I find it interesting to watch the mad rush to beef up security at the US border points without any real thought to requirements.
Sure, keep out the baddies.
But, how exactly? There is the constantly escalating method or there could some semblance of a plan?
From IDG Norway:
News continues to worsen for business travelers carrying sensitive information. In a troubling ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can continue its practice of warrantless searches through computer data held by U.S. citizens and foreigners alike. With no cause or suspicion, the CBP may inspect, copy or seize data devices carried by anyone returning to the U.S. I’m not convinced that passive compliance is the best response to this situation.
The CBP put its best nonlinear thinkers to work on the case, convincing the court that the doctrine of routine border inspections to “prevent terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering [the U.S.]” can rightly be served by searches for expressive thought and personal communication. In keeping with a common pattern in which privacy rights are eroded, the CBP used a child porn suspect as a test case — in which there was probable cause and reasonable suspicion based on other factors — to justify why probable cause and reasonable suspicion would be unnecessary for the entire traveling populace.
So, by running in circles waving our hands in the air are we providing better security? Or have we played into the ne’er do wells hands? Heck, even Nelson Mandela is on a terrorist watch list.
Sweet (insert deity). Thx to Charlie who emailed us in the story.
From The Washington Times:
Some federal air marshals have been denied entry to flights they are assigned to protect when their names matched those on the terrorist no-fly list, and the agency says it’s now taking steps to make sure their agents are allowed to board in the future.
The problem with federal air marshals (FAM) names matching those of suspected terrorists on the no-fly list has persisted for years, say air marshals familiar with the situation.
One air marshal said it has been “a major problem, where guys are denied boarding by the airline.”
“In some cases, planes have departed without any coverage because the airline employees were adamant they would not fly,” the air marshal said. “I’ve seen guys actually being denied boarding.”
A second air marshal says one agent “has been getting harassed for six years because his exact name is on the no-fly list.”
Sad and funny all at once.
I wonder if Christopher Soghoian had tried this one? A blogger by the name of Gerald Buckley used his iPhone to provide his boarding pass at a American Airlines gate.
From gwhiz:
I was travelling yesterday to San Antonio. An all-day, down and back.
Last week I went to Houston via Southwest Air and had Twittered I wanted to use my iPhone as my boarding pass. Their gate agent wasn’t playing along. So, had to use the paper ticket. (What they do with those is anyone’s guess).
But, yesterday, I prepared to try it again only this time with American Airlines. The morning flights to Dallas and then on to San Antonio were packed. So, I didn’t want to be the one to cause a ruckus. On the way back (San Antonio to Dallas) I asked the gate agent if he thought the PDF of my boarding pass would scan. He said, “I don’t know. Let’s try it.”
And, it worked great!
No word if he tried this with TSA.
Read on.
You know, I just couldn’t resist. Only because no one was hurt in the incident I can have some fun with it. Now, whether or not you might be aware US pilots can carry guns as part of the TSA’s Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program. I can’t recall the specifics around it but, suffice as to say they’re packing. It turns out that a pilot on a fully loaded US Airways flight from Denver to Charlotte had his gun go off.
From WCNC:
The statement said the discharge happened on Flight 1536, which left Denver at approximately 6:45 a.m. and arrived in Charlotte at approximately 11:51 a.m.
The Airbus A319 plane landed safely and none of the flight’s 124 passengers or five crew members was injured, according to the statement. It was a full flight. An airline spokeswoman said the plane has been taken out of service to make sure it is safe to return to flight.
A Transportation Safety Administration spokeswoman reached by WCNC Sunday said the pilot is part of TSA’s Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program, which trains pilots to carry guns on flights.
So was the safety on? Was there a round already chambered? I’d be interested to see if this investigation sees daylight once it is concluded.
[UPDATE]: The pilot has been suspended.
For an amusing start to the day I couldn’t help but, to share this story. A blogger heading to his flight was detained by TSA because…well, they didn’t know what it was exactly.
From MacNN:
The MacBook Air’s thin design is causing some confusion for the technically ignorant, according to one blogger who says that the ultra-portable caused him to miss his flight. When going through the TSA airport security checkpoint, blogger Michael Nygard was held up as security staff gathered around his MacBook Air, trying to make sense of the slender laptop. One of the less technically knowledgeable staff points out the lack of standard features as cause for alarm.
“I’m standing, watching my laptop on the table, listening to security clucking just behind me,” Nygard recalls of the situation. “‘There’s no drive,” one says. ‘And no ports on the back. It has a couple of lines where the drive should be,’ she continues.”
References to “unfrozen caveman lawyer” abound. Eventually a younger TSA employee brought enlightenment to the others and informed them of their mistake.
Tags: TSA, MacBook Air, Airline Security
Um, whoops? In the last 5 years 122 FAA badges have been “lost or stolen” according to this NBC 5 report. In short, if you have one of these you have a back stage pass to an airport.
From NBC5i (Dallas):
Dozens of federal inspector credentials giving access to airports have gone missing, an NBC 5 investigation revealed.
According to the investigation, 122 Federal Aviation Administration safety inspector badges have been stolen or lost in the past five years. The credentials are one of the few forms of identification that give complete and unfettered access to airport facilities, including the cockpits of planes in flight.
“The FAA badge is probably of all the badges just as dangerous if not more so than any other,” aviation expert Denny Kelly said.
Kelly, a former commercial pilot and a private investigator, said the badge can give a person free access to nearly every secure area of an airport.
“The FAA badge allows you not only on one airline, plus getting through security, it allows you to get on any airline, any airplane, anyplace,” he said.
The FAA said it is concerned but insisted the public is not in danger. The agency is taking an aggressive stance to prevent the loss of those badges in the future, the FAA said.
The agency refused NBC 5’s request for an on-camera interview. Over the phone, a spokesman could not guarantee that FAA badge holders always go through security checkpoints.
An aggressive stance eh? Hmm. Like this?
In a bid to avoid offending some by blocking “racy sites” Denver airport has been filtering website access from their free wi-fi hotspots. But, in their bid to address our collective squeamishness they are also blocking the likes of boingboing dot net and …Vanity Fair?
Um, OK.
From the Denver Post:
Airport spokesman Chuck Cannon says officials decided to block potentially racy sites when the airport made its wireless internet service free in November. Previously, there was a fee for using it.
Cannon says the airport would rather weather infrequent complaints about access than handle angry parents whose children might see pornography.
I’ll be willing to wager that if you wander around the airport you’ll be able to pick up an open AP from one of the first class lounges. At LAX one of the airlines is good enough to provide free wireless to their passengers…and anyone else in range of gate 26 in terminal two.
If anyone if traveling through Denver I’d love to know if access to Liquidmatrix is blocked as well.
Tags: Denver Airport Wi-Fi, Internet Censorship
This could make for some very interesting reading. I have a strong feeling this will be little more than a spin tool. Why?
Example one:
Great Job Kip!
As a TSA Supervisor in Seattle since September 2002. I think the public’s feedback is going to be tremendously invaluable to the job TSA does daily.
And this:
As always, I expect TSA’s detractors to take the most negative information away from this blog. Or even to question why TSA is “blogging”. But I look forward to reading it, because there is a great deal of public misconceptions about who TSA is, what TSA does, and why the public still needs TSA to fulfill its mission.
Be prepared, Mr. Hawley, for comments both praising and scathing, but which will help you and TSA reconnect with the traveling public in a fruitful relationship.
Girding the loins. Heh. I hope this ends up being a successful vehicle for an open discussion. I remain skeptical for the time being.
Tags: TSA, TSA Blog, Airline Security
TSA manages to prove on camera, CNN’s no less, that some of their airport screeners are asleep at the switch.
From CNN:
Jason — that’s the name CNN was asked to call him — slides a simulated explosive into an elastic back support. The mock bomb is as slim as a wallet; its fuse, the size of a cigarette. He wraps the support around his torso, and the bomb fits comfortably into the small of his back.
It’s hard to tell he’s concealing anything; harder still when he dons a black T-shirt and a maroon golf shirt.
Then, with CNN’s cameras in tow, Jason heads to Tampa International Airport, where he’ll try to sneak the fake explosive past security screeners.
Jason, a covert tester for the Transportation Security Administration, has been probing airport weaknesses for five years, beginning with big mock bombs before switching to ever smaller devices as the TSA adapts to evolving terrorist threats.
The upside here is that TSA is taking the problem of lax performance on the part of some airport screeners seriously. Rather than jamming their head in the sand they are actively testing to improve security. A welcome improvement.
Tags: TSA, Airport Security, Airport Screeners
A traveler by the name of Gregory Scott Hinkle, 53, was on his way through Washington National Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Sunday morning when something dawned on him. As he was heading to his gate AFTER having cleared the TSA check point he realized that he was carrying a loaded weapon. Realizing his gaffe he returned to report his oversight to the TSA.
So, what did the TSA do? They called the cops and he was charged with a misdemeanor.
Now, let us recap. He reported having the weapon, loaded at that, after he had already cleared the TSA screen in Washington DC’s dowtown(ish) airport.
A TSA spokesman said the agency reviewed airport surveillance camera videos of the incident and removed the screener from security duties while an investigation is under way.
“Appropriate actions will be taken once the investigation is complete,” spokesman Christopher White said.
Gee, really? Ya think?
