The U.S Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with support from George Mason University and the Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development Institute (HSSEDI), recently concluded a two-week Use of Force Simulation Experiment (SIMEX) to examine law enforcement use of force and inform best practices for 21st century policing.
After a lifetime in the protection business, the one constant in Washington that I’ve learned is that it takes tragedy to force change. The January 6 Capitol riot is not an enigma. This was a clear protective intelligence failure. The key finding of Retired Army LTG. Russel Honore’s report reviewing how the pillar of U.S. democracy could have been so easily infiltrated is that the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) must better integrate intelligence into its operations through improved awareness, assessment, sharing, and response capabilities. We can look at effective protective intelligence as a three-part story: Act I is identifying threats; Act II is building those threats into a cohesive profile; Act III is sharing and acting on that information in order to make nothing happen. Applying this framework to January 6 helps us understand how we can and must do better and provides important takeaways for corporations.
After seven years of malicious activity, law enforcement have managed to seize the infrastructure of the notorious malware variant “Emotet,” and have scheduled a mass uninstallation event to occur on April 25. In their latest research, Digital Shadows discusses the significance of the shutdown, how the process unfolded, and what it means for the cybercriminal landscape.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), NASCAR, the Talladega Superspeedway, state and local first responders, law enforcement officials, and local businesses recently held a tabletop exercise to test response plans around hypothetical public safety incidents on the day of the GEICO 500.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is making $20 million available through the Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) Grant Program to help communities across the country develop innovative capabilities to combat terrorism and targeted violence.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) law enforcement and police departments from Connecticut, and New York recently partnered with the Connecticut State Police (CSP) to assess their ability to hunt and stop unauthorized drones from interfering with commercial aviation.
The final rules requiring remote identification of drones and allowing some flights over people, over moving vehicles and at night under certain conditions will go into effect on April 21, 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced.
2021 has proven to be busy for law enforcement operations already, taking down numerous high-profile dark web marketplaces and forums including Dark Market (500k users, 2.4k sellers, transactions ~ €140 million), Emotet, Netwalker, and Egregor, with some even producing arrests of site operators. Digital Shadows’ new report, “Cybercriminal law enforcement crackdowns in 2021,” highlights the impact that these takedowns have had to date.
