Idaho nurse sues U.S. government, arguing that the National Security Agency’s sweep of phone records violates Fourth Amendment rights.

By Gene Johnson
Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — A federal appeals court heard arguments in an Idaho woman’s challenge to the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of phone records — the third time in recent months that appeals courts around the country have considered the controversial counterterrorism program. Continue reading →

Current financial sanctions may be just beginning of troubles for U.S. Energy Department in face of more than 30 state-permit violations.

By Susan Montoya Bryan

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico [Dec. 5, 2014] levied more than $54 million in penalties against the U.S. Department of Energy for numerous violations that resulted in the indefinite closure of the only U.S. underground nuclear waste repository. Continue reading →

Students use biometric and facial recognition software in consumer application aimed at mobile phone security.

By Samuel Speciale
Charleston Daily Mail

CHARLESTON, W. Va. (AP) — It was a typical Friday for West Virginia University engineering students Alex Dunn, Steven Amerman and Walter Ferrell. Continue reading →

Homeland Security Solutions Director Karl Perman describes security experts’ response to the issue of copper pilfering and how we can reduce the vulnerability of infrastructure.

By Mary T. Stroka

As the trend of copper pilfering continues to occur due to its high value in the market — around $3 per pound at the time of this writing — security measures taken to protect the valuable equipment have increased. Continue reading →

How do we keep unprecedented volumes of highly sensitive data secure?

By Susan DeGrane

By extending healthcare insurance to people not previously able to afford it, the Affordable Care Act inundated insurers and healthcare providers with unprecedented quantities of new personal data and health information. The act also mandated “meaningful use” of electronic medical records by public and private healthcare providers by 2014. This opened the floodgates for additional electronic transmission of personal data and corresponding threats to privacy and security protections already guaranteed by HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Continue reading →

Healthcare and Public Health Sector Chief Dr. Terry Donat examines what we’ve learned from the Ebola experience and how we can better secure our population against the threat of future — and inevitable — epidemics.

By Karl J. Paloucek

It’s been years since public health officials first warned that a massive epidemic in America was all but inevitable. It hasn’t been a question of “if,” but of “when.” And somehow, the general response to Ebola’s arrival was predictable: Alarm. Fear. Uncertainty. A lack of public understanding. Unsure government reaction. The international Ebola crisis isn’t over by any means, but even with the relatively low initial casualty rate inside our borders, is there an acute need for those on the frontlines of health and public safety to re-evaluate its methods and revise its procedures? Continue reading →