Are the TSA's New Electronic Device Screenings Necessary?

First time accepted submitter Amanda Parker writes In July the US warned of a terrorism risk which led countries, such as France and the UK, to step up their security screening for flights to the US. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson directed the TSA to implement enhanced security measures. In his statement on 6 July, Johnson warned that passengers could also be asked to "power up some devices, including cell phones" and stated that "powerless devices will not be permitted on board the aircraft". In light of the US Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) recent tightening of airport security to include stricter screening of electronic devices, is the TSA right to be cautious or have its actions caused unnecessary hassle for passengers?

Comments

Betteridge says

[Livius]

...no.

I'm surprise they still bother to pretend that all that homeland 'security' theatre has anything to do with security.

Re:Betteridge says

[cavreader]

It's not about security. It's always been about covering the airlines and government asses. People complain about the security procedures but if someone was able to hijack or blowup a plane the very same complainers would be howling about not having enough security to prevent such an attack. Even before 9/11 airline security was adequate and fairly reasonable. The 9/11 hijackers didn't smuggle guns or explosives onto their target planes. They bluffed using box cutters and threats about having a bomb. If someone was to try the same thing today there would be race by the passengers to see who could get the first punch in.

Re:Betteridge says

[Anonymous Coward]

I flew home for nearly 15 years to visit my family. I live a 20 hour drive away. This year I am driving it again. I am fed up with this shit.

They cram us in like cattle then treat us as criminals. Even if you fly 'first class' they can just randomly decide not to put your luggage on the plane and you still go thru all this crap. Then turn around and nickel and dime you over a small swig of a beverage and some stale pretzels.

Flying now sucks more ass than driving for 20 hours. The terrorists won. I am tired of having my rights violated for the possibility of someone maybe doing something.

Re:Betteridge says

[s.petry]

Covering asses? I hope you are right but the increased militarization of police forces and training the DHS, ATF, CIA, FBI, and every other government agency that people that are liberty minded are highly suspect as "terrorists" and those same government agencies stockpiling 2Billion rounds of ammo and of course the government continuing to spy on everyone locally makes me think of more nefarious purposes.

The old saying "Hope for the best but plan for the worst." should be forefront in everyone's mind today.

Re:Betteridge says

[arth1]

I remember when Americans thought pre-WWII German security was outrageous. Papieren, bitte (Papers, please)!

Americans were proud that they could go anywhere they wanted without being stopped and harassed or even asked who they were, and made fun of those not so lucky.

These days, if Americans were only asked for papers, they would be confused.
It has become a land of chickenshit cowards who shiver in fear, and behave like cattle being prodded.

No, the terrorists have not won, but we have lost far more than what the terrorists could have hoped for: Our hearts.

Re:Betteridge says

[Anonymous Coward]

... behave like cattle being prodded.

You're wrong. If one prods a cow too quickly, it turns and attacks. Electrified prods force the cow to move away and it just keeps going. The cow never thinks the assault is beneficial.

Re:Betteridge says

[LordLimecat]

Im surprised anyone bothered to respond to this troll of a submission.

What, are they expecting someone on slashdot to say "gee, yes, theyre necessary!"

Re:Betteridge says

[Bob the Super Hamste]

I don't think most people would be pleased with what the Israelis actually do for airline security, granted it is effective.

Security starts outside the airport. First as you approach there are guards with machine guns that operate a check point they stop your vehicle take a peak inside and wave you through. At this point you now will enter the airport grounds and proceed on a fairly long drive to the actual terminal with lots of cameras. As you walk in there are more guards with machine guns just watching.

Upon entry you will have to have your documents out and ready to show to an Israeli security official and hopefully you had some entity of importance sponsor your trip and provide certified exit paperwork otherwise the quick 5 questions plus verification number you were given and passport check turns into a longer interview. All this time you still have all your crap. After this you go and see the wonderful people at the x-ray machine and send your checked luggage through. If there is a question you pick up your luggage carry it over to a secure area and the nice security people make you unpack your bag with the issue and you answer their questions. If there is no issue or once done with further screening they apply the their stickers and you proceed to the ticketing counter where they ask you a few more questions, take your checked bags and give you your tickets.

Now you get to send all your carry on crap through the X-ray machine and you get to walk through a metal detector. They are very insistent that you leave your shoes on even if they are steel toe boots. If you trip the metal detector let them know what you have that is metallic and they wand and pat you down. If you have steel toe boots they wand you and then make you go and get a foot X-ray. At this point you still need to go through passport control where they will again ask you a few more questions. Finally after all that you get to go eat some crappy food in their terminal and go visit the tax rebate office there before you begin to board the plane. When boarding begins they open everyone's carry on luggage and search through it, sometimes if it is really a mess (the women with the suitcase of a purse with 15lbs of trash in it) they dump it all out on the table.

This also completely ignores the paperwork that you have to fill out to go there but I haven't had to do that since I have only traveled for work. The exit paperwork that your important sponsor, if you are lucky enough to have one, has you fill out stamps and sends to the airport requests all details about your trip. Where you stayed, where you went, what you did, where you spend each night and day. If you go to an interesting place where you might have had contact with bad people expect more questions at the airport. It is cheap (compared to what we do), effective, invasive as hell, and requires having competent people who are willing to profile the hell out of people.

Re:Betteridge says

[PrimaryConsult]

Unless both are large enough cities for decent public transit options, flying is more expensive than just the cost of the ticket.
You forgot:
Cost of long term parking at home airport (or taxi)
Cost of car rental at destination airport (or surrender your freedom to travel at will upon arrival)

Either way, there's also the stress of the entire flying process. Unless it's around a major holiday, a 2 day road trip can actually be relaxing.

That said, what this country could benefit from is either high speed rail, or more slow speed auto carrying rail like Amtrak's Auto Train. I'm surprised that idea hasn't taken off for coast to coast travel, the only reason we even have that route is because it was a novel idea a legacy railroad had long before Amtrak was formed...

that pre dates 9/11. laptops from late 90's for m

[Anonymous Coward]

being asked to power up devices is not new at all. I had to power up my laptop on a flight sometime Fall 1998.

Redundant Question

[IonOtter]

"Are the TSA's New Electronic Device Screenings Necessary?"

Reformat the question: "Is TSA Necessary?"

Now you have a question worth asking.

Re:Redundant Question

[Immerman]

Lock the cockpit door. Nothing you can reasonably do is going to keep someone(s) well-trained in hand-to-hand combat from killing passengers, nor from someone with an implanted gut-bomb from destroying the plane. The only thing you can protect against is hijacking, and a good solid lock is all that's needed.

If you want to keep up appearances have a scary-looking uniformed guard or two patrolling the cabin with a taser. They might even prove useful in a number of scenarios, unlike the TSA security checkpoints.

Already too much hassle

[Anonymous Coward]

We used to holiday in the US and drop $$$ there every year but we don't go there anymore. Grabbing at my balls and pushing me into a microwave oven isn't really what I call laying out the welcome mat. But hey, it's your country.

Re:Already too much hassle

[ColdWetDog]

... Grabbing at my balls and pushing me into a microwave oven isn't really what I call laying out the welcome mat. But hey, it's your country.

A turkey posting on Slashdot? Maybe you should just visit with vegetarians.

device boot up won't stop terrorists

[kesuki]

i have a postage sized mp3 player from china with a tf/sd card slot it boots up shows a menued screen and plays mp3s. a fake phone that has a plastic explosive bomb could easily use a 'fake' power on screen with menu and the menus would be browsable and possibly functional and also be a bomb.

so no this doesn't make airplanes safer.

Re:device boot up won't stop terrorists

[fuzza]

Likewise, I spent 2 weeks overseas with the MD of a gold mining company. Among many other tales, he asserted that it would be simple to replace up to 2/3 of a laptop battery with enough explosive to bring down a plane, and still have plenty of power left to operationally boot the laptop to Windows login if required...

He also said that the scanners frequently pick up residue on his shoes from chemicals used on the mine site (eg arsenic, not to mention explosives), so someone could easily use that as an alibi.

Re:device boot up won't stop terrorists

[davester666]

and that's just you physically carrying something aboard yourself.

nevermind the thousands of pounds of illegal drugs shipped into the US via plane every year. not like any one of those packages could be a bomb instead.

security is even worse for the back side of the airport [all the workers who load/unload/service the planes, and even the security guards, who are not paid that much, because profits].

Re:device boot up won't stop terrorists

[SuricouRaven]

Farmers are widely reported having a similar problem. Common fertilisers are chemically identical to an explosive, just packaged differently - that's why you can build fertiliser bombs.

ive been through the new check (France, CDG airpor

[Anonymous Coward]

And its pretty shitty and annoying.

They select suspicious targets only, so any single white male, or non-single (or single) person with colored skin who isn't American and pick them apart, in front of everyone else during boarding. (so, this is after regular customs).

There's a lot of public shaming (you're explicitly a potential terrorist at this point) and discrimination (skin color and social status) in that process obviously.

At this point, you are in a separate queue and everyone in that queue will get all his bags checked, devices opened and powered up - if they don't power up, you can choose to trash them or miss the flight. If by any sort of bad luck your expensive phone or laptop is not charged, this is terrible news.

I asked (nicely and after I had been cleared) the officers why I was selected during that check and they told me that if I asked this question in the US I would be sent back to France so I'd better shut the hell up. I said ok and moved away, at which point another office came by saying they don't know how the selection is done (they get a file with names) and that he was sorry for the way its being handled (yay faith in humanity not entirely lost.. i guess).

Final note: I'm a French white male, citizen, born in France, French parents (also born in France), etc. i.e. the check is not done based on your country or origin or citizenship.

Re:TSA is unnecessary

[bobbied]

Sure TSA is necessary...

It's not that they provide much security but we got to keep up appearances you know.. Makes rubes/sheep (I mean people) feel sooo much safer when they fly.

(In that Counter Strike voice) Terrorists Win

[BitZtream]

Riddle me this: Has the TSA ever done anything to actually make anything more secure? I've never seen an example of the TSA catch any attempt. I've heard of passengers catching people who made it through TSA screening. I've seen people carry pocket knives on aircraft after going through that retarded microwave scanner. I've heard of Air Marshals stoping people.

Not once have I heard of the TSA doing anything useful.

On the other hand, the terrorists pretty much did exactly what they said they were going to do, make our lives more difficult and made people feel less secure. Of course they didn't make people feel less secure, the TSA makes us feel less secure.

Israel doesn't do the silly bullshit that the TSA does, yet they catch more people trying to blow them up and actually have a daily threat from their next door neighbors. Of course they also care more about being effective than security theatre to make certain friends of politicians rich or bullshit faux political correctness. They do intelligent profiling, and no that doesn't just mean go after the guys with brown skin, for obvious reasons.

If I can get enough explosive or poison into an iPhone to be effective, making the screen light up isn't going to be that difficult. A laptop? Give me a break, trivial to fake.

Re:(In that Counter Strike voice) Terrorists Win

[lsllll]

Well, you've just described the definition of terrorism. It is there so it can terrorize people and make life more difficult. Al Qaeda won. Not because they killed 3000 people, but because they successfully rearranged the lives of Americans and most of the rest of the World, all for the worst. Many people (Muslim and not) suffered because of their act, many people will continue to suffer. We lost and we continue to lose, every day, via these bullshit tactics by TSA, the CIA, the FBI, and the U.S. Congress and the Supreme Court. All of our rights are being stripped away one bit at a time. I am an immigrant and this is not what I signed up for.

TSA Has Been Useless Since The Beginning

[Bob9113]

is the TSA right to be cautious or have its actions caused unnecessary hassle for passengers?

The TSA has done about ten billion screenings since its inception. They have caught zero terrorists. They have missed three. All three failed, for reasons completely unrelated to TSA. TSA screenings are ineffective and unnecessary. This has been apparent for years, this story is just one more bit of security theater. TSA panders to the terror that is the terrorists' only weapon when we should be fighting it.

Re:TSA Has Been Useless Since The Beginning

[Anonymous Coward]

Now now, they've made BILLIONS of dollars for somebody. That can't possibly be useless!

Re: TSA is unnecessary

[Jaxim]

Correction. Airport security is necessary but it doesn't have to be conducted by the TSA.

Re:that pre dates 9/11. laptops from late 90's for

[EvilSS]

being asked to power up devices is not new at all. I had to power up my laptop on a flight sometime Fall 1998.

Yea but after 9/11 and all the reviews of airport security the "power on your devices" thing was dropped because at the time all the experts said it was useless.

And yet here we are today.... I'm just waiting for the day when you have to ship all your luggage a day ahead of travel and fly in paper hospital gowns.

Absolutely.

[man_ls]

Once everyone is used to this, they'll introduce "limited content inspections" to ensure devices don't contain "Terrorist materials" before boarding. Any device which the passenger refuses to unlock and hand over for inspection won't be permitted to fly.

Re:ok..what if i don't have one?

[AHuxley]

Then a person is of more interest as they know all devices face to risk of been cloned or having globally unique numbers recorded.
Buy an old laptop, replace the storage, load in Linux. Add some productivity applications.
Find a phone that is so cheap it can really only make a voice call and has few other functions.
The reason to ask for a power on is so that consumer grade devices look for a network.
A lot of unique numbers and other device details are sent out or can be requested by local networks.
That device is then recorded as been linked to travel documents and biometric data.

T SS A

[MitchDev]

The TSA's very EXISTANCE is an unnecessary inconvenience on ALL travelers.

Re: TSA is unnecessary

[smaddox]

Sealing the cockpit is necessary. Random bomb sniffing dogs is a great idea. Pretty much all of the rest is extraneous.

Domestic flying in Australia does it well.

[Harlequin80]

Domestic flying in Australia is almost like catching a train. I often do flights from Brisbane to Sydney as a commute - down in the morning, back in the evening. I book online, and check-in online. Then on the day of the flight I usually arrive 40 minutes before departure time, walk in, throw my carry-on on the scanner conveyor pick it up the other side and be sat at the gate with 15 minutes to spare before the gate closes 20 minutes before departure. Total time from walking in the airport door to the gate, 5-7 minutes.

When it comes to boarding I just hand the person at the gate my home printed boarding pass. Done. No ID required. No groping, no pat downs, no real queue. Worst case scenario is I time coming out of the xray process at the wrong time and get held up for another minute by the guy who swabs my bag for explosives residue.

To be honest the only reason I give myself that much of a window to get there is because unlike trains they don't let you get on the next one if your miss yours.

Do they have spare batteries?

[tompaulco]

My old laptop had a dead battery. It only worked when plugged in. That doesn't mean I didn't still travel with it. It was still useful to me at my destination. Company policy won't let me check it in luggage.
Also, I work for a company that deals with healthcare and there is Protected Healthcare Information on my laptop. Do I need to carry HIPAA releases with me so that I can have them sign before looking at my laptop? Also, corporate policy forbids me to allow anyone else to operate my laptop, as does probably 90% of other companies in America.

Re:Do they have spare batteries?

[pete6677]

Why on earth are you traveling with HIPAA regulated data on your laptop? Is that truly necessary?

Re:Do they have spare batteries?

[Anonymous Coward]

OMG this a thousand times over.

You have no need to travel with HIPAA PHI on your laptop. There is another way somewhere: the easy solution is to VPN in to your office and download files as you need them across the VPN. Return any changes to your server via VPN. Do NOT leave data on your hard drive. There are free, open-source VPN servers and every operating system (even your phone) can connect to them. There is NO excuse not to use it.

The same goes for credit card info, FERPA-protected data, etc. What happens when you get mugged and the perps walk off with your laptop? Data that your company can get sued over does not rest on machines that you travel with. It lives encrypted on a server at work, where the company IT looks after it. It transits through encrypted connections to your laptop, and it stays there only so long as is necessary to perform the tasks you're authorized to perform on it. It transits back across encrypted connections to the home office server where it lives. No one with reasonable means (i.e. everyone but determined, state-sponsored actors) be able to eavesdrop on your lawsuit-worthy data in transit or steal it at rest. Doing anything less puts your company at risk.

This isn't because of James Bond or NSA or China or the boogeyman who probably doesn't care that much about your silly health data, but because of the street-level thug who is real and is hanging outside your Chicago hotel at night and will end up fencing your laptop to someone who knows someone who will buy data. You will be blamed for the breach, and the fact of your mugging will garner you no sympathy or protection: you risked company data by traveling with it because you could not be bothered to follow common sense protocols, and your risk ended badly for everyone involved.

If your company's IT staff is having you travel around with PHI on your laptop, they should be replaced.

Re:Do they have spare batteries?

[ToddDTaft]

You have no need to travel with HIPAA PHI on your laptop..

The policy of the medical school where I used to work is to consider any device that even accesses PHI as "contaminated with PHI", even if such access should never have resulted in any PHI being stored on the local hard drive of the machine accessing that data. It's possible that OP may have worked at a place with a similar policy.

Our internal forensics group was able to demonstrate too many cases where it wasn't necessary for a laptop user to even do something as dangerous as download a file containing PHI for the local hard drive to still end up with PHI on it. One such case was OS swap/page files. There were others.

While we took steps to minimize the likelihood of these events happening and PHI ending up on portable/mobile devices, we still treated devices that merely accessed remote PHI as if they contained PHI in local storage and required required them to have appropriate controls in place, such as whole disk encryption, local firewalls, mandatory reporting of lost/stolen devices, etc.

Re:that pre dates 9/11. laptops from late 90's for

[C0R1D4N]

There are way better places to hide C4 if you have access to it that they won't be able to detect.

Re:ive been through the new check (France, CDG air

[Jack Malmostoso]

I have noticed that too in my last 3 flights to the US. Interestingly enough, this additional screening was only for economy passengers. As I was travelling in business, I could just walk through the gate and enjoy the show.

So yeah, there's my anectodal evidence.

Re:that pre dates 9/11. laptops from late 90's for

[The Grim Reefer]

Actually, there will be an extra charge for paper hospital gowns.

The Big secret to getting YOUR Luggage Safely

[laurencetux]

http://deviating.net/firearms/... Airlines really really REALLY do not want to lose a bag with a "gun" in it. and just for a Chapter and Verse copy of this see http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-in... so if you are traveling with valuables (nice costumes of some sort??) slip a pistol into the bag (and properly declare same).