Science & Tech

Border Patrol Seeks Automated Sensors to Cover Watery Blindspots

Homeland Security is looking for tech that can help border agents spot illegal watercraft — and decide what to do about them.

Policy

DHS to Waive Contracting Rules to Build Border Wall Faster

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf is using a 2005 law to override certain requirements.

Policy

Trump Targets Major Weapons Projects To Fund Wall

The funds will be drawn mainly from procurement for major programs like the F-35 fighter jet. $1.3 billion will come from the National Guard alone.

Ideas

Trump's Former Chief of Staff, John Kelly, Finally Lets Loose

The retired Marine general explained, in the clearest terms yet, his misgivings about Trump’s behavior regarding North Korea, immigration, and Ukraine.

Policy

The Billion-Dollar Disinformation Campaign to Reelect the President

How new technologies and techniques pioneered by dictators will shape America's 2020 election.

Ideas

Don’t Blame Foreign Hackers for the Chaos in Iowa

Blame an ill-considered push for untested technology. Securing our elections means getting the simple things right.

Threats

Spotted: Ransomware That Targets Industrial Controls

EKANS is the first known malware made to freeze the systems that run electrical utilities and the like, says cyber firm Dragos, adding that there's no apparent link to Iran.

Science & Tech

Inside America's First All-Biometric Airline Terminal

At Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta, facial-recognition cameras and other ID systems plug into a data backbone installed by Customs and Border Patrol.

Threats

DHS Starts Collecting DNA From Some Detainees at US Border

Agencies will send samples to the FBI’s databases for indefinite storage.

Ideas

Most-Read of 2020 (So Far)

We're three months into the next year already, if you go by the fiscal calendar. Here's the most-clicked posts on our site since Oct. 1.

Science & Tech

Federal Bill Would Constrain Some Police Use of Facial-Recognition Tools

A 72-hour limit on tracking individuals would become the first, and somewhat arbitrary, federal line in the sand.

Science & Tech

CBP Reverses Course on Mandatory Facial Scans for US Citizens

After criticism from Congress and privacy advocates, the border security agency says it will pull back a proposed rule change.

Science & Tech

CBP Aims to Sweep US Citizens into Facial-Recognition Program

A proposed rule change would no longer allow citizens and green card holders to opt out of Customs and Border Protection’s biometrics program.

Science & Tech

DHS Wants Every Agency to Have a Vulnerability Disclosure Program

A draft directive would require civilian agencies to find and fix network vulnerabilities spotted by public security researchers.

Science & Tech

At DHS, an Exodus of Tech and Cyber Leaders

The rotating cast of officials in top tech and cyber jobs could hinder the department’s ability to develop and execute a consistent digital strategy.

Science & Tech

Too Many CISOs Are Spoiling Feds' Cyber Response

Adversaries are starting to exploit the paralysis caused when "You have all these people who have slightly conflicting guidance and opinions."

Policy

Apprehensions of Undocumented Immigrants on US-Mexico Border Continue to Fall

The figure is the lowest since July 2018 and marks the fifth consecutive month that the number has dropped.

Ideas

Do Americans Still Want The US to Be the World’s Security Leader?

The post-Trump awakening of political activism is inspiring, but seems to end at the border. We’re teaming up with CNAS to find out why.

Ideas

Protecting US Bases Increasingly Requires Hardening Civilian Infrastructure

Congress needs to fund its Defense Community Infrastructure Program, and the military needs to think beyond its gates.

Threats

Border Agents Can Now Get Classified Intelligence Information. Experts Call That Dangerous.

Classified information will flow from U.S. intelligence agencies to the National Vetting Center to border agents. Migrants and others denied entry will be unable to see the evidence against them.