Identity Theft From Tossed Airline Boarding Pass?

crush writes "The Guardian newspaper has a great story about how the gathering of information for 'anti-terrorist' passenger screening databases allowed a reporter and security guru Adam Laurie to lay the groundwork for stealing the identity of a business traveller by using his discarded boarding-pass stub." From the article: "We logged on to the BA website, bought a ticket in Broer's name and then, using the frequent flyer number on his boarding pass stub, without typing in a password, were given full access to all his personal details - including his passport number, the date it expired, his nationality (he is Dutch, living in the UK) and his date of birth. The system even allowed us to change the information."

Comments

Re:Boycott

[MyLongNickName]

Your reply is the only logical response I have seen yet :) I agree with you wholeheartedly, though it is very disheartening as well. The US's success has been based on freedoms, and welcoming anyone who wants to be a part of that freedom. With the laws we have passed, we have pissed on that legacy.

I voted for Bush in the first term. And for that, I am very sorry. Sadly, the other party isn't any better. I don't see things improving.

So while your reply makes me sad, it is the logical response to what we have told the world.

Re:Run that one by me again.

[inburito]

Sounds like you never boarded a plane pre 9/11. Duh..

Domestic flights in USA had zero security until after the event. You could literally walk to the airport, show your ID once at the check-in (if even then), proceed to walk to the gate, casually flash the boarding pass (no it was not ran through any machines) and board the plane. There were no metal detectors, no security personnell on the lookout, nothing. It was literally like getting on a bus (which nowadays has probably more security than airplanes back then).

Most shockingly, once you had a boarding pass, nobody cared about your id nor did they want to check you further. You could've given the boarding pass to anyone and they could've just walked in and boarded the plane. Of course as with everything, this varied depending on the location, but that was how things worked at the Philadelphia International Airport, among few other ones back then. Had they made an even half assed attempt at running people through metal detectors and x-raying their belongings, chances are that few of them would've gotten caught and rest might have given up.

International flights from USA, however, had standard security. By standard I mean having your baggage x-rayed, walking through a metal detector, etc. However, people were really casual about it and anyone clever enough could have gotten past them as well. So absolutely the hijackers used domestic flights because of this very reason. Chances of getting caught with international flights were just that much greater.

As an interesting parallel in Europe, it was at this very time when European countries were working on abolishing passport checks and talking about even not requiring an ID to get on a plane or having to walk through a metal detector. Not surprisingly those plans were quickly reversed.