• Monitoring nukes with social media

    Acting Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Rose Gottemoeller is actively trying to find a way to incorporate social media tools to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation and keep fissile materials out of the hands of terrorists; the department wants to have crowdsourcing tools developed that could help ordinary citizens monitor a government’s nuclear activity and whether it was adhering to its stated promises

  • Inquiring minds want to know

    “It is not surprising to see more FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] requests sent in to an administration that has emphasized transparency… We’re making a strong effort to keep up with that demand by devoting more resources to it.”
    White House spokesman Eric Schultz on why the Obama administration could not keep pace with the increasing number of people asking for documents, e-mails, photographs, and more under FOIA

  • NYC cyberattack simulation to spur Senate cybersecurity legislation

    Last Wednesday, in an attempt to bolster support for cybersecurity legislation, the White House staged a mock cyberattack on New York City’s power supply for the Senate

  • Missouri first responders learn from last year’s tornado season

    Drawing on the valuable lessons learned from last year’s record tornado season, emergency officials in the St. Louis area were ready to spring into action immediately after tornadoes swept through the state once again last week

  • U.K. worried about dirty bombs

    U.K. deputy prime minister Nick Clegg warned that materials to make a dirty bomb are readily available – so much so, that police forces cannot hope to contain such a threat; “That is a stateless threat, impossible for any national police force, no matter how advanced, to contain,” he said

  • No racial profiling, abuse by Secure Communities

    The Earl Warren Institute at the University of California, Berkeley Law School claimed that DHS Secure Communities program suffers from a disturbing pattern of abuse of authority by ICE, including wrongful arrests of thousands of U.S. citizens, a pattern of racial profiling against Latinos, and denial of due process for aliens in removal proceedings; a new study by the Center for Immigration Studies says this is not the case

  • Public health expert: budget cuts will erode response capabilities

    Homeland Security NewsWire’s executive editor Eugene K. Chow recently got the opportunity to speak with Dr. John R. Finnegan, the dean of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health; in their interview, Dr. Finnegan discusses the devastating effects of proposed budget cuts on the U.S. public health system, why it was a wise decision to censor the release of H5N1 flu research; and the creation of a medical reserve corps at universities

  • National Weather Service budget cuts threaten poor IT infrastructure

    The Obama administration has proposed cutting more than $39 million from the National Weather Service’s (NWS) budget, particularly from its IT department, and critics worry that the cuts could cause the agency’s already crippling infrastructure problems to grow worse

  • FCC explores grating local police authority to shut off mobile networks

    The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is currently seekingpublic comment on whether it is appropriate for law enforcement agencies to shut down cell phone networks

  • Armed pilot program budget to be slashed in half

    The Obama administration’s budget proposes cutting more than half the funding for a program that trains airline pilots to wield guns in the event of a terrorist takeover; the program is voluntary and consists of an intensive eight-day training course and a recurring training every six months; thousands of U.S. airline pilots have been trained to carry weapons as a final line of defense against terrorism

  • Making bus transportation more secure: Learning from Israel’s experience

    A new report on ground transportation security draws on the experience of Israel with Palestinian terrorists’ attacks on buses; the report helps increase understanding of what can happen and of what can deter, prevent, and mitigate terrorist attacks against bus transit

  • Google's new privacy policy

    “On its best day, with every ounce of technology the U.S. government could muster, it could not know a fraction as much about any of us as Google does now.”
    Shelly Palmer, technology analyst

  • FBI increasingly concerned with “sovereign citizen” movement

    Over the past decade, the FBI has grown increasingly concerned with the “sovereign citizen” movement; since 2000, sovereign citizens have killed six police officers and violent battles with law enforcement agents are on the rise; the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center classified the movement as a major threat alongside Islamic extremism

  • Experts: White House consumer privacy plan seriously flawed

    Last week the White House announced its Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, which would give consumers the right to exercise control over what personal data is collected and how it is used; an expert says more than thirty years of experience with control-based laws has demonstrated that they don’t work and they don’t protect consumer privacy

  • Nebraska debates disaster housing fund

    Legislators in Nebraska are currently debating a law that would create a $2.5 million temporary housing fund for families who lose their homes in natural disasters