Security Tips for Traveling with Tech Gear

securitas writes "Many Slashdotters will be traveling during the next week and PC World has an article about how to travel with tech gear with a minimum of security hassles. The Transport Security Administration maintains an allowable and banned items list (PDF) that you might want to check. Make sure that you have fully charged batteries for any tech gifts you received. I've had big hassles with all the tech gear that I routinely carry, especially when combining business trips with a vacation. One security screener even asked me to log in, decrypt and look at files on my notebook's desktop, which was unnecessarily invasive (not to mention against my then-employer's security policy). He settled for viewing the secure login screen 'to make sure it worked.' Any other horror stories out there?"

Comments

Booting a laptop

[stephens_domain]

Showing that it works does not really mean much. How much stuff could you pack into a laptop and still have it boot once? Take out the CD/DVD bay, or take out the hard drive and boot from a live CD, hollow out the PC card slot. Make a false battery and tell the agent your battery is dead so you have to use AC, etc.

Re:Booting a laptop

[KrispyKringle]

There are a couple of ways of looking at this. The first is that they use chemical sniffers (as a previous poster mentioned) to try to detect explosives, regardless of opening your device. This should be, in theory, far more accurate anyway.

But I think the reality, disturbing as it may be, is that there are so many loopholes that they can do little more than a token effort. Remember that student who hid boxcutters on airplanes to show how insecure they still are? For that matter, if blades are a threat (and in reality, using a plane as a weapon is a far greater threat than simply blowing up the plane itself), one could easily a) get one of those nifty carbon fiber commando-style blades that don't set off metal detectors, b) hide a blade in some metal case (like a laptop chassis), c) hide a thin blade inside something metallic like a pen, d) watch James Bond movies for more inspiration.

The point of the matter, in my opinion, is that it doesn't really matter if someone does damage to a plane or its occupants--I ride Amtrak regularly and there's no security at all--but rather the risk of someone taking over a plane. 250 casualties are certainly bad (but there are plenty of other public situations--Amtrak, for instance--in which we all face the same risk), but the real risk, as I said, is that of someone taking over a plane. And we could prevent that with a lot less effort and a lot less difficulty if we simply beefed up the cockpit doors.

Re:Booting a laptop

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't need a carbon fiber blade or something like that which would REALLY attract attention to you if it was found during a random search. Simply sharpen the edge of a credit card, and it'll be quite workable as a deadly weapon to slash a throat.

I know they have to try, but everyone with a clue knows that there's no way to prevent weapons from coming on board, what they really target is bombs and things that can be made into bombs. Prohibitions against box cutters and the like are just to make the sheep feel more secure.

Inconsistent rules

[arth1]

I just find it strange that we're not allowed to bring a pair of pliers, but can bring a spear-like umbrella, and "safety" razor blades (which take around 2 seconds to "unsafe").

It's even stranger that we are allowed to bring explosives like LiIon batteries... Bypass the fuse, short it, and you have a nice little bomb (as the owners of many a Nokia phone can attest to).

--
*Art

Re:Inconsistent rules

[selmer]

The one that still annoys me most is being strip-searched for the silliest items imaginable (name your favourites here), while at the same time you are allowed to bring a big bottle of tax-free alcohol. Ever considered smashing it? Way more threatening than the average pair of nailclippers.

Don't take your laptop?

[Anonymous Coward]

Most important, leave the laptop at home unless somebody's paying you to take it along--borrow friends' computers or stop in any cybercafe if you feel compelled to check your e-mail.

Oh yeah, that's exactly why I bought a laptop: so that I can pay a cybercafe to use a computer on the road.

Re:What the?

[October_30th]

If a screener *ever* asked to see the contents of my laptop they'd get the verbal equivalent of a polite middle finger.

And after that? The best case: you'd never get your boarding pass. The worst case: you'd never get your boarding pass and you'd get to spend the rest of the day getting stripsearched and interviewed by the authorities.

Re:Nope. DMCA..

[CrazyTalk]

Sure, you don't have to do what he says. And he doesn't have to let you on the plane.

I know I feel safer

[grrr223]

because they took my mom's sewing scissors away from her, they have blades that are about 1/2 an inch long and are used to cut thread. However, she is allowed to carry knitting needles! Why don't they just let people bring knives on with them? I just don't understand.

Re:We are Borg

[russellh]

We carry around all this crap (yes, me included) and require it for our jobs and personal lives. We can't live without it. Right? Laptop, cell phone, Wi-Fi gear, PDA, and related equipment. Are we not borg already?

We spend enough time cursing our gadgets for me to conclude no, and it seems unlikely that integration paradise is right around the corner. But then, maybe ST has never explored the Borg well enough to find the sucky, irritating and mundane side of them. We need Quentin Tarantino for that.

Gotta agree with Dave Berry here...

[gaijin99]

I've never understood the odd fixation the airport "security" corporations have with techie toys. Yes, I suppose you could hide a knife, or a small gun, or a small explosive charge, inside a laptop. However how does turning the bleeding thing on (which, as Mr. Berry points out, seems to be the whole point of many airport security types existance) proove that it doesn't contain hidden weapons? A smaller battery pack, designed for only a few minutes of life would provide ample space for concealing just about anything. Likewise replacing the CD or floppy bay with a false cover would provide a nice little hiding place for unpleasant things. Both would still leave the computer functional (at least long enough to get past Mr. Minimum Wage and bored).

Airport security was a joke before Sep 11, and remains a joke today. At my local airport we have the same minimum wage, minimum training, minimum testing, "security" guards that we had prior to 9/11. The only difference is that now they want to make you think you're more secure so they add all sorts of obvious and invasive procedures. Show a photo ID, sure that'll stop terrorists, I'm sure they've never heard of fake IDs...

Big surprise here: private, for profit, "security" corprations have the same priority that all private for profit corporations have. They want to make the most money by spending the least money as goal number 1. Actually providing security is, by definition, goal number 2 at the best. This isn't to say that private, for profit, corporations are bad. Its just a recognition of reality, the way corporate law works their prime goal must be making money, everything else is secondary. Real security might involve several things, but at the minimum it must involve removing the profit motive from security. Why? Because every dollar that goes into profit isn't going into *security*. I'd be happy if they started using real police officers as airport security.

So, by all means, let's get busy not doing anything real to improve airport security, instead let's harrass the geek crowd. Not that I'm bitter or anything...

Re:I get these questions every year!

[kfg]

What, you think they should call the plumber or something?

I'm the general technology and science guy in my family. My formal education is in physics, so I get all the questions about black holes and stuff. I'm the computer guy, so I get to maintain everyone's computers and answer all related questions. I've worked as an automotive engineer, mananged a dealership and owned an R/C racetrack, so I get all the car questions.

Guess what, I'm not surprised by any of this in the least. I would hardly expect them to ask, say, my 16 year old neice whose knowledge is largely limited to nail polish and Justin Timberlake.

If you're really that uptight about being valuable to your own family they just might think all that much about you either.

Solve the issue by removing yourself from the situation.

KFG

Re:What the?

[Anonymous Coward]

You do realize that after "reminding them of your rights" that they can hold you incommunicado for days, tell the press you're a suspected terrorist, and the sheeple will believe them and not you, right?

~~~

They have to show, they do something

[mi]

... even when it is pointless. It would be tempting to blame the President and administration, which many love to hate, but they simply reflect the opinions of the electorate: "Do something!"

So they do. Confiscating box-cutters is pointless now -- they only worked once, because for years the "paradigm" for dealing with hijacking was: "obey all orders of the hijackers until landing". Now that we know, there may be no landing, the paradigm is different and the boxcutters (and scissors, and small knives) are useless to terrorists, as they will not help against the dozens of passengers with NOTHING TO LOSE.

The scumbags knew that -- all four attacks were timed to coincide, because such trick will only work once. Still, there are indications, the last attack failed, because the passengers have learned what they are facing.

But allowing to bring boxcutters on-board is politicly impossible with today's electorate and hence -- praise democracy -- the elected.

Re:Lets face it..

[LucidityZero]

You obviously have no understanding of security at all.

Of course there are still ways around the current security measures. And yes, you are right, there always will be. The problem with your logic is this:

Just cause you can come up with a way to circumvent current measures, does that mean you should drop those current measures? You might think it's ridiculous to ban all knives, but as soon as we drop that policy according to your logic, suddenly we provide a very simple and very accesible way for anyone to bring a weapon on board. ANYONE can get a hold of a knife.

It's not about stopping everything, cause that won't happen. It's about stopping as many things as you possibly can. I'd rather make the hijaker go through the effort of getting a soda can so he can hope against all chances he rips it just right so that it's actually sharp enough to do anything than let people get on board with knives.

I'm glad you're not protecting my network, you'd bring the firewall down cause "people could in theory get around it anyways..."

Re:Industrial Equipment is Worse

[Johnny Mnemonic]

Maybe if your company hired people with an IQ of over 50, things would have gone a lot smoother for the folks in line behind of you.

I'm sorry that this is going to sound like flamebait, but you knowingly bring complicated electronics that don't work in a normal environment, and expect them to look at the product manuals to verify that they're not a bomb? What exactly does a printed manual verify, besides the fact that you have access to a laser printer?

Next time, try carrying on nothing besides a clue. Don't bring anything that your mother wouldn't understand after 30 seconds. They have to default on the side of caution, as they should.

Re:What the?

[OS24Ever]

You know, all the flights i've been on and all the crews I've spoken with to make polite 'god this is a long flight' conversation, a lot of them do not really like some of the things the TSA does either.

If I told a captain of the flight I was getting on that A) I've flown his airline 72 times this year so far and B) I don't want them to have access to company confidential information i'm betting the HUMAN that is the pilot would look at the crack smoking TSA guard and think he was insane as well.

I'm getting concerned at the number of people that are thinking like sheep. We aren't sheep, we are people that started a government where we had the right to do anything (including be stupid for that matter)

If a TSA wants me to prove my laptop boots, fine, I'll wake it up. If a TSA agent wants me to log in and show him something I'm going to question him. My whole point is that the person who started this topic said he decrypted company confidential files. *that* my friend is a huge no no and in my company the bare admission of doing something like that is instant termination and grounds for getting sued for violating trade secrets.

A real How-To

[costas]

I travelled 150k+ miles a year across the globe until recently. Here's a quick how-to on travelling with gadgets (laptop, multiple adapters/converters, a PDA and at least one cellphone):

Stuff almost everything in a small carry-on bag. A professional-looking backpack is the best (the backpack part for ergonomic, not security reasons).

Wear as little metal as possible. That includes shoes with metal inserts in the soles (a lot of plain-looking walking or dress shoes have those). Get a coin purse and stuff your change in the purse and that in your carry-on.

When going thru security, do not rush, follow instructions even inane ones ("yes, I will turn on that Palm V for you sir"). Do not tell them that you got a flight to catch or attract their attention in any other way. Since you're not carrying anything dangerous (right?) it will be far faster for you to go with the flaw and accept the default process rather than try to explain your reasons for short-circuiting it.

It's random - travel 'security' roulette

[Anonymous Coward]

I have travelled with a large lock blade knife several times since 9/11, and it was found by the x-ray people once. I checked it after that.

I used to keep a flip-blade screwdriver in my laptop bag, and on the x-ray it looks exactly like a zip gun. No one ever looked at that, but they did spend 10 minutes and two supervisors deciding whether or not to allow me to take my retractable phone cord on the plane. I guess it looks like a garrote, and the TSA manual must say that a garrote is more dangerous than a zip gun...

I've walked through the metal detector with a pocketknife and watched the TSA monkeys grab the person behind me for the anal probe.

Bruce Schneier says that the two things that make us more secure since 9/11 are reinforced cockpit doors, and the knowledge among passengers that we are responsible for our own safety. Unfortunately, we aren't allowed to have any tools with which to implement that safety. Except our brains, which is kind of a scary thought for most people.

Re:Sounds like a job for civil disobedience.

[arth1]

If the other people onboard those other planes had simply stood up to the highjackers, nothing bad would've really come from it. No one wanted to be a hero, so the highjackers were able to execute their suicide mission.

In the old world, in old times, citizens were not only protected from liability if trying to save lives, but they also had the citizen's duty of always doing so, even if it meant risking one's own life. Especially at sea (which is pretty analogous to today's flying), NOT intervening when lives were at stake, or hiding behind fear of one's own life was a criminal inaction, punishable by law.
Today, people cowering in fear and refusing to do their citizen's duty get posthumous medals and are called "heroes".

While people who DO what they can to be good citizens get harassed in the name of security, because they happen to look like someone who blew themselves up.

Regards,
--
*Art

Rare problems

[KC7GR]

Except for the more intensive laptop examinations, and the longer lines, I've not noticed any real changes at the checkpoints.

The biggest issues I had were...

--Coming through Seatac to meet my wife as she returned from Florida. Had my Motorola portable radio (an MT2000) with me, as I was keeping in touch with some (amateur radio) friends of ours while I waited for the flight. By odd chance, it happens that the security screeners also use MT2000's, but not the VHF model that I had. Red flag! I got asked twice if it could work on "their" frequency, and told them (twice) "No, it's not even in the same band as yours." I know this to be true, because the security guys work on the Port of Seattle's 800MHz trunked system. They let me through, but I could tell that you could whack them over the head with the facts, and they still wouldn't "get it."

--On a change-of-planes at Atlanta, while traveling from Seattle to Orlando. I had already been thoroughly screened, and there was no additional X-ray type security checkpoint when simply changing gates to get to the next flight. Despite this, and for reasons still unknown to me, I got all but strip-searched by the morons at a specially set-up secondary checkpoint at the gate. I was wearing open-type sandals (the all-terrain type) with no socks, and I still got asked to take 'em off. Go figure.

I would agree with another poster: Dress well, keep a cool head, and be prepared to explain anything you're carrying, electronics-wise, in full.

Re:Industrial Equipment is Worse

[swv3752]

NO, NO, NO. You need to get a clue. Airport security has chemical sniffers.

Modern Times More Complext Than You Think

[appleLaserWriter]

n the old world, in old times, citizens were not only protected from liability if trying to save lives, but they also had the citizen's duty of always doing so, even if it meant risking one's own life.

While true, in "old times," citizenship was severely limited to those who could provide some useful service to the local feudal lord. This service typically was typically military in nature.

Given that your average medieval town had a small number of citizens hanging around with military skills, it is no surprise that they were tasked with the town's defense.

Now, fast forward to 2003:

(1) You experience some chest pain, would you like some random person to break your ribs while attempting some misguided chest thumping maneuver?

(2) You are on an airplane, terrorists attack. Should you whip out your fully automatic hand gun and start blasting at them? Recall that airplanes are made of aluminum which is almost as soft as butter, and ignites at only a slightly higher temperature.

(3) Your linux laptop crashes. Before you can react, the guy sitting next to you declares that he is an MCSE and can fix the problem right away. Before you can do anything, he has WinXP installed and all your data has turned into a nice empty NTFS partition.