U.S. Policy
A bill reintroduced in the House of Representatives on Wednesday would better equip the U.S. Department Health and Human Services’ (HHS) to address cyber threats to the health care system following recent malware attacks like WannaCry and NotPetya.
U.S. Reps. Billy Long (R-PA) and Doris... Read More »
Thirty private sector and government stakeholders would reimburse U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for providing additional cross-border trade and travel inspection services under tentative partnership agreements announced on Tuesday.
The Reimbursable Services Program (RSP) was launched... Read More »
State-run election systems would be deemed critical infrastructure, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would be enlisted to protect registration data, voting systems, and ballots from foreign interference, under bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate on Tuesday.
The Securing... Read More »
U.S. Border Patrol announced Tuesday the appointment of Felix Chavez as the new Chief Patrol Agent of the Del Rio Sector, effective Oct. 29.
As Chief Patrol Agent, Chavez will manage nine stations and more than 1,500 agents and support staff. He will also oversee 210 miles of border and over... Read More »
Members of U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee held a field hearing last week on port security at the Port of Los Angeles.
The hearing, titled Examining Physical Security and Cybersecurity at our Nation’s Ports, included testimony from representatives from the Coast... Read More »
A recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed that there is an overlap in the missions and membership within a number of U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) emergency communications organizations because each of them promotes interoperable emergency... Read More »
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 »
Though the state of Michigan first established a Cyber Civilian Corps back in 2013, a new law signed last week will allow those volunteers to service a broader range of entities in need of crisis assistance.
The bill was appropriately dubbed the Cyber Civilian Corps Act by its introducers, state... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently announced that the six companies tasked with building prototypes for a southern border wall completed construction in San Diego, California.
CBP will now test and evaluate the eight prototypes over a 30 to 60-day period to determine which... 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 bipartisan delegation led by Rep. John Katko (R-NY), chairman of the House Homeland Security’s Transportation and Protective Security Subcommittee, continued their visitation this week at last point of departure airports in Jordan and Germany.
The delegation toured the Queen Alia... 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 »
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday the implementation of updated security measures for refugees entering the United States, including, but not limited to, increased data collection, improved information sharing between agencies, and new training procedures for screeners.
The changes come... Read More »
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing Tuesday to examine the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) preparedness for and response to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.
The hearing follows a recent bipartisan... 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 seeks to improve information sharing and cooperation in addressing cybersecurity risks at the nation’s ports was recently unanimously advanced by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Authored by U.S. Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA), the Strengthening Cybersecurity Information Sharing and... Read More »
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security recently introduced a self-guided exercise scenario to help public health communicators and risk communication researchers prepare for transmission dilemmas they could face during a pandemic.
The SPARS Pandemic scenario book features the outbreak of... Read More »
The National Governors Association (NGA) recently announced the launch of a project aimed at preventing acts of violent extremism in throughout the United States.
Developed through a two-year training and engagement grant provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the project... 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 »
A bill that seeks to reauthorize U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) cargo vetting program for the first time in eleven years was recently advanced by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Authored by U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ), 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 »
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 »
In a Massachusetts case, a 28-year-old man had been convicted of conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) terrorist group, along with terrorism and obstruction charges.
David Daoud Wright had been indicted back in April 2016 alongside Nicholas... 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 »
The Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is now one of 10 airports in the country to offer automated security screening lanes in an effort to cut down on passenger processing time.
The creation of four automated screening lanes in terminals A and D is a joint effort on behalf of the... Read More »
A jury in Manhattan federal court returned a guilty verdict Monday against Ahmad Khan Rahimi on all eight counts of the indictment that charged him with offenses related to his execution and attempted execution of bombings in New York City on September 17, 2016.
Rahimi faces a mandatory... 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 »
A hearing of the House Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications recently examined the status of emergency communication networks for first responders.
Chaired by U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY), the committee reviewed communications issues observed in the wake of acts of... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) recently wrote a letter to the director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), following the first case of locally transmitted Zika in 2017, asking the organization to prioritize Zika prevention efforts.
"The Zika outbreak isn't over and continues... Read More »
Several security and health organizations recently launched an initiative to reduce the use of risk-significant radioactive source-based devices in medical and research applications in order to reduce the risk of terrorists acquiring this material.
Radioactive sources are used in various... Read More »
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) faces various challenges in implementing its public safety broadband network, according to a recent review conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
GAO was tasked by Congress to asses FirstNet’s efforts to establish the... Read More »
In an effort to help federal agencies identify biodefense capabilities and identify priorities for spending, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a study Wednesday tracking national activities that contribute to biological threat awareness.
Key players involved in the study... 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 »
Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) recently wrote to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai to ask for an evaluation of the resiliency of the United States’ wireless networks.
Pallone requested that the commission review the... Read More »
