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Researchers Find Security Flaws In Backscatter X-ray Scanners
An anonymous reader writes: Researchers from UC San Diego, University of Michigan, and Johns Hopkins say they've found security vulnerabilities in full-body backscatter X-ray machines deployed to U.S. airports between 2009 and 2013. In lab tests, the researchers were able to conceal firearms and plastic explosive simulants from the Rapiscan Secure 1000 scanner, plus modify the scanner software so it presents an "all-clear" image to the operator even when contraband was detected. "Frankly, we were shocked by what we found," said lead researcher J. Alex Halderman. "A clever attacker can smuggle contraband past the machines using surprisingly low-tech techniques."
I am shocked
Nothing will change most likely.
We're supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave, and yet we allow our government to violate people's fourth amendment rights in broad fucking daylight every single day just because people want to get on a plane. Land of the free? Home of the brave? I think not. Disgusting.
Even more evidence those things aren't worth the paper they were drafted on. They're garbage, shitcan them already.
What if you have an enormous gut? If it hung over your waste/belt line you could probably fit a small weapon in the fold.
They're successful when you consider that the point was to move tax revenue to crony pockets:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Do you have ESP?
Rape-a-scan?
"A clever attacker can smuggle contraband past the machines using surprisingly low-tech techniques."
Please, God, Tell me it's tinfoil... plz plz plz plz
At this point nobody's going to be surprised if any device tested has blatant security flaws. The only interesting story would be if someone found a device with no actual flaws. That would be news.
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
As demonstrated here using a small dog?
Gary Larsen ahead of his time as usual.
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What's worse about this is that the government buys into these security technologies as if they were magic, both financially and from a security perspective, treating them as if they were prima facie proof of guilt/innocence.
Yet at the same time they classify the technologies, prohibiting anyone from gaining any information about them or validating whether they work. The cynic of course knows this is just to hide their failings for political and commercial reasons "to prevent terrorists" from exploiting them.
The constitution is not a 'whitelist'!
9th Amendment:
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
10th Amendment
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people
... would casually stroll across the Mexican border. The low-tech solution.
I didnt read the linked article but I'm guessing this is really nothing more then a slap-a-bullshit-story on slashdot. I would guess you need access to the machine in order for it to be "hacked" good luck trying to do that in front of TSA agents, and hidden video cameras.
I mean really, calling your company rapiscan? Do they not care at all about public opinion?
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
I remember people successfully demonstrating tricking those things since they were first released.
Or, more specifically, it's a "white list" of what the government is allowed to do. If the government wants to do X and X isn't white listed in the Constitution, they can either not do X or try to amend the Constitution to allow X. (Or, in the real world, do X anyway as secretive as possible and hope the courts don't order them to stop.)
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
Probably a rhetorical question
Has any technology that was rushed / pushed after 9/11 actually worked as promised?
Or has it been the usual over hyped marketing pitch "We can solve your problems! And even ones you don't even have!"
It is pronounced like "rapid" since it's supposed to imply that the scanning process is quick and painless. Although these man-sized scanners get a lot of press, their primary product was (and remains) fixed and vehicle-mounted (boom-arm) scanners bit enough to scan entire cargo containers in a single pass. It has been know for quite some time that those could be fooled, so it's not much of a surprise that the man-sized ones can too.
Posting anonymously because I have inside knowledge of their products, I used to represent them in a certain field (not sales).
This is what happens when material scientists get banned from Grindr.
In modern America, you don't go to cons. You become them.
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
Jon Corbett was reporting on this at least 2 years ago. Video here and articles in numerous locations. If I remember correctly, he was threatened by the DOJ and put on a no fly list for his trouble, in addition to being ignored by MSM.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
The US Constitution is both. It is a "white list" of powers assigned explicitly to the Federal government, with the remainder falling under "state's rights". It also contains a "black list", in the form of the Bill of Rights, which enumerates certain areas as being explicitly off-limits to both the Federal and State governments.
That airport security and personnel are one giant joke, but of course not the kind you laugh at or with.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Or, in the real world, do X anyway as secretive as possible and hope the courts don't order them to stop.
The courts don't mean much to these people - the FISA court's own statements about being misled by the NSA proves that. The only thing within the law guaranteed to stop them is to start jailing those responsible or cutting off their funding.
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
The inconvenient truth is that there is no actual way to stop a highly trained and capable team of individuals from weaponizing most things already INSIDE an airplane, and any trained individual could easily construct passable materials that could be easily reassembled on any airplane anyway.
You're doing it wrong.
Get rid of the TSA and stop wasting our time with this farce.
Want to stop terrorism on planes? Drill into passengers that they must throw coats and blankets and jump on all terrorists or they will all die.
That works.
The rest is crap.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Can we now get a reliable measurement of the amount of energy output and absorption rates as well as which tissues and locations take the heaviest dose?
"Hacking the machine" was only one of many attack vectors. The more common attacks desribed were fixing stuff to the side of your body, rather than to the front or to the back (easily twarted by making you turn sideways, or visually looking for the much more obvious bulges if you try to "hide" weapons that way), or hiding the weapons behind a piece of Teflon (which reflects the rays the same way as the body, hiding everything behind it... but there still might be tell-tale contours if not done right)
Indeed, the puppy is very well hidden... but not in belly folds but in buggy html or miguided deep link protection. Anybody has a URL of this picture which accepts to be viewed from Slashdot?
Nothing to be afraid of. They're just "back-scatter x-rays."
Insert _____ deeply into anus. Fool all current and future detections.
Also, "we hacked the software and then it didn't work" --- wow, no shit