Policy
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 »
Rep. Brooks commends control shift of Strategic National Stockpile in Trump’s budget proposal
Following President Donald Trump’s release of his Fiscal Year 2019 budget proposal last week, U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks (R-IN) applauded the inclusion of a control shift of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to the Department of Health... Read More »
Homeland security leaders welcome Trump’s fiscal year 2019 budget proposal
President Donald Trump delivered on Monday his Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Budget to Congress, which requests $47.5 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a 7.8 percent increase from the FY 2018 President’s Budget. “The budget demonstrates the... Read More »
Sen. Klobuchar, former DHS Secretary Johnson outline vulnerabilities in election security ahead of 2018 midterms
With midterm elections approaching in November, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) warned on Monday that federal and state officials remain unable to ensure that elections are secure from outside attacks. Klobuchar and former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson discussed... Read More »
ICE moves to dismantle global cyberfraud operation following mass indictment
Indictments have been issued against 36 defendants by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), targeting them for potential roles in the Infraud Organization--an Internet-based operation which has defrauded victims throughout the world of more than $530 million. Of those charged, 13... Read More »
NASS issues statement clarifying Russian targeting of state election systems, calls on DHS to help restore voter confidence
The National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) pushed back on a recent report about Russian hackers penetrating state-based voter systems on Thursday, reiterating that just one state voter system was breached and that efforts to shore up cybersecurity have been ongoing. NASS responded... Read More »
Buenos Aires police arrest international wanted murder suspect following identification with facial recognition technology
Police in Buenos Aires recently arrested an internationally wanted murder suspect after the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) facial recognition unit identified his image as a likely match. During an investigation by police in Argentina, INTERPOL’s National Central Bureau... Read More »
GOP senators announce bill establishing path to naturalization for DACA recipients, funding for border wall
Republican senators announced plans on Friday to introduce legislation that would create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children, allocate $25 billion for border security, and make reforms the nation’s immigration system. The Secure and Succeed Act... Read More »
House approves bills to improve public safety calls, rural communications networks
Bills that would mandate that all multi-line telephone systems connect directly to 9-1-1 systems and would require the FCC to establish minimum call completion standards for intermediary phone providers in rural areas cleared the House of Representatives on Friday. The Kari’s Law Act was... Read More »
Senate leaders probe issues with Electronic Immigration System that led to citizenship approvals without vetting
Leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee pressed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for answers on Thursday amid reports that citizenship applications were approved without background checks and green cards were erroneously issued. U.S. Sens. Ron... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate awards $5.6 million to cybersecurity research projects
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently awarded a total of $5,643,466 across seven organizations to develop new tools for cybersecurity researchers. “Cybersecurity research and development, and the ability to develop new solutions will be... Read More »
DHS, DoJ working to improve response to incidents involving individuals with mental illness, GAO says
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DoJ) are striving to improve incident response involving individuals with mental illness, but challenges remain, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review released on Thursday. Under the 21st Century Cures... Read More »
Commerce Secretary Ross appoints four members to FirstNet Board
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross appointed four members to the Board of the First Responder Network Authority on Thursday who have backgrounds in public safety, wireless broadband, and network engineering. Richard Ross, police commissioner of Philadelphia; David Zolet, CEO of the Logistics... Read More »
Measure seeks to bolster CBP staffing, resources
Reps. Filemon Vela (D-TX) and Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) recently introduced a bill designed to enhance U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) support, staffing, and resources. The lawmakers said the Border and Ports Security Act would increase the CBP’s capacity to screen passengers and... Read More »
Senators call on DoD to review vulnerabilities posed by fitness trackers, Google Android phones
Revelations that mobile devices can reveal the identities, activities and locations of U.S. service members stationed abroad prompted members of the Senate Armed Services Committee to call for a Department of Defense (DoD) review on Wednesday. In a letter to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, U.S.... Read More »
Spying concerns prompt Senate bill barring federal government’s use of Chinese telecom providers
Amid concerns about potential espionage, the federal government would be prohibited from procuring telecommunications equipment or services from China-based Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. under a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday. In 2012, the Permanent Select Committee on... Read More »
UN, Interpol heads discuss global security priorities, strategies to strengthen cooperation
Threats posed by ISIS fighters returning home as the terrorist organization loses territory were a focus of recent discussions between the heads the United Nations (UN) and Interpol about global security issues and priorities. UN Secretary General António Guterres and Interpol Secretary... Read More »
In wake of Super Bowl, Minneapolis-St.Paul Airport TSA sets one-day record for passengers screened
As hundreds of thousands of attendees sought return flights following Super Bowl LII, the local branch of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) set a one-day record for security screenings. In total, MSP TSA screened 60,883... Read More »