Threats
House unanimously passes bipartisan wildfire response bill
The U.S. House of Representatives passed on Monday legislation proposed by U.S. Rep. Vince Fong (R-CA) to develop advanced technology to improve wildfire response. The bipartisan legislation, the Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operation (ACERO) Act, would help to develop the use of... Read More »
Firearm seizures increase in Pennsylvania’s Region 5
The Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General narcotics agents seized 41 firearms in southwestern Pennsylvania in January. The total seized in the region for the year is 48. The majority of the seizures happened outside of Pittsburgh. The two largest seizures were in Fayette and Somerset counties,... Read More »
Astelia raises $35M to invest in AI-powered exposure management
Cybersecurity platform Astelia announced it has raised $35 million in funding to use artificial intelligence to expose real risks to organizations. Company officials said Astelia uses a deep analysis of clients’ real environments via AI to map its network topology, segmentation and security... Read More »
California tech engineers charged with theft of trade secrets, and transferring data to Iran
Three Silicon Valley engineers have been indicted for conspiring to commit trade secret theft from Google and other technology companies, the U.S. Department of Justice said Feb. 19. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, in the Northern District of California, Samaneh Ghandali, 41,... Read More »
CrowdStrike, Qualtrics announce new security layers in latest integration
The integration of CrowdStrike Falcon Shield with the Qualtrics Platform will bring greater visibility and automated protections to customers, the companies stated. The new integration connects the two products to provide organizations with real-time visibility and automated protections for... Read More »
Coast Guard seizes 2,083 pounds of cocaine off Puerto Rico
The U.S. Coast Guard, and its Homeland Security Task Force - San Juan Region partners, recently disrupted a vessel in the Atlantic Ocean north of Puerto Rico and seized 29 bales of cocaine weighing 2,083 pounds and worth an estimated $13.3 million. “This successful interdiction and seizure are... Read More »
Report: 70 percent of ransomware activity focused on English-speaking countries
A new Nozomi Networks Labs OT & IoT Security Report finds that 70 percent of global ransomware activity is targeted against English-speaking countries. The company annually leverages their network of wireless monitoring sensors, inbound telemetry, partnerships, threat intelligence and other... Read More »
DHS announces next steps in Trump’s border wall
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced recently that Parsons Government Services, Inc., will oversee and manage the completion of President Donald Trump’s border wall. DHS said the partnership will build upon the existing border wall started under Trump’s first term, and that... Read More »
Nuclear modernization efforts at Minot Air Force base add $1B in economic impact
In an update on the nuclear modernization efforts at Minto Air Force Base in Minot, ND., officials said upgrades at the base will build upon the nearly $1 billion in annual economic benefit the base brings to the region. U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) joined Major Gen. Colin Connor, director of... Read More »
Coast Guard cutter offloads seized cocaine valued at nearly $134M
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Seneca recently offloaded in Port Everglades approximately 17,750 pounds of cocaine worth more than $133.5 million that had been seized during four interdictions in international waters in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. “I am extremely proud of the crew’s incredible... Read More »
CISA to hold town halls on cyber incident reporting for critical infrastructure
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) will hold a series of virtual town hall meetings to gather stakeholder input on the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRCIA( of 2022 rulemaking. The meeting, scheduled to begin March 9, are in response to... Read More »
CENTCOM confirms continued strikes on ISIS in Syria
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Thursday it continues to strike ISIS targets in Syria. In a press release, CENTCOM said its forces had conducted 10 strikes on more than 30 ISIS targets in Syria between Feb. 3 and Feb. 12. The purpose, CENTCOM said, was to “sustain relentless... Read More »
Air Force commanders visit Texas cybersecurity forces
Gen. Adrian Spain, Air Combat Command commander, and Jeremy Unterseher, ACC command chief, conducted a three-day tour of cybersecurity forces in Texas earlier this month. “It is reassuring knowing that as cyber threats evolve our Airmen are at the forefront of safeguarding military assets and... Read More »
American Systems wins $172M contract to support Navy in evaluating emerging warfare tech
American Systems, the McLean, Va.-based information engineering company, announced recently it had been awarded a $172 million contract to continue its support to the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division’s Demonstration and Assessment Team (DAT). The company said the contract... Read More »
CISA releases secure communications guidelines for critical infrastructure users
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released new guidelines this week to help operational technology users implement secure communications. In the guide, Barriers to Secure OT Communications: Why Johnny Can’t Authenticate, CISA provides insight from control system... Read More »
Legislation to strengthen DEA hiring introduced in Congress
A new bill that would combat drug trafficking through streamlined hiring at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was introduced this week in Congress. U.S. Rep. Vince Fong (R-CA) introduced the “Hiring Improvement and Recruitment Empowerment (HIRE) for Drug Enforcement... Read More »
Legislation expanding DHS law enforcement vehicle security introduced
Legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) would expand existing resources for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to upgrade law enforcement vehicle protection. The legislation, the Bulletproof Law Enforcement Vehicles Act, would allow law enforcement organizations to make... Read More »
GenAI.mil surpasses 1 million users
GenAI.mil, the U.S. Department of Defense's enterprise AI platform, recently surpassed 1 million unique users with adoption spanning every military service. The platform launched two months ago, and its popularity can be attributed to a decisive cultural and technological shift, the department... Read More »
DHS data dragnet under scrutiny as watchdog opens audit
The watchdog office for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched an audit Feb. 4 into the department’s data practices, including those used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in response to serious concerns about potential data privacy abuses and the misuse of sensitive... Read More »
Legislation would improve criminal money laundering statutes
Legislation recently re-introduced in the U.S. Senate would enhance criminal money laundering statutes. The Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Finance and Counterfeiting Act would update counterfeiting laws to prohibit state-of-the-art counterfeiting methods and the Federal Deposit Insurance... Read More »
CISA orders federal agencies to strengthen device security
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued a new directive to federal agencies to take action against rising cyber security threats. The Binding Operational Directive 26-02, Mitigating Risk from End-of-Support Edge Devices, requires Federal Civilian Executive Branch... Read More »
Coast Guard seizes 200,000 pounds of cocaine under Operation Pacific Viper
The U.S. Coast Guard’s Operation Pacific Viper has seized more than 200,000 pounds of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean since it launched in August. A potentially lethal dose of cocaine is 1.2 grams, meaning the seizures are the equivalent of more than 75 million potentially deadly doses.... Read More »
Cybercriminals use ‘trust’ to snag victims, report says
A new report from the VIPRE Security Group finds that cybercriminals are using trust and urgency to continue to ensnare victims in fraud schemes. The report, Q4 2025 Email Threat Trends Report, looked at 1.5 billion emails and 500,000 spam messages to identify the trends in security threats for... Read More »
Concern grows over New START Treaty expiration
The last remaining arms control treaty limiting U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals, New START, expires on Feb. 5 – a cause for concern, advocates said recently. Christine Wormuth, president and CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a non-proliferation advocacy group, said the treaty’s... Read More »
Vendors chosen for first phase of Drone Dominance Program
U.S. Department of Defense recently invited 25 vendors to compete in phase one of the Drone Dominance Program. The program is an acquisition reform effort designed to rapidly field low cost, unmanned one-way attack drones at scale as part of strengthening the arsenal. "Drone dominance is a... Read More »
New York receives $9M in federal grants to support Multi-Factor Authentication tokens
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced her state had received $9 million in federal grants to support the delivery of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) hard tokens to counties, municipalities, school districts and public authorities across the state. MFA requires two or more proofs of identity to... Read More »
Defense Department launches digital platform to help businesses enter into defense markets
The Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) of the U.S. Department of Defense, referred to by the Trump administration as the U.S. Department of War, recently announced the launch of a new digital platform for small businesses, LYNX. The LYNX system will strengthen supplier readiness, improve... Read More »
DHS exercise prepares for New World Screwworm animal, public health threat
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Health Security held a two-part New World Screwworm simulation exercise in January to strengthen national readiness and improve coordination for emerging animal and public health threats. The New World Screwworm is a parasite that infests... Read More »
FEMA releases more than $2.2B in funding for past disasters
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released more than $2.2 billion in disaster relief funds for natural disasters from 2021 through 2024. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the money would be to support ongoing recovery efforts. “This investment will repair and restore critical public... Read More »
CISA urges infrastructure orgs to act against insider threats
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is telling critical infrastructure organizations to take action against threats from insiders. As part of CISA’s “Assembling a Multi-Disciplinary Insider Threat Management Team” report, the agency is supporting efforts to... Read More »
Army launches AI-focused project
The U.S. Army recently established Army Rapid Implementation of AI (Project ARIA) to identify, analyze and develop AI-driven solutions to three of the Army's top problems. The Army partnered with artificial intelligence, technology, and industry experts as the project seeks to integrate AI into... Read More »
Companies announce partnership to help defend against AI-driven cyber attacks
Security control testing company Scythe and AI runtime assurance company Starseer announced a strategic partnership recently that would help organizations defend themselves against AI-driven cyber-attacks. The companies said the partnership will combine their spheres of expertise in order to... Read More »
Defense Department updates guidance on counter-unmanned aerial systems
The U.S. Department of Defense’s Joint Inter-Agency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401) recently released updated guidance for counter-unmanned aerial systems (UAS) operations. The guidance streamlines and consolidates existing policies for detecting and mitigating UAS under the authority of 10 U.S.... Read More »
PG&E joins Lockheed Martin, others to launch wildfire prevention technology
PG&E Corporation joined Lockheed Martin, Salesforce, and Wells Fargo recently in announcing the launch of Emberpoint LLC, a next-generation wildfire solution. Officials said Emberpoint will help first responders detect, prevent and fight wildfires, using artificial intelligence, autonomous... Read More »