News
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 »
TSA, Los Angeles World Airports unveil new security checkpoint technologies
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) highlighted last week two new checkpoint technologies recently unveiled at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The technologies available include facial recognition and less invasive body scanners with increased detection capabilities.... 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 »
DHS Science and Technology Directorate developing Predictive Threat Model to identify, stop criminal aircraft
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced recently that it is developing a Predictive Threat Model (PTM) to help Custom and Border Protection's (CBP) Air and Marine Operations Center (AMOC) identify and stop nefarious aircraft. “We can rethink... 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 »
DSI event: Joint Civil & DoD CBRN Symposium on March 5-6 in Alexandria, Va.
The 2018 Joint Civil & DoD CBRN Symposium presented by the Defense Strategies Institute will take place on March 5-6 at the Mary M. Gates Learning Center in Alexandria, Virginia. The event will provide a forum for members of the Department of Defense, federal government, private industry, academia,... 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 »
Crowley Logistics gets underway on $2.3 billion Defense Department Contract
Crowley Logistics has completed the first military delivery under a $2.3 billion Department of Defense (DoD) contract as of this week. The company reported successful delivery by truck to the U.S. Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania, and future deliveries will include a mix of vendor... Read More »
DHS announces finalists for $300K challenge to develop emerging biothreat detection system
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) named five finalists for a $300,000 grant to develop an early warning system that detects emerging biothreats using existing data on Wednesday. Finalists for the grant, which is being administered by the S&T... 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 »
DSI’s Joint Civil and DoD CBRN Symposium to explore government-wide approaches to defense, response and recovery
Homeland security stakeholders will gather on March 5-6 in Virginia at the 6th Annual Joint Civil and Department of Defense (DoD) Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Symposium, where participants will have the opportunity to discuss challenges and improvements to the nation’s... 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 »
Researchers at University of Delaware awarded grant to develop improvised explosive device, landmine detection system
Researchers at the University of Delaware have been awarded a five-year grant by the Army Research Office to develop technology that will enable soldiers to detect improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from a distance. The $1 million grant will help researchers develop an augmented reality system... 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 »
CBP agents inspect billions of flowers in lead up to Valentine’s Day
In the lead up to Valentine's Day last year, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers inspected more than 1 billion cut flower stems and intercepted 823 dangerous pests, making January and February one of the busiest times for the agency’s agriculture specialists. About 89 percent of... 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 »
James Madison University students to focus on improving TSA security checkpoints through Homeland S&T program
James Madison University students will explore new approaches that the Transportation Administration (TSA) can use to better connect passengers to personal belongings in the spring semester of the Hacking 4 Defense (HD4) class. Administered through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)... 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 »
DSI event: Joint Civil & DoD CBRN Symposium on March 5-6 in Alexandria, Va.
The 2018 Joint Civil & DoD CBRN Symposium presented by the Defense Strategies Institute will take place on March 5-6 at the Mary M. Gates Learning Center in Alexandria, Virginia. The event will provide a forum for members of the Department of Defense, federal government, private industry, academia,... Read More »
CUIMC finds addition of far-UVC light to public spaces could could airborne flu
A study by the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) has found that light exposure may provide a path to killing airborne flu through the use of far ultraviolet C (UVC) light. In findings published in Scientific Reports, CUIMC determined that... 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 »