Hi! Lead author here. We'll be giving a talk on this work tomorrow at the USENIX Security conference, but I'd be happy to answer questions here before then!
Good luck catching your flight :-)
Researchers Easily Slipped Weapons Past TSA’s X-Ray Body Scanners
21–30 of 44 posts
Re: Researchers Easily Slipped Weapons Past TSA’s X-Ray Body Scanners
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hi! Lead author here. We only had a person in front of the X-ray scanner a few times, to minimize exposure. Most of the time we scanned a radiological "phantom", which is designed to look exactly like a human under the X-ray spectrum.
Are you going to test the millimeter wave style machines as well?
The linked article says that they haven't been able to acquire one for testing.
Re: Researchers Easily Slipped Weapons Past TSA’s X-Ray Body Scanners
#23It is disappointing just how compliant people are with the stupid procedures. But then you see the stories about people who are in the right, and are complying with the TSA procedures (going as far as having letters from TSA) who get terrible treatment. http://rt.com/usa/154672-tsa-breast-milk-settlement/
It sucks, but you really have very few alternatives, only 1 of which will actually get you onto the plane so you can get to where you're going and most of which will ensure you'll never get on a plane again. The procedures may be stupid, but people do weight the options and can be surprisingly rational given that set of choices. Given a choice of "get scanned and get on the plane" or "instigate an armed overthrow of…
I opt out of the nude scanners every time I fly. I've never had an exceptionally unpleasant experience with the nut-gropers, but I'm a young, white, male so your experience may vary.
I have a dream of everyone opting out, overloading the system and requiring a fundamental change. But I'm always the only person doing it.
Re: Researchers Easily Slipped Weapons Past TSA’s X-Ray Body Scanners
#24Hi! Lead author here. We'll be giving a talk on this work tomorrow at the USENIX Security conference, but I'd be happy to answer questions here before then!
What were some of the challenges of carrying out these tests? And I imagine procuring the machine may have been an issue if the manufacturers knew you were exposing their shortfalls.
Re: Researchers Easily Slipped Weapons Past TSA’s X-Ray Body Scanners
#25It is disappointing just how compliant people are with the stupid procedures. But then you see the stories about people who are in the right, and are complying with the TSA procedures (going as far as having letters from TSA) who get terrible treatment. http://rt.com/usa/154672-tsa-breast-milk-settlement/
It sucks, but you really have very few alternatives, only 1 of which will actually get you onto the plane so you can get to where you're going and most of which will ensure you'll never get on a plane again. The procedures may be stupid, but people do weight the options and can be surprisingly rational given that set of choices. Given a choice of "get scanned and get on the plane" or "instigate an armed overthrow of…
You can always opt out. You'll get a pat-down instead and they'll make you wait 5-10 minutes, but I always do that unless I'm running very late. If enough people do, they usually get fed up and open the metal detectors.
Re: Researchers Easily Slipped Weapons Past TSA’s X-Ray Body Scanners
#26I wanna know how this kind of experiment actually works. > Bill: "Hey Joe, we're gonna do an experiment, and we need you to smuggle a chainsaw through airport security." > Joe: "All right. Hold my sign, I don't wanna lose it." > TSA: "Is this a chainsaw?" > Joe: "I'm a researcher, I swear." > TSA: "Likely story. FULL CAVITY SEARCH, FELLAS." > Bill: "Hmm, that didn't work. Next up, flamethrowers. Hey Frank..."
You could read the article, it's all there.
Re: Researchers Easily Slipped Weapons Past TSA’s X-Ray Body Scanners
#27Hi! Lead author here. We'll be giving a talk on this work tomorrow at the USENIX Security conference, but I'd be happy to answer questions here before then!
What were some of the challenges of carrying out these tests? And I imagine procuring the machine may have been an issue if the manufacturers knew you were exposing their shortfalls.
You'd be surprised how difficult it was to bring it on campus and actually turn it on! Over the course of the project, we worked with our IRB, radiological safety experts, regulatory compliance, and campus public safety before we put someone in front of the device. We set the machine up in a lab with a concrete wall to backstop the radiation, and had a 2 meter safety zone around it while it was actually emitting X-rays.
As for procurement, we purchased our machine on eBay from a private seller who purchased it from a U.S. government surplus auction.
Re: Researchers Easily Slipped Weapons Past TSA’s X-Ray Body Scanners
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you going to test the millimeter wave style machines as well?
The linked article says that they haven't been able to acquire one for testing.
That's correct. We think the millimeter wave machines should be looked at in a similar adversarial study, but we don't have access to one for testing.
Re: Researchers Easily Slipped Weapons Past TSA’s X-Ray Body Scanners
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
It sucks, but you really have very few alternatives, only 1 of which will actually get you onto the plane so you can get to where you're going and most of which will ensure you'll never get on a plane again. The procedures may be stupid, but people do weight the options and can be surprisingly rational given that set of choices. Given a choice of "get scanned and get on the plane" or "instigate an armed overthrow of…
I opt out of the nude scanners every time I fly. I've never had an exceptionally unpleasant experience with the nut-gropers, but I'm a young, white, male so your experience may vary. I have a dream of everyone opting out, overloading the system and requiring a fundamental change. But I'm always the only person doing it.
At a previous job I traveled a few times a month. I opt-ed out each time or found a line with only a metal detector. After the new pat-down rules were released, I opt-ed out, got the new pat-down and realized that the pat-down was far more abusive and uncomfortable for me than the scanner. I now use the scanner.
Of course, the new pat-down rules were specifically designed to make the experience bad enough that people wouldn't opt-out anymore.
Re: Researchers Easily Slipped Weapons Past TSA’s X-Ray Body Scanners
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
It sucks, but you really have very few alternatives, only 1 of which will actually get you onto the plane so you can get to where you're going and most of which will ensure you'll never get on a plane again. The procedures may be stupid, but people do weight the options and can be surprisingly rational given that set of choices. Given a choice of "get scanned and get on the plane" or "instigate an armed overthrow of…
I opt out of the nude scanners every time I fly. I've never had an exceptionally unpleasant experience with the nut-gropers, but I'm a young, white, male so your experience may vary. I have a dream of everyone opting out, overloading the system and requiring a fundamental change. But I'm always the only person doing it.
I used to opt for the grope (also never had a particularly bad experience), but kind of threw in the towel after the airports switched from backscatter to millimeter wave.