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Smoke Screening: Journalist tests TSA

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Re: Smoke Screening: Journalist tests TSA

#31

Post by spolsky »

yread wrote: post #26

I don't understand. The agents at the gate always check the boarding pass validity (with the code scanner) and check the name on it against my ID. I haven't tried it but i can imagine that the system wouldn't allow two boarding passes with the same code. Is it that here in Europe we do things properly or did I misunderstood the faking of the boarding pass?

In the United States two people look at your boarding pass: the TSA (at the entrance to security screening), and the airline (while boarding the plane).

The TSA also checks your ID. In most airports, the TSA is NOT online and merely looks at the printed boarding pass to make sure the name matches what is on your ID, your flight is for today, etc. In most cases the airline does not bother checking ID again, assuming that the TSA checked it.

You would not get on a plane with a fake boarding pass, but you do get into the secure area.

Because IDs are not checked by the airline, forging a boarding pass would allow you to board a plane with any name you want on the ticket -- the name on the ticket doesn't have to be your "real" name (it doesn't have to match your photo ID). This means that the TSA's various "no fly" lists, which are just lists of names of people that they've compiled that are "too dangerous to fly", are easily defeated.

Re: Smoke Screening: Journalist tests TSA

#32

Post by [deleted] »

yread wrote: post #26

I don't understand. The agents at the gate always check the boarding pass validity (with the code scanner) and check the name on it against my ID. I haven't tried it but i can imagine that the system wouldn't allow two boarding passes with the same code. Is it that here in Europe we do things properly or did I misunderstood the faking of the boarding pass?

[deleted]

Re: Smoke Screening: Journalist tests TSA

#33

Post by bigtech »

nathanb wrote: post #22

I'm a little disappointed with the article when compared to my expectations given the title. Besides using a fraudulent boarding pass, the journo didn't "test" the TSA in any meaningful way. This wasn't like the experiment where a guy got a gun on a plane using his wheelchair, for example. While the article has great information and I agree with almost all of it, I would like to see people demonstrating the uselessne…

Agreed, but this is a major building-block in that it allows evildoers to make multiple trips through security to deliver small amounts of items without detection.

Re: Smoke Screening: Journalist tests TSA

#34

Post by toast76 »

lhnn wrote: post #19
pppp wrote: post #2

I'm afraid most of what the government does is theater - meant to distract us while they line their own pockets.

I'm afraid because I know that's what they're doing, and they know that's what they're doing.

..and they know you know. Yay for democracy!

Re: Smoke Screening: Journalist tests TSA

#35

Post by 0003 »

redthrowaway wrote: post #6

The submission might attract more attention if the headline made mention of the fact that Schneier is the person doing the testing.

Who here did not think of Bruce Schneier after reading in the lead paragraph: "...that’s the conclusion of Charles C. Mann, who put the T.S.A. to the test with the help of one of America’s top security experts"?

Re: Smoke Screening: Journalist tests TSA

#36

Post by lukifer »

DrJ wrote: post #3

I wish we could get rid of the TSA and spend that resources somewhere else, CIA, FBI, NSA, hell send it to DoE, NSF, maybe fund (more) research in practical(?) renewable energy. But killing the TSA is never going to happen. No career politician is going to commit political harikiri to shut it down. - I do not mind the free hand rubs at the airports though.

America's had a decade of airport frustations and no new (successful) attacks to re-inflame their fears. While it may be impossible to undo the existence of the TSA, a "common sense" reform initiative would probably be very popular, possibly even bi-partisan.

Sadly, the biggest obstacle would probably be the fear of eliminating jobs, which no politician wants to be known for, even if those jobs are mostly a waste of human labor. This is a broader problem of government bloat, and probably out of the scope of this discussion.

Re: Smoke Screening: Journalist tests TSA

#37

Post by DanBC »

nathanb wrote: post #22

I'm a little disappointed with the article when compared to my expectations given the title. Besides using a fraudulent boarding pass, the journo didn't "test" the TSA in any meaningful way. This wasn't like the experiment where a guy got a gun on a plane using his wheelchair, for example. While the article has great information and I agree with almost all of it, I would like to see people demonstrating the uselessne…

Attempting to get a weapon on board a plane carries a risk of being shot. In the head. I'm not that surprised that people don't try it.

Re: Smoke Screening: Journalist tests TSA

#38

Post by mahyarm »

DrJ wrote: post #3

I wish we could get rid of the TSA and spend that resources somewhere else, CIA, FBI, NSA, hell send it to DoE, NSF, maybe fund (more) research in practical(?) renewable energy. But killing the TSA is never going to happen. No career politician is going to commit political harikiri to shut it down. - I do not mind the free hand rubs at the airports though.

Before the TSA, we had xray luggage scanners and metal detectors world wide. Now how the majority of the public interacts with the TSA at airports, you go through a metal detector or body xray and xray luggage scanners. What else has changed?

Re: Smoke Screening: Journalist tests TSA

#39

Post by awj »

yread wrote: post #26

I don't understand. The agents at the gate always check the boarding pass validity (with the code scanner) and check the name on it against my ID. I haven't tried it but i can imagine that the system wouldn't allow two boarding passes with the same code. Is it that here in Europe we do things properly or did I misunderstood the faking of the boarding pass?

A quick how-to on bypassing the TSA no-fly list:

1. Buy a plane ticket under someone else's name. Presumably yours is blocked/flagged due to the airlines being able to check the no-fly list.

2. Use that ticket to forge a boarding pass in your name. Use this, along with your official ID, at the security checkpoint. All the TSA does is read it and validate date/time/what the know of flights off the top of their head. Nothing in their setup validates your boarding pass against airline records or the no-fly list.

3. At the gate, hand them the original boarding pass. They'll check it against computer records, but won't bother to check your ID against the pass.

4. Congratulations, you've bypassed a critical portion of American airline security.

This, honestly, is most of why the recent "advanced screening" systems piss me off. Our current security measures are woefully ineffective because of these kinds of loopholes, but instead of plugging those loopholes we simply pile on more half-assed systems.

The no-fly list could be a great tool for us, if used properly. Instead it's nearly trivial to circumvent for the bad guys and an enormous pain in the ass for any honest person who happens to wander into a name conflict.

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