Archive for Airline Security
Author: Dave Lewis
January 10, 2008 at 8:12 am · Filed under Airline Security, Physical Security
A security company named Clear has thrown down the gauntlet and I (along with many others) really hopes that someone picks it up. Why? The challenge is simple. Make security checks at airports easier. For that, you can pocket yourself a cool half million.
Here are the criteria:
* Achieves acceptance by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for deployment at Clear lanes as providing the same or better security than the current Registered Traveler checkpoint process.
* Reduces inconvenience by, for example, allowing for no divesting of shoes, outer garments, or any other item approved for carry-on aboard a US commercial flight, and thereby achieves an increase in throughput of 15% or more.
* Is compact enough to be deployed at security checkpoints in at least three Clear airports.
* Can be operated at a cost (including capital costs amortized over five years) of less than 25 cents per passenger screened when working at full capacity.
Read on and good luck.
Article Link
Tags: Airport Security, Airline Security, Half Million, Prize Money
Author: Dave Lewis
January 7, 2008 at 10:09 am · Filed under Airline Security
It is troubling times we live in when folks are forced to take measures such as these. The defense contractor BAE Systems will be testing anti-missile technology on commercial jets this spring. I might have some modicum of enjoyment at this prospect of added protection if I were ever to fly AA.
From the Washington Post:
Officials said yesterday that the anti-missile system would not be tested on flights that carry passengers. The tests, which could involve more than 1,000 flights, will determine how the technology holds up under the rigors of flight, they said.
The anti-missile equipment will be installed on Boeing 767-200s, an airline spokesman said. American flies that model mostly between New York and San Francisco and Los Angeles.
American said it opposes putting anti-missile systems on commercial planes but agreed to the tests to understand technology that might become available.
The tests “would not be tested on flights that carry passengers”. I just had a shiver run down my spine. This statement tells me that they considered testing on flights with passengers. Sweet merciful crap that would be horrible if the test failed. The fact that the carrier would oppose placing anti missile technology on planes seems odd. If the ability to protect planes is available to them why would they balk at it? If they are worried about the added weight on the planes maybe they should start cracking down on knobs that take massive bags on the plane as “carry-on”.
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Tags: Anti Missile Defense, Airline Security, Missile Defense
Author: Dave Lewis
January 7, 2008 at 7:42 am · Filed under Airline Security
Passport? Check. Ticket? Check. Laptop? Check.
Kismet…
From the Reg:
The US Federal Aviation Administration has raised fears that onboard computer networks are potentially exposed to tampering by passengers. Systems designed to give passengers in-flight internet access are connected to the plane’s control and navigation systems. The two networks are not physically separated.
In addition, the plane’s computer systems have links to an airline’s business and administrative support network on the ground.
“Because of this new passenger connectivity, the proposed data-network design and integration may result in security vulnerabilities from intentional or unintentional corruption of data and systems critical to the safety and maintenance of the airplane,” the FAA warns.
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Tags: FAA, Airplane Hacking, Wireless Security
Author: Dave Lewis
November 14, 2007 at 9:29 pm · Filed under Airline Security
You know, its stories like this that really give me a moment pause. Maybe John Madden isn’t as crazy as I once thought.
From CNN:
The investigators reported that most of the time security officers followed TSA policies and procedures, but investigators were able to take advantage of “weaknesses in TSA [Transportation Security Administration] procedures and other vulnerabilities.”
“These weaknesses were identified based on a review of public information,” the planned GAO testimony says.
Investigators concluded that if they had attempted the same test at other airports, they would have evaded detection.
But the GAO did not detail the weaknesses because they “are sensitive security information.”
The investigators obtained the bomb-making components at local stores and over the Internet for less than $150, according to testimony.
If you poke a hole in a pressurized tin can it will collapse. It was one pound of Semtex that took down Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie. To help put that into perspective a MacBook weighs 5 pounds.
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Tags: Airport Security, GAO TSA Investigation, TSA
Author: Dave Lewis
November 9, 2007 at 3:00 pm · Filed under Airline Security, Insider Threat
Turns out that the Feds raided warehouses around O’Hare airport today. the temp agency that had placed the workers had allegedly done so using fake identification.
From Aero News:
Two managers at Ideal Staffing Solutions Inc, the temporary agency that hired the workers, were also arrested in the sting operation aimed at identifying “national security vulnerabilities,” according to the Chicago Tribune. The agency allegedly hired the workers despite the fact they were in the country illegally, and provided them with deactivated badges giving them access to secure areas around O’Hare.
“Most of these workers loaded pallets, freight and meals for companies doing business at O’Hare,” including commercial airlines, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent Elissa A. Brown. “The government can’t be too vigilant when it comes to airport employees gaining access to secure areas, especially if they lie about their identities and we have no idea who they are, and what their true intentions may be.”
ICE agents cited several incidents of alleged shady practices at Ideal Staffing… including actions by manager Norinye Benitez, who allegedly pushed a box filled with 20 ID badges toward a worker, and instructed him to “pick one with a picture that most closely resembled his own likeness.” That worker, who was cooperating with federal agents, used the deactivated badge to access a United Airlines cargo facility, officials say.
It is truly frightening what some unscrupulous companies will do in search of a quick buck. At the risk of leaning on the FUD button, this could have had a much different ending.
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Tags: O’Hare Illegal Workers, O’Hare Employee Fake ID, Fake ID
Author: Dave Lewis
October 29, 2007 at 10:28 am · Filed under Airline Security
Apparently, there is no cure for stupidity. It appears that the green lasers have returned to haunt pilots.
From Aero News:
A United Airlines commuter flight got the green light minutes after its departure from Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) last Wednesday, but it wasn’t from the tower.
A green laser beam illuminated the right side of the Embraer 145’s cockpit as the plane was about 3,000 feet off the ground and four miles north of the airport, the Federal Aviation Administration reported Saturday night, according to The Manchester Union-Leader.
There were no injuries, and the United Airlines Flight 7914 continued to its destination at Washington, DC, said FAA spokesperson Holly Baker. The Transportation Security Administration contacted the Manchester police about the incident.
Police and the FBI are investigating to find the origin of the easy to purchase laser as similar incidents like this increase, as reported in ANN.
“We’re just trying to find people who may have information or may have observed anything,” said FBI spokesman Gail Marcinkiewicz. “Certainly it’s concerning enough to have law enforcement respond to it.”
It is incredible that anyone could be so foolish as to attempt something this dangerous. The article mentions that there is no indication that this was malicious. I would find it difficult to believe that this would be an accident.
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Tags: Green Laser Pointer, Green Laser, Pilot Blinded
Author: Dave Lewis
October 25, 2007 at 9:52 am · Filed under Airline Security, Physical Security
I find this an interesting article. The RCMP has seen it as necessary to come out in defense of the air marshal program. I find it a tad odd that they felt it was necessary to defend it at all. I have been on several flights in the US with air marshals present and I never once saw it as a worry. I haven’t flown domestically for some time so I can’t speak to the Canadian marshals. Mind you this defense was raised at the Air India Inquiry studying air security. I have confidence that the RCMP will deliver a safe and effective service.
From the Globe and Mail:
The aim is to avoid the kind of “shootout at the OK corral” that could endanger passengers, Supt. MacNeil told the inquiry headed by former Supreme Court justice John Major.
“We give them firearms hoping that they’ll never have to use them, but I’m confident when they do they’ll do the right thing.”
The inquiry is studying air-security initiatives as part of its review of the 1985 downing of Air India Flight 182 with the loss of 329 lives. That attack by Sikh separatists used a luggage bomb, but the focus of anti-terrorist attention has shifted since al-Qaeda used hijacked jets to mount the 9-11 attacks in the United States.
The RCMP started putting air marshals on Canadian flights to Washington, D.C., six years ago and has since expanded the program to other routes — although exactly which ones and how many are carefully guarded secrets.
It may be a carefully guarded secret but, they tend to stand out.
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Tags: Air Marshals, Air Security, Airline Security, RCMP
Author: Dave Lewis
September 21, 2007 at 11:01 am · Filed under Airline Security, Privacy
“OK sir, step away from the Hustler and put your hands on top of your head!” OK, the likelihood that you’ll hear someone being taken down like that at TSA screening station aren’t very high. But, according to an article from Wired magazine airport screeners are keeping tabs on your reading material. Just for kicks I think I will now travel with dogeared copies of “Catcher in the Rye”, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and Michael Moore’s “Stupid White Men”. Now that will keep ‘em busy for a few.
From Wired:
“There is so much sensitive information in the documents that it is clear that Homeland Security is not playing straight with the American people,” Scannell said.
The documents show a tiny slice of the massive airline-record collection stored by the government, as well as the screening records mined for the controversial Department of Homeland Security passenger-rating system that assigns terrorist scores to travelers entering and leaving the country, including U.S. citizens.
The so-called Automated Targeting System scrutinizes every airline passenger entering or leaving the country using classified rules that tell agents which passengers to give extra screening to and which to deny entry or exit from the country.
The system relies on data ranging from the government’s 700,000-name terrorism watchlist to data included in airline-travel database entries, known as Passenger Name Records, which airlines are required to submit to the government.
On a lighter note there is also the guidlelines for TSA staff (as posted by The Onion)
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Tags: TSA, Airport Screeners, Privacy
Author: Dave Lewis
September 7, 2007 at 1:40 pm · Filed under Airline Security
With all the annoyances that we all have to endure when traveling by air we missed one. Lurking undetected for so long the greatest threat to airline travel. Long legs…
Er, huh? Say what?
From Bloggingstocks:
Picture this: You arrive for your Southwest Airlines flight early. You manage to avoid packing excessive amounts of liquids in your carry-on baggage. You remember your ID, you wait until your seat is called, you stow your bags properly. You’re even prepared to turn off your electronic devices and stow your tray table and put your seat in its upright and locked position when … you’re asked to leave the plane because you’re showing a little too much leg.
For the full post read on.
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UPDATE: (11.9.07) Apparently Southwest has a serious axe to grind with attractive women. Must be part of a new terrorist plot that we are currently completely unaware of.
UPDATE 2: (16.11.07) Well it turns out that everyone’s favourite threat to airline safety will be taking it all off for Playboy. (OK, honestly, who didn’t predict that one?)
From 10News.com:
A 23-year-old college student who was told by a Southwest Airlines employee that her outfit was too revealing to fly is wearing even less on Playboy’s Web site.
Kyla Ebbert appears in a series of pictures — some in lingerie, some nude — under the heading, “Legs in the Air.”
Classy. Ah, and of course the closing quote,
“This was beautiful and classy. I don’t see why it would affect a professional position,” she said. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
That quote was in reference to her future as a lawyer.
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Since everyone is looking for it (16.11.07), I put a racy pic after the jump…
More after the jump »
Author: Dave Lewis
July 26, 2007 at 10:21 pm · Filed under Airline Security
From the Houston Chronicle:
In early November of last year, baggage screeners at one of Houston’s airports reportedly saw some items that looked ominous in a passenger’s piece of checked luggage: a plastic bag containing a 9-volt battery, wires, pipes and a brown clay-like substance.
More than six months later, the screeners’ decision to seize the suspicious objects made its way into a bulletin sent out to other government and law enforcement agencies.
Three similar incidents were cited, leading to a scary first paragraph.
“A surge in recent suspicious incidents at U.S. airports may indicate terrorists are conducting pre-attack security probes and ‘dry runs’ similar to dress rehearsals,” the Transportation Security Administration reported in a two-page bulletin dated July 20.
After the bulletin was leaked to the media Wednesday, the TSA downplayed its alarming tone, insisting the information was routine and did not really indicate a threat to airline passengers.
“There is no intelligence that indicates a specific or credible threat to the homeland,” the TSA said in a statement posted on its Web site. “During the past six months TSA has produced more than 90 unclassified bulletins of this nature on a wide variety of security-related subjects.
Ah, so it wasn’t the runs a dry run then? It was just routine.
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Tags: TSA, Dry Run, Airline Security
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