Homeland Security Department

Known as the Department of Homeland Security

The department was established on November 25th, 2002, by the Homeland Security Act 2002.

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is a Cabinet department of the Federal Government of the USA with the responsibility of protecting the territory of the USA from terrorist attack and responding to natural disasters. The department was created from 22 existing federal agencies in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

With approximately 184,000 employees, DHS is the third largest cabinet department in the U.S. federal government

Department of Defense is charged with military actions abroad, the Department of Homeland Security works in the civilian sphere to protect the United States within, at, and outside its borders. Its goal is to prepare for, prevent, and respond to domestic emergencies, particularly terrorism.

National & Federal Laboratories
The significant expertise in the National and Federal Laboratory system in biological, chemical, radiological and nuclear science and technology and computer and information science, is brought bear on the problems of prevention, deterrence, detection, mitigation and attribution of the use of weapons of mass destruction. These laboratories include the following:

Department of Homeland Security Laboratories
Environmental Measurements Laboratory
Plum Island Animal Disease Center
Transportation Security Laboratory
Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration Laboratories
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Sandia National Laboratory
Department of Energy Office of Science Laboratories
Argonne National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Idaho National Laboratory

The Homeland Security Advisory System is designed to target protective measures when specific information to a specific sector or geographic region is received.

Homeland Security Threat Advisories contain actionable information about an incident involving, or a threat targeting, critical national networks or infrastructures or key assets. They could, for example, relay newly developed procedures that, when implemented, would significantly improve security or protection. They could also suggest a change in readiness posture, protective actions, or response. This category includes products formerly named alerts, advisories, and sector notifications. Advisories are targeted to Federal, state, and local governments, private sector organizations, and international partners.
Homeland Security Information Bulletins communicate information of interest to the nation’s critical infrastructures that do not meet the timeliness, specificity, or significance thresholds of warning messages. Such information may include statistical reports, periodic summaries, incident response or reporting guidelines, common vulnerabilities and patches, and configuration standards or tools. It also may include preliminary requests for information. Bulletins are targeted to Federal, state, and local governments, private sector organizations, and international partners.
A Colour - coded Threat Level System is used to communicate with public safety officials and the public at-large through a threat-based, color-coded system so that protective measures can be implemented to reduce the likelihood or impact of an attack. Raising the threat condition has economic, physical, and psychological effects on the nation; so, the Homeland Security Advisory System can place specific geographic regions or industry sectors on a higher alert status than other regions or industries, based on specific threat information.