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Schneier, Journalist Poke Holes In TSA Policies

Posted by Soulskill on from the leave-my-shoes-alone dept.

Fallen Andy points out an article in The Atlantic written by Jeffrey Goldberg. He and Bruce Schneier teamed up to put the TSA's policies to the test at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. They found plenty of evidence for security theater, and rather less for actual security. Quoting: "'The whole system is designed to catch stupid terrorists,' Schneier told me. ... As I stood in the bathroom, ripping up boarding passes, waiting for the social network of male bathroom users to report my suspicious behavior, I decided to make myself as nervous as possible. I would try to pass through security with no ID, a fake boarding pass, and an Osama bin Laden T-shirt under my coat. I splashed water on my face to mimic sweat, put on a coat (it was a summer day), hid my driver's license, and approached security with a bogus boarding pass that Schneier had made for me. ... 'All right, you can go,' [an airport security supervisor] said, pointing me to the X-ray line. 'But let this be a lesson for you.'"

2 of 296 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Redundant

    No.

  2. Re:Technically, the TSA did its job right. by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 0, Redundant

    "the country would be just as safe as it is today if airport security were rolled back to pre-9/11 levels. 'Spend the rest of your money [elsewhere, for better effects.]'"

    Like this was an original conclusion. This has been widely documented elsewhere, many times, and over a period of years. For example:

    http://www.dawn.com/2002/03/28/int8.htm

    Like I said, Bruce is missing something here. His conclusions are not original, and their is much he is missing, including the problems of identity matching that are at the forefront of much research in the area.

    http://www2.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/10.1109/MSP.2006.169

    I would be much more impressed if he added something new and meaningful to the discussion.