’s Port of Nogales over the holiday weekend. On Nov. 9, a Mexican woman was pulled from a tourist bus at the Mariposa Crossing, after which a... Read More »
Bill ensures availability of reliable global positioning systems
The National Timing Resilience and Security Act of 2017, which directs the Secretary of Transportation to work with the Secretary of Homeland Security and Commandant of the Coast Guard to establish, sustain and operate of a land-based, alternative timing system to Global Positioning System (GPS)... Read More »
Coast Guard reauthorization bill to combat maritime drug trafficking
The U.S. Senate passed a bill that includes new authorities for the U.S. Coast Guard to combat maritime drug trafficking and smuggling at the border. The Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018 (S.140) includes provisions related to maritime border security. It would further... Read More »
Experts call for increased funding for diagnostics, biosurveillance across government agencies
Rapidly evolving wearables and 3D printed devices are among the inexpensive and portable diagnostic tools on the market today, some of which can detect and diagnose disease in less than an hour for biosurveillance. However, developing these devices on a much greater scale for biosecurity... Read More »
CBP expects extended El Paso processing times
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) El Paso Field Office officials are advising travelers of potential border processing delays in the wake of recent personnel adjustments related to the caravan. CBP officials said a large number of officers from the El Paso, Santa Teresa, and Tornillo ports of... Read More »
Healthcare professionals gather to explore research against drug-resistant bacteria
A workshop hosted by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America assembled in Baltimore, Md., this week to address the overuse of antimicrobials and to determine the best course for combating drug-resistant bacteria. The Antimicrobial Stewardship Research Workshop was based on the genuine... Read More »
Senators urge Homeland Security subcommittee to strength security at places of worship
U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) recently sent a letter to the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security urging funding to strengthen security at places of worship. The senators asked the committee to maintain the... Read More »
Congress passes bill to create new Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
The U.S. House of Representatives advanced legislation this week to create the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The bill, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act (H.R. 3359), would reorganize DHS’... Read More »
Survey examines antibiotic resistance concerns
A survey commissioned by the public education and advocacy group Research!America has determined Americans deem antibiotic resistance as a public health problem with a myriad of treatment implications. Research!America officials said 65 percent of survey respondents consider antibiotic... Read More »
FDA approves combination Ebola fingerstick test with battery-operated reader
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first single-use fingerstick tests for Ebola virus detection, complete with a portable reader system more easily used outside of labs. While this is the second fingerstick test made... Read More »NATO scientists develop new bomb-detecting devices
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) recently announced the development of three new technologies designed to detect improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as part of its Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Program. The three technologies -- a semi-autonomous robot for detection of mines... Read More »
Laredo director of field operations wins DHS Secretary’s Award
David P. Higgerson, director of field operations at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Laredo Field Office recently was awarded the Secretary’s Meritorious Service Silver Medal 2018 from the Department of Homeland Security. The award honors exceptional individual service or... Read More »
Massachusetts first responders participate in largest ever security training exercise
Massachusetts State Police, the US Coast Guard, Massachusetts National Guard, local police and fire departments, and federal public safety officials all participated in the largest homeland security training exercise ever conducted in the state last week. The training exercise is designed to... Read More »