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US Imposes Stricter Security Screenings At Foreign Airports, But Won't Expand Laptop Ban Yet (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: The United States will require foreign airports to implement stricter security practices and screenings for any passengers headed to the U.S. John Kelly, the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security, announced today that the new measures were being put in place. Though he didn't go into specifics, Kelly said the new requirements would include further screenings of electronics, more thorough vetting of passengers, and measures meant to stop "insider attacks." The U.S. is also encouraging the use of more bomb-detecting dogs, "advanced checkpoint screening technology," and the addition of "preclearance" locations, which station U.S. customs officers overseas, allowing them to screen passengers before boarding instead of after they land. One thing Kelly didn't announce was an expansion of the tablet and laptop ban, which is currently in effect on flights from 10 airports in the Middle East and North Africa. If airports don't comply with the new screening rules, Kelly said, they may be subject to additional electronics bans. But for the time being, it sounds like the ban will be kept to those 10 locations. According to Reuters, airlines have 21 days to comply with the new rules for explosives screenings and four months to comply with everything else.
Yea, Munich has quite the security whenever I visit home.
Not all of them do though. Iceland is pretty relaxed, and they are ramping up flights to and from the States.
However, this is pure ridiculousness. I absolutely hate traveling home, I'm going to hate it even more now and I'm an American. I can't imagine how many foreigners just won't even bother anymore.
I'm not even sure I want to bring my hard drives for work any more. I encrypt them of course, but just the thought of an image they could spend limitless resources trying to break, for god knows what reason, I think I'll just keep stationary hard drives and find a more private and secure cloud service.