• Al Qaeda leaders fleeing to North Africa

    Reports from senior British military officials indicate that al Qaeda’s top leaders are moving out of Pakistan and into North Africa potentially in an attempt to avoid casualties from the U.S. drone campaign or as a broader shift in strategy

  • Emergency responders prepare for chaotic New Year’s Eve

    Emergency responders across the nation are gearing up for another busy New Year’s; each year the holiday sends overly enthusiastic revelers to the emergency room with alcohol-fueled deaths and injuries, but this New Year’s is expected to be particularly chaotic as it falls on a Saturday, giving party-goers all day to imbibe and a full day to recover

  • New DHS headquarters delayed 5 years and $500 million over

    The latest Congressionally-approved budget for DHS will delay the building of the agency’s new headquarters by at least five years and cost an additional $500 million

  • The Iran decision: the pros and cons of the military option -- I

    Short of unforeseen developments, the real decision U.S., Israeli, and European leaders will face in 2012 is not whether to use military means or other means to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons or the capability to produce them; the real decision, rather, will be between using military means to stop Iran’s confident march toward the bomb, and accepting the reality of a nuclear-armed Iran; those who support a military attack on Iran argue that the choice is thus between two very bad options: a nuclear armed Iran or a war to prevent it from going nuclear; each of these options has its costs, but the costs of allowing Iran to become a nuclear weapon state far outweigh the costs of using a military attack to prevent it from becoming one

  • FBI’s eGuardian integrated with Memex Patriarch

    Deployed over the last three years, FBI eGuardian is a nationwide Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) system focused on counterterrorism tips and leads; the agency has now integrated eGuardian with Patriarch Intelligence Management Platform from Memmex

  • Buffalo – second best prepared city in U.S. for disasters

    Buffalo, New York was recently declared the second best prepared city in the United States for a major terrorist attack or disaster in terms of public health

  • Budget cuts hamper U.S. response to biological attack

    A recently released report charges that state and federal budget cuts have weakened U.S. bioterrorism response capabilities

  • NY counties receive money to prepare for emergencies

    The magnitude of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee posed serious communications challenges to the response and recovery efforts among many New York counties; these counties are now receiving $20 million in funding to help localities better respond to emergency situations

  • Underwater drones help NYPD secure harbor

    The New York Police Department (NYPD) has a new high-tech ally in its fight to keep the city safe from terrorists; to help sweep the city’s waterways and bridges of dangerous bombs, the NYPD’s Harbor Unit recently acquired six unmanned underwater drones that help sniff out explosives

  • The Israeli military prepares for a new type of war

    The Israel Defense Force (IDF) has created a new military command – the Strategic Depth Command; this new command, and the new, commando-heavy, look of the IDF’s higher echelon, should tell us that Israel is preparing for a new type of war; adversaries of Israel who have been entertaining the thought that sheer distance from Israel would offer them some protection, may want to think again

  • Lawmakers make steep cuts to DHS research budget

    Over the weekend the Senate approved an omnibus spending bill that would result in deep cuts to DHS’ research and development arm

  • ACLU questions police tracking of cell phones

    Civil rights advocates are increasingly uneasy with law enforcement agencies increasing use of cell phone triangulation to pinpoint an individual’s location; earlier this year, thirty-four ACLU affiliates from across the country filed open records requests from local law enforcement agencies requesting information on how authorities are tracking cell phones

  • Atlanta debuts new emergency communications systems

    Last week first responders in Atlanta, Georgia gained a valuable new tool in helping to reduce 911 response times and improve communication during a disaster

  • New York moves swiftly to spend Hurricane disaster funds

    Less than a week after Hurricane Irene blasted New York with wind and rain, state emergency officials had authorized disaster relief funds and were swiftly distributing them to hard hit farmers and residents

  • Twelve Chinese hacker groups responsible for attacks on U.S.

    U.S. cybersecurity experts say as few as twelve different Chinese hacker collectives, working at the behest of the government, are responsible for the majority of cyberattacks on U.S. businesses and government agencies; the bulk of the attacks are stealthy in nature and have resulted in the loss of billions of dollars’ worth of intellectual property and state secrets from the private and public sector