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Terror Watchlist "Crippled By Technical Flaws"

Posted by kdawson on from the little-bobby-datas-we-call-him dept.

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "The database used by the government to generate lists like the No-Fly List is 'crippled by technical flaws,' according to the chairman of a House technology oversight subcommittee. And the upgrade may be worse than the original. Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) says that 'if actually deployed, [the upgrade] will leave our country more vulnerable than the existing yet flawed system in operation today.' It seems that the current database doesn't have any easy way to do plain-text matching, forcing users to enter SQL queries. That might not sound so bad until you learn that the database contains 463 poorly indexed tables. How long until there's a terrorist named Robert'); DROP DATABASE; —?"

2 of 324 comments (clear)

  1. Size Comparison by Wellington+Grey · · Score: 5, Informative

    For those interested: the size of the terror watchlist compared to US cities and States.

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  2. Re:is this "obvious news day" again? by Pontiac · · Score: 5, Informative

    My co-workers 2 year old Daughter was on the list. It took 4 years to get her name removed.

    It must have been her evil plot to drop a bomb in her diaper.

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