Policy
Forthcoming House bill would provide federal funding for metal detectors at schools
Local school districts would have access to federal grant funding to install metal detectors under a bill announced by U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) on Monday to help secure schools. The bill would require school districts that receive grant funding to limit the number of school entrances to... Read More »
Deportation officers arrest 145 in Texas during seven-day enforcement action
Deportation officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested 145 individuals in South and Central Texas during a seven-day enforcement action, which ended Feb. 16. Of the 145 arrested, 86 had criminal convictions. Thirty-nine were... Read More »
Counter-propaganda Global Engagement Center moves forward with agreement between State Department, DoD
The State Department and Department of Defense (DoD) signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday that will operationalize the Global Engagement Center (GEC), which will be tasked with coordinating the U.S. government’s counter-propaganda efforts. GEC was established under a provision of... Read More »
Sen. Menendez applauds new North Korea sanctions, calls for diplomacy
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) lauded new sanctions announced against shipping companies and vessels tied to North Korea on Friday as a necessary move to compel North Korea to engage in “a credible diplomatic process” with denuclearization as the ultimate goal. The Treasury Department’s... Read More »
GAO recommends measures to prevent counterfeit goods from entering U.S.
Counterfeit goods entering the United States pose challenges for consumers and businesses that need to be addressed by federal agencies that enforce intellectual property rights (IPR), according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Counterfeit goods are hard to spot and, with the... Read More »
Concerns raised over TSA pre-check security screenings by House Homeland Security Committee
While the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) tries to grow its pre-check flight security system, members of a House panel on Tuesday raised concerns that the system is not being used properly. During a hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee Transportation and Protective... Read More »
CBP arrests three subjects in New England within 24 hours
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers in New England, Boston Field Office arrested three subjects in a 24-hour period in two separate instances for narcotics possession and an active warrant. At the Port of Houlton in Maine, CBP officers encountered two 42-year old male U.S. citizens... Read More »
GAO reviews Next Generation 911 implementation nationwide ahead of roadmap development
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently reviewed the implementation of Next Generation 911 (NG911), which provides improved capabilities over the legacy 911 system. The GAO report examines state and local progress, challenges in implementing NG911 and federal actions to address... Read More »
Legislation aims to boost accountability, collaboration of DHS fusion centers
Legislation introduced in the House of Representatives on Friday aims to improve information sharing and engagement among the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) fusion centers, which collect and share information on threats with federal, state, local and private partners. The DHS Field... Read More »
Treasury Department sanctions 56 shipping companies, vessels for engaging in trade with North Korea
The Treasury Department announced a sanctions package on Friday that targets 27 entities and 28 vessels tied to North Korea, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and four additional countries violating earlier U.S. sanctions by engaging in trade with North Korea. The Treasury Department’s... Read More »
New drugs needed faster to fight antimicrobial resistant pathogens, IDSA-led group says
More than 50 groups marshalled by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) seek an act of Congress to rush urgently needed new antimicrobial drugs to market that protect America’s national security and the health of its citizens against biothreats posed by antimicrobial resistant (AMR)... Read More »
CBP Erie Marine Unit, local law enforcement conduct active shooter drill
A multi-agency team of 30 law enforcement officers recently conducted an active shooter drill at an elementary school in Erie County, Pennsylvania. Marine Interdiction Agents assigned to Air and Marine Operations’ Erie Marine Unit, agents from U.S. Border Patrol’s Fairview Station and... Read More »
INTERPOL Digital Security Challenge addresses Internet of Things security risks
INTERPOL recently held its latest Digital Security Challenge in Vienna, Austria, during which 43 cybercrime and digital forensics experts from 23 countries investigated a simulated cyberattack on a bank launched through an Internet of Things (IoT) device. Through their analysis of the simulated... Read More »
OPCW director general calls for deeper ties to other international organizations to combat terrorism
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Director General Ahmet Üzümcü said that technology, threats and actors have altered the global landscape and that OPCW is adapting to “meet this changing environment and the risks and dangers it will create” during an address in... Read More »
Sen. Cruz calls for inclusion of space-based missile defense in 2018 MDR
Citing North Korean ballistic missile threats, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) called on the Department of Defense (DoD) to include development and deployment of space-based missile defense in the 2018 Missile Defense Review (MDR). In a letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis, Cruz highlighted... Read More »Cybersecurity professionals foresee ‘catastrophic” cyberattacks in coming years
More than 80 percent of cybersecurity professionals believe that their employer will experience a “catastrophic” data breach within the next three years, and 66 percent believe that it could “seriously diminish” shareholder value, according to a global study released on Wednesday.... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Peters cites accurate threat assessments as national biodefense necessity
U.S. Congressman Scott Peters (D-CA), whose 52nd District in San Diego County encompasses a large military presence that partners in strategic national defense, thinks it’s important the United States find smart solutions to biothreats that include preparedness for any catastrophic biological... Read More »
Attorney General Sessions orders creation of Cyber-Digital Task Force
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) will use a new Cyber-Digital Task Force to assess its current efforts to combat global cyberthreats and identify areas of improvement, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Tuesday. The deputy attorney general will appoint a senior department official... Read More »
Perez sworn in as director of CBP Santa Teresa Port
Charles Perez was sworn in as the director of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Santa Teresa Port on Friday and will oversee and manage all officers, agriculture specialists, and canine enforcement officers working in the port area in his new role. Perez served as the area port director for... Read More »
Al-Qaeda operative sentenced to life in prison
Al-Qaeda operative Ibrahim Suleiman Adnan Adam Harun, aka Spin Ghul, 47, was recently sentenced to life in prison following his March 16, 2017, trial conviction of multiple terrorism offenses. Harun was convicted of offenses including conspiracy to murder American military personnel in... Read More »
GAO finds long-term uranium needs, costs aren’t clearly defined
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has a plan to secure needed inventories of low-enriched uranium through 2038, but a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) review found that longer-term enriched uranium needs haven’t been clearly defined and cost estimates are... Read More »
House panel considers bill that would give CBP expanded access to federal lands
A House panel recently weighed a measure that would expand Customs and Border Protection (CBP) access to national forests, wildlife refuges, and other federal lands near the southern border without navigating an authorization process. The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and... Read More »
GAO recommends additional actions to determine federal cybersecurity framework adoption
After assessing the extent to which critical infrastructure sectors have adopted the federal Framework for Improving Infrastructure Cybersecurity standards, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has since made nine recommendations for improvement. The framework in question was developed in... Read More »
Bill would strengthen protections for victims of human trafficking, make use of drugs in commercial sex “coercion”
Using drugs or illegal substances to compel victims of human trafficking to perform commercial sex acts would be considered coercion, and new protections would be established for human trafficking victims, under bicameral legislation introduced on Thursday. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and U.S.... Read More »
GOP Senate bill would establish $25 billion border security trust fund, legal protections for Dreamers
Republican senators introduced legislation on Thursday that would establish a $25 billion trust fund for border security and codify legal protections for people covered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rob Portman (R-OH), and John... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility to be built at Stewart International Airport
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s Board of Commissioners recently approved the construction of a $30 million permanent U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspection area at the Stewart International Airport to accommodate the increase in international passengers at the airport... Read More »
Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense awarded $2.5 million grant
The Open Philanthropy Project awarded a $2.5 million grant to the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense on Thursday, which will be used to help the organization continue to assess biodefense, identify needed changes and make recommendations. In a 2015 report, the panel made 33 recommendations... Read More »
Congressional Task Force on Election Security releases 10 recommendations to secure elections
The Congressional Task Force on Election Security released a report on Wednesday that outlines 10 recommendations to protect state election systems for cyberattacks, including allocating funds, more training, minimum requirements for voting machines, and threat assessments. The task force was... Read More »
IDSA urges Congress to reject Trump Administration’s budget proposal
In urging Congress to reject public health cuts proposed by the Trump Administration, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) said on Wednesday that the fiscal year 2019 budget proposal reflects a “narrow and short-sighted understanding of national safety and well-being.”... Read More »
Analysis of President’s FY2019 budget request reveals several major changes
The John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Health Security recently on Wednesday a preliminary analysis of health security funding in President Donald Trump’s proposed fiscal year 2019 (FY2019) budget, which highlighted several major budgetary and organizational... Read More »
ISIS-inspired New York City bomber sentenced to life in prison
A federal judge sentenced a New Jersey man to life in prison on Tuesday for detonating and attempting to detonate a series of bombs in New York City and New Jersey in September 2016. Ahmad Khan Rahimi, 30, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, planted improvised explosives devices (IEDs) in Chelsea, one... Read More »
CDC warns of U.S. economic risks affiliated with disease outbreaks overseas
Whether an infectious disease ever reaches U.S. shores or not, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are now warning of the damage they could still do to U.S. interests--notably, its export economy. In articles published in Health Security, the agency noted that there are 49... Read More »
Researchers suggest establishing a National Cybersecurity Safety Board to investigate cyber attacks, data breaches
Researchers at the University of Indiana suggested that an independent cybersecurity agency board should be established to investigate cyber attacks and data breaches after conducting a comprehensive academic review. The board’s structure would resemble the National Transportation Safety... Read More »
Former Sen. Daschle praises Trump’s support of Project BioShield
The shift in Project BioShield Act of 2004 funding from its original 10-year appropriations cycle to year-by-year funding has posed challenges for the program by creating an uncertain climate for private-sector firms investing in developing medical countermeasures (MCM) against chemical,... Read More »