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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) supports public safety bomb technicians through its Response and Defeat Operations Support (REDOPS) program, by providing a collaborative structure for addressing improvised explosive device (IED) capability gaps.
Through the REDOPS program’s Micro R&D focus area, DHS S&T has worked with bomb squad technicians to evaluate an innovative new technology – a reliable voltage measuring tool that enables a bomb technician to determine the health of their X-ray generator batteries.
The batteries that power bomb technicians’ X-ray generators often lack battery power indicators to let the users know when charging is required. To avoid having an X-ray generator run out of power during a response, bomb technicians often measure the voltage with a multi-meter. This method is time consuming and introduces a complex process that requires ancillary expertise to successfully complete.
This invention will assist bomb technicians’ safety and operational capabilities by giving them more confidence in their equipment before going down range of an IED and will help countless colleagues avoid equipment failures. Now that it has been thoroughly assessed by other bomb squad technicians and evaluated by S&T, detailed instructions for how to build and use the voltage measuring tool are being securely shared with bomb squads across the country.
Since it was stood up in 2016, the Micro R&D portfolio has worked with bomb squads across the country to identify useful DIY tools created by their team members to meet specific needs. So far, more than 200 bomb squads have built Micro R&D tools to fulfill all sorts of mission requirements. All products developed under DHS S&T’s REDOPS Micro R&D portfolio are assessed for safety and effectiveness prior to being shared with the broader community via the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)’s secure online Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal.
In addition to the Micro R&D focus area, the REDOPS program includes two other focus areas: a Bomb Squad Test Bed and Traditional Research and Development (R&D). The REDOPS program fosters collaboration among the country’s leading experts, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Defense, the National Bomb Squad Commanders Advisory Board and boots-on-the-ground bomb technicians at every level of government.
You can learn more about the REDOPS program by visiting DHS S&T’s REDOPS webpage and watching the REDOPS Revisited in 100 Seconds video.
(Source: DHS S&T)
On April 4, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced it has designated this April as the first ever Emergency Communications Month.
CISA recognizes that emergency communications have evolved to be so much more than just being able to dial 9-1-1. Emergency communications are a complex ecosystem that allows people to share critical information in real time during an emergency. Today, emergency communicators include 9-1-1 telecommunicators, first responders, and even cyber professionals.
Throughout the month, CISA will highlight the growing community of emergency communicators and how they serve the American public, the role of cybersecurity in emergency communications, and the role CISA’s partnerships and stakeholders play in helping the agency achieve its goals. Some upcoming highlights for the month include:
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National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week (April 10-16). During this week, CISA will honor telecommunications personnel for their commitment, service, and sacrifice.
- CISA’s partnerships with members of the emergency response community through programs such as SAFECOM, which was formed in 2001 after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. SAFECOM collaborates with emergency responders and elected officials across all levels of government to improve emergency response providers’ inter-jurisdictional and interdisciplinary emergency communications interoperability.
- Cybersecurity resources for emergency communications. As communications technology evolves and as 911 systems move from stand-alone 911 emergency communication centers (ECCs) to an interconnected network, cybersecurity is often cited as one of the major vulnerabilities. CISA has developed many resources for local jurisdictions to assess and mitigate cyber risks with their emergency communications systems.
To learn more about Emergency Communications Month and how to amplify CISA’s many resources, visit cisa.gov/emergency-communications-month. For additional Emergency Communications Resources from CISA, please visit cisa.gov/emergency-communications and cisa.gov/safecom.
(Source: CISA)
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is offering a cybersecurity awareness webinar, Preventing DNS Infrastructure Tampering (IR 106), on Thursday, April 28, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST. This event is intended for a general audience including managers and business leaders but also includes topics and perspectives that may be useful to technical specialists.
The Domain Name System, commonly known as DNS, is often referred to as the “phone book” of the Internet. Every time we access the Internet to visit our favorite websites, shop and pay bills online, or access online portals for healthcare or banking, we depend on DNS infrastructure to securely route us to our intended destinations. While this shared infrastructure is incredibly powerful and useful, it also presents a rich attack surface for threat actors: allowing them to shut down websites and online services, replace legitimate website content with threats and extortion attempts, or even route traffic to a carbon copy of a legitimate website to steal any information entered by users trying to conduct business as usual.
Participants will learn what they need to know to protect themselves and their organization from DNS infrastructure tampering, including common vulnerabilities, how to identify a potential attack, and guidance and best practices to reduce the likelihood and impact of a successful DNS attack.
This is an Awareness Webinar Event within CISA’s Incident Response Training curriculum, which provides no-cost training to federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, as well as to educational and critical infrastructure partners.
While other training events in this curriculum provide more technical and hands-on training for cybersecurity professionals, Awareness Webinar Events provide cybersecurity topic overviews for a general audience, including managers and business leaders, providing core guidance and best practices to prevent incidents and prepare an effective response if an incident occurs.
To register for this webinar, visit the registration page. You can view and register for upcoming events in this series in CISA’s Connect Event Catalog.
These webinars are available to the public at the Federal Virtual Training Environment (FedVTE). Recorded webinars from 2021 are available on CISA’s YouTube Channel. To ask a question or provide other feedback on Incident Response training, contact CyberInsights@cisa.dhs.gov
(Source: CISA)
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