Schneier, Journalist Poke Holes In TSA Policies 296
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.'"
Re:Schneier bothers me (Score:5, Funny)
Just fly first class. Use the steak knife.
OTOH - just what do you plane to do next chucko - stab your way into the cockpit cabin? The whole article is pretty inane - Real Terrorists(TM) don't wear Hezbolah T-shirts. It appears that the TSA crews that he encountered by and large accurately pegged him as a harmless goof.
Of course, these are largely the same group of fine folks that let my wife go through three checkpoints with a pair of bright orange, one inch diameter explosive flares that said "FLARE" in big black letters that were sitting in plain view in the mesh pockets of her backpack.
Sigh.
Re:Schneier bothers me (Score:5, Funny)
No no, it all makes perfect sense. It's all about behavior profiling. You see, any terrorist will take pains to hide his activities. Therefore anyone who looks like a terrorist most certainly isn't one. Anyone who carries guns, bombs, or other contraband openly is by definition safe, and so doesn't need to be searched.
Re:Schneier bothers me (Score:5, Funny)
So if I'm hypothetically waving around an AK-47 and saying "Allah is Great!", I'm just a funny goofball?
Re:Schneier bothers me (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, it does sound familiar, which is why it isn't going to happen. Because immediately after you gut the flight attendent, 200 people who don't want to be flown into a big building are going to jump you. Basically, any kind of "smuggle a knife on and seize the plane from all the cowering people" isn't going to work anymore, because people would rather take a chance on getting knifed, than be killed for sure in plane crash.
Re:Schneier bothers me (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Strictly speaking the system worked (Score:5, Funny)
Re:3 steps to happiness (Score:4, Funny)
2. Begin to exhibit religious zealotry
3. Prophet?
Re:Schneier bothers me (Score:5, Funny)
Leave the Admiral out of this! He's a naval officer in a legitimately uniformed combat unit which limits its engagements to legitimate military targets (the possibility of contractors notwithstanding).
cya,
john
Re:Schneier bothers me (Score:3, Funny)
That's what you get for trying to fly first class on Southwest. Real airlines still use metal knives. On Guard!
Re:Schneier bothers me (Score:5, Funny)
It's a moot point though: if you hijack a plane with a bunch of Americans on it now, odds are we're going to rip your head off and shit down your throat.
Re:Well... (Score:3, Funny)
Dammit!
To moderate, or post?!
Doh!
+1 insightful.
Re:Schneier bothers me (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Schneier bothers me (Score:4, Funny)
Actually, in your case, you don't even need the gun or the chanting ..."