Homeland Security

CISA Explains Why Enterprise Approach To Security is Gamechanging

The agency’s assistant director for cybersecurity highlighted multiple aims and accomplishments.

  • By Brandi Vincent

OIG: Beware of Fraud Ring Scamming Equipment by Posing as Federal Buyers

Their preferred way to swindle laptops, hard drives and smartphones is by fax.

  • By Brandi Vincent

DHS is Looking to Upgrade Its FISMA Compliance Tools

The new and improved information assurance system would help officials better understand and manage the department’s sprawling IT infrastructure.

  • By Jack Corrigan

IRS Urges Tax Pros to Take Cyber Seriously

The agency released a list of basic cybersecurity procedures the entire tax industry should use to stop digital identity theft.

  • By Jack Corrigan

Experts Tell Congress Facial Recognition’s Bias Problem May Be Here to Stay

Despite significant improvements in the tech’s overall performance, he said, “it’s unlikely” researchers will ever make systems equally accurate across racial and other demographic lines.

  • By Jack Corrigan

CBP Is Looking for a Vendor to Manage Its Multi-Cloud Environment

The winning company will have to stitch together multiple cloud services and architectures and enable the agency to add new ones as needed.

  • By Aaron Boyd

ICE and the Ever-Widening Surveillance Dragnet

ICE agents have used facial-recognition technology on state driver’s-license photos, turning a public database into a de facto criminal database.

  • By Sidney Fussell, The Atlantic

Immigration Officials Use Secretive Gang Databases to Deny Migrant Asylum Claims

Legal experts and human rights advocates say they were not told about the databases and question their reliability.

  • By Melissa del Bosque, ProPublica

Lawmaker Calls for Outside Investigation of Secret Border Patrol Facebook Group

The Homeland Security Department has condemned derogatory comments posted within the group and promised a review of its own.

  • By Eric Katz

CBP Approving ‘Potentially High-Risk’ People for Trusted Traveler Program 

The Homeland Security Department Inspector General found officers aren’t properly vetting applicants for the Global Entry program or checking their status at ports of entry.

  • By Jack Corrigan

Agencies Are Leaving Sensitive Data Vulnerable to Hackers, Congress Says

Amid growing threats from China, Iran and Russia, most agencies are struggling to put in place even the most basic cybersecurity measures, according to congressional researchers.

  • By Jack Corrigan

Survey: Many Americans Support Facial Recognition in Airports

Though some think it’s invasive, a new survey suggests attitudes about the emerging tech might be improving.

  • By Brandi Vincent

DHS Small Business Innovation Research Awards 1,000th Contract

The Homeland Security Department program celebrated a small business contracting milestone this week.

  • By Frank Konkel

Here's How a Supply Chain Task Force Recommends Avoiding Counterfeit Tech

Federal buyers should help secure supply chains by buying from original manufacturers and authorized resellers.

  • By Brandi Vincent

Innovation Will Sharpen America’s Tech Edge, Federal Officials Say

Federal and industry executives weighed in on the greatest threats impacting America’s critical infrastructure.

  • By Brandi Vincent

Border Patrol Wants Robots that Can Go Underground and Report Back

Homeland Security is looking for innovative robots that can navigate underground tunnels and communicate with headquarters.

  • By Aaron Boyd

DHS to Move Biometric Data on Hundreds of Millions of People to Amazon Cloud

The department seeks a new platform to identify people using fingerprints, irises and faces, and eventually DNA, palm prints, scars and tattoos.

  • By Jack Corrigan

USCIS Wants An Agile, Automated Biometric App Ecosystem

The immigration agency is looking for a vendor to set up a secure development environment that will outlive the contract.

  • By Aaron Boyd

DHS Cyber Incident Response Team Gets House Approval

Lawmakers passed legislation that would stand up a permanent team of cyber specialists to help agency and industry recover from digital attacks.

  • By Jack Corrigan

CBP Says Thousands of Traveler Photos Stolen in ‘Malicious Cyber-Attack’

The breach happened at one of the agency’s subcontractors and didn’t involve any data collected under its facial recognition program, officials said.

  • By Jack Corrigan

NSA Issues Warning to Patch Legacy Windows Systems Over ‘Wormable’ Threat

The National Security Agency is warning Microsoft Windows administrators to patch and update systems due to a new vulnerability called “BlueKeep.”

  • By Frank Konkel