Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and 2021 Wash100 Award winner, plans to raise minimum spending for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants focused on cybersecurity in a push to drive cyber awareness. DHS said Monday that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) will oversee the implementation of potential cyber-focused grant programs as part of Mayorkas’ initiative.
Read More »Secret Service Conducts Ransomware Simulation Event
The U.S. Secret Service held a virtual training activity that sought to help state and local government officials prepare against cyberattacks. USSS said Tuesday it simulated a cyber incident to help the participants understand how to handle ransomware attacks.
Read More »DHS S&T Unveils Explosive Trace Detector Tech
The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) science and technology (DHS S&T) directorate has handed over to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) a technology built to trace and detect explosives. The Next-Generation Mass Spectrometry Explosive Trace Detector can adapt to austere environments and houses a configurable threat library meant to speed up threat identification capabilities.
Read More »President Trump Picks CBP Adviser Jason Abend for DoD IG Post
Jason Abend, senior policy adviser at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, will be nominated by President Trump as inspector general at the Department of Defense, the White House announced Friday.
Read More »James Murray Appointed Secret Service Director
James Murray, assistant director of the office of protective operations at the U.S. Secret Service, was named director of the federal law enforcement agency. The move will take effect in May. He will succeed Randolph “Tex” Alles, a retired Marine Corps major general who took the helm of the agency in April 2017, the Secret Service said in a statement released Monday.
Read More »Test Begins Around White House to See How Facial Recognition Backs Secret Service
The U.S. Secret Service has launched a facial recognition pilot at the White House to see how the technology could help confirm the identity of people in and around the building.
Read More »Kevin Roney: SoSOA Program Needs to Focus on User-Centered Feature
Kevin Roney, principal data scientist at the Department of Homeland Security’s science and technology directorate, has said there is a need for the department’s analytics enhancing system to make its user-centered feature as its focal point. DHS said Thursday Roney expects the System of Systems Operational Analytics program to sustain …
Read More »Report: DHS Names Stephen Rice Acting CIO
Stephen Rice, deputy chief information officer at the Department of Homeland Security, will assume the role of acting DHS CIO on Sept. 1, FCW reported Monday. He will succeed Richard Staropoli, who will leave DHS after three months in the CIO position. Rice previously served as assistant administrator for the Transportation …
Read More »DHS CIO Richard Staropoli Steps Down
Richard Staropoli, chief information officer at the Department of Homeland Security, has resigned from his post, Federal News Radio reported Thursday. His resignation came three months after he was appointed by President Donald Trump to replace Luke McCormack in the CIO role. Stephen Rice, principal deputy CIO at DHS, told information …
Read More »House Approves DHS Reauthorization Bill
The House of Representatives voted 386-41 Thursday to pass a bill that would re-authorize the Department of Homeland Security and direct changes to the department’s national security initiatives, The Hill reported Thursday. If approved by Senate, the bill would mark the first re-authorization of DHS after it was created 15 years ago …
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