• Officials complain about northern border policy

    Five-hundred government officials, policy experts, and business leaders from the United States and Canada gather to discuss the impact of security measures along the U.S.-Canada border on commerce; their conclusion: What is good for the U.S.-Mexico border may be unsuitable for the U.S.-Canada border

  • RFID-enabled official IDs raise privacy fears

    More and more government documents which U.S. citizens are now required to present at border crossings and entry points — e-passports, electronic PASS cards, enhanced driver’s licenses — are equipped with RFID tags so they can easily be scanned by readers; trouble is, they can be scanned through a pocket, backpack, or purse from thirty feet, opening the door for a digital identity pickpocketing

  • Mexican drug violence threat major concern to U.S.

    DHS assistant secretary Alan Bersin: “We take the threat of spillover violence very seriously… We’re prepared to deal with it in the event it occurs. There are contingency plans to respond”

  • First six months of 2009 see double the number of pirates' attacks

    The total number of pirates’ attacks rose to 240 in the first six months of 2009 from 114 incidents in the same period a year ago

  • DHS IG: SBI lacks effective oversight

    DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner says the CBP is using contractors to do what should be inherently governmental work; “With continued heavy reliance on contractor support services, CBP risks losing control of program decisions while remaining accountable for mission results”

  • Technological integration offer best means to protect Canada-U.S. border

    The integration of several technologies — remote sensing, motion activated imaging sensors, below ground sensors, and thermal cameras — when coupled with policy coordination, offer the best means to enhance the security of U.S.-Canada border

  • Local flexibility required to ease border crossing, facilitate commerce

    Canada and the United States are the world’s two biggest trading partners — with $596 billion in trade in 2008; new report says that tight U.S.-Canada border rules are bad for business

  • IBM signs U.K. biometric passport deal

    IBM signs a £265 million contract with the U.K. Border Agency’s (UKBA) to provide UKBA with fingerprinting capabilities and run the database that will store the facial images and fingerprints needed to keep the passport in line with international standards

  • Senate increases DHS 2010 budget by $300 million

    Senate DHS budget version highlights difference with House over immigration; among other things, the Senate bill would require the Obama administration to complete 700 miles of reinforced fencing along the Mexican border by the end of 2010 — disallowing using only virtual fencing and vehicle barriers for border protection

  • Autonomous submarine to patrol shallow waters

    BAE show latest in its Talisman line — an autonomous underwater vehicle specializing in securing shallow waters near or inside ports, coastal waters, and rivers

  • The Obama administration would require federal contractors to use E-Verify

    The Obama administration said it would support a George Bush administration regulation that would only award federal contracts to employers who use E-Verify to check employee work authorization

  • DHS uses B-52 to monitor sea lanes

    DHS is using a B-52 to check out suspicious merchant ships approaching North America, often when the ships are still about 2,000 kilometers from the coast

  • CBP tests new marine interceptor

    CBP Air and Marine currently operates a fleet of specialized, high-speed interceptor vessels that are approaching the end of their service life; the agency is testing a new interceptor in order to determine CBP’s next-generation fleet

  • Napolitano tours Project Seahawk

    Project SeaHawk was established by Congress in 2003 as a collaborative initiative designed to bring multiple agencies together to protect Port Charleston in South Carolina — and show-case the ability of different agencies to share information and coordinate maritime response efforts

  • Northrop wins U.S. Navy ray gun contract

    Northrop Grumman is the maker of the first electric solid-state battle-strength ray gun module; the company is awarded $98 million to provide a demonstrator Maritime Laser system capable of being fitted to U.S. warships of frigate size and up