News
Rep. McCarthy introduces bill to fund up to $23B for border wall
The bill that would fund a roughly $23 billion wall along the southern border was introduced in Congress last week. The Build the Wall, Enforce the Law Act of 2018, H.R. 7059, also includes measures to cut off funds to sanctuary cities and facilitates the deportation of immigrant gang... Read More »Measure addresses China, nuclear material acquisition
Department of Energy (DOE) officials said the agency has adopted national security measures designed to prevent China’s diversion of U.S. civil nuclear technology for military or other unauthorized purposes. “The United States cannot ignore the national security implications of China’s... Read More »
Former Colombian intelligence officer arrested for fraudulent immigration to US
Javier Alfredo Valle Anaya, a former intelligence agent of a disbanded Colombian intelligence agency, was arrested Oct. 5 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for immigrating under false pretenses. The former agent was convicted and wanted in Colombia for the 2004 murders of a... Read More »
Preclinical testing of lassa fever, rabies vaccine shows promise
An international collection of scientists have developed a new vaccine with the potential to shield people from both Lassa fever and rabies, and the drug has proven successful in preclinical testing. Known as LASSARAB, the vaccine utilizes a weakened rabies carrier injected with genetic material... Read More »Ballistic imaging equipment deployed in 22 agencies
Ballistic imaging equipment used by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) recently was deployed in 22 state and local law enforcement agencies. NIBIN is the nation’s only crime gun ballistic network. It... Read More »
Democratic senators request info from Trump Administration on Chinese hacking
A group of Democratic U.S. Senators are calling on the Trump Administration to look into reports of Chinese government efforts to secretly manipulate U.S. technology. The request is in response to an Oct. 4 article in Bloomberg Businessweek that said the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA)... Read More »
GAO recommends equipment, personnel, training and management updates to guarantee US Air Force preparedness
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report this week detailing four recommendations to improve the nation’s Air Force, which they noted has declined in readiness for nearly 20 years. A lack of modernization is a critical part of this problematic scenario. The Air... Read More »
DHHS expands cooperation with Johnson & Johnson in developing counters for health threats
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced this week that a strategic partnership between the department and Johnson & Johnson will seek to advance efforts against chemical, biological, radiation, nuclear, disease, and antimicrobial threats in the United States. The two... Read More »
Chinese operative charged with espionage, stealing trade secrets
Yanjun Xu, a deputy division director of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS), was extradited to the United States this week and was charged with conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage and stealing trade secrets from multiple U.S. aerospace and aviation companies. The... Read More »
IDSA outlines public health risks of Hurricane Michael
In the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, which hit Florida’s panhandle this week, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) said residents of the area need to know the public health risks and how to mitigate them. The category 4 hurricane – which the U.S. Department of Health and... Read More »
US, INTERPOL discuss global security initiatives
A range of global security issues, including terrorism, were discussed during a recent meeting between U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock. Sessions and Stock touched on several joint initiatives, including a project to strengthen the capacity of law... Read More »
Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense recommends local-level prep to preempt biothreats
A large-scale biological event shouldn’t mean that the nation’s thousands of state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) governments fend for themselves waiting for federal assets to arrive, a new bipartisan report of the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense says. “We can take steps now... Read More »
Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense: Expert recommends biothreat preparedness solutions
As a founding director of the nation’s first bioterrorism preparedness program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1999, Dr. Scott Lillibridge didn’t realize then what would emerge as the almost surreal scope of biothreats now challenging the United States. But now he knows,... Read More »
Verdon appointed to NNSA post
Charles P. Verdon is the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) new Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs. Verdon, who was recently sworn to duty by Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette, will lead NNSA’s mission to maintain a nuclear deterrent that is modern, robust,... Read More »
VaxArray potency test for pandemic vaccines overcomes industry bottleneck
One of the critical problems for getting pandemic vaccines out there is a bottleneck formed by the necessity of tests to determine their potency, but a new type of test -- VaxArray -- may bring immediacy to the system. "With the 100th year anniversary since the 1918 influenza pandemic, there has... Read More »
DHS releases strategy to protect United States from electromagnetic threats
A new Strategy for Protecting and Preparing the Homeland against Threats from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) and Geomagnetic Disturbance (GMD) was released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this week. The strategy focuses on DHS efforts to counteract threats to critical... Read More »
Raytheon strike missiles meet US Army requirements
Raytheon Co.’s long-range DeepStrike missile recently met the U.S. Army's Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) requirement. In July in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Raytheon integrated its new launch pod missile container into the Army's M270 MLRS and M142 HIMARS launchers. Marines and soldiers assisted... Read More »
Department of Defense faces increasing challenges in weapons cybersecurity
Faced with mounting challenges in protecting its weapon systems from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has stepped up its efforts to address weapon systems cybersecurity. In a new report, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that... Read More »
Threats posed by China focus of Senate Homeland Security hearing
Leaders of the U.S. intelligence community focused on security threats posed by China, with little attention paid to Russia, during an annual oversight hearing by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday. FBI Director Christopher Wray and Homeland Security... Read More »
China ahead of United States in non-human primate infectious disease research
The Chinese government is investing more than the United States in the use of non-human primates as laboratory models for deadly infectious disease research, according to expert testimony delivered on Tuesday during a meeting of the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense. Jay Rappaport, director... Read More »
Commission targets global health security
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is working to determine the best method of crafting a 10-year global health security vision to protect national interests, according to a recent CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security meeting. CSIS’s health... Read More »
Lockheed Martin upgrading US Army’s energy storage, resiliency capabilities
Private contractor Lockheed Martin is actively upgrading the U.S. Army’s operational capability through enhanced energy storage developments. Some of the upgrades have included a Lithium-based energy storage system, intelligent microgrids and supporting infrastructure to help them function.... Read More »
KSU researchers join with Biosecurity Research Institute to counter African swine fever
With the danger of African swine fever growing each year -- and now poised to spread into Asia -- experts at Kansas State University and the Biosecurity Research Institute are taking notice and taking action to keep it from infecting the United States as well. African swine fever is a... Read More »
Technology can protect military aircraft
BAE Systems, a British multinational defense, security, and aerospace company, recently revealed its Smart D2 system, next-generation threat management technology that can defend military aircraft and dispense countermeasures. The system protects aircraft and aircrews from existing and emerging... Read More »
IAEA symposium explores ways to effectively communicate during emergencies
Experts in the areas of nuclear and radiological emergencies convened at an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) symposium this week to discuss ways to communicate during such emergencies effectively. "Communication is a challenge that we all face together," Juan Carlos Lentijo, deputy... Read More »
Report provides overview of ISIS-linked incidents
A recently published House Homeland Security Committee report highlighted the scope of ISIS external operations against Western countries, as well as other terrorist incidents inspired by the group. The Committee has been tracking terrorist activity linked to ISIS since the group’s formation,... Read More »
University of Texas creates cheaper universal vaccine without reducing efficacy
Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston recently developed a cheaper way to create vaccines without sacrificing their safety or effectiveness. The way forward focuses on cost-cutting in both storage and production. Traditionally, many vaccines are... Read More »
Next Generation 911 plan receives praise from National Emergency Number Association
In a report to Congress, the 911 Implementation Coordination Office addressed the $9.5 billion to $12.7 billion cost necessary to transition the United States into a next generation 911 system (NG911) that increasingly incorporates not just calls, but data as well. The National Emergency Number... Read More »
Disaster preparedness bill signed into law
On Friday, President Donald Trump signed into law H.R. 302, which includes the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, the largest reform of the U.S. disaster preparedness and recovery system since Hurricane Katrina. The act reforms the Federal Emergency Management Agency to include predisaster mitigation... Read More »
Emergent closes on deal to acquire PaxVax
Emergent BioSolutions completed its acquisition of PaxVax, a company that develops specialty vaccines that protect against infectious diseases typhoid and cholera. Emergent now has two PaxVax vaccines – Vivotif, which treats typhoid fever, and Vaxchora, which treats cholera. Emergent acquired... Read More »
Terror snapshot shows “homegrown” Islamist extremism in US continues to be cause for concern
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, released the October Terror Threat Snapshot last week, highlighting that 159 homegrown Jihadist cases in 30 states have been uncovered since 2013. The cases included plots to attack the country, overseas travel,... Read More »
Raytheon, Northrop Grumman/Ball Aerospace to compete for payload provider role on US Air Force project
Defense contractors Raytheon and Northrop Grumman/Ball Aerospace will compete for the right to be mission payload providers on the U.S. Air Force’s Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared missile warning satellite system. The next-gen system replaced the traditional Space Based Infrared... Read More »
University of Montana awarded $10M flu vaccine contract by NIH
The University of Montana is responsible for the creation of a new universal flu vaccine, under a five-year, $10 million contract awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The award was granted to Jay Evans, director of UM’s Center for Translational Medicine, who will be joined by... Read More »
Connecticut launches school-safety programs
Connecticut recently launched three school safety programs -- Start With Hello, Say Something, and SOS Signs of Suicide -- designed to increase school safety. The programs will help train students, educators, and school administrators identify, assess, intervene, and get help for those... Read More »