Are the TSA's New Electronic Device Screenings Necessary? 184
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?
Betteridge says (Score:5, Insightful)
...no.
I'm surprise they still bother to pretend that all that homeland 'security' theatre has anything to do with security.
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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 som
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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
Re:Betteridge says (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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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.
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You don't have to drive it, go to your local municipal airport. You can get a short flight like that for a little more than the airlines charge and if you get to know some of the pilots you can get the flight for the cost of the fuel. You can also ask around, I bet you know someone or someone who knows someone with a pilots license. You could even get your own and just rent the plane, it is not hard.
The small municipal airports dont have all the BS security, the flights tend to be shorter as there is no wai
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a 20 hour drive is halfway across the country. LA to Houston is roughly 1500 miles and google maps puts it at 21 hours.
1500 miles, assuming 25 mpg, at 2.50$ a gallon is 150$.
meanwhile, it's a 3 hour flight, assuming 5 hours total each way... I just found a flight on southwest for 200$ pre tax round trip.
you're literally saying your going rate is -3.00$ per hour. you're paying more money for spending more time.
the terrorists haven't won, you're just a moron.
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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,
The Big secret to getting YOUR Luggage Safely (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Betteridge says (Score:4, Informative)
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.
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I don't give it any specifics, that is what conspiracy theories are for. I only provide what we know is happening and has happened. You can find plenty of theories for why they are doing these things, but those are all just theories (Illuminati world control, economic collapse, and luciferian cults are probably the most common).
We don't see the plans that are resulting in things like training guides proclaiming people that believe in the US Constitution are "terrorists", but we know those training guides
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Even today, there are military patrolling Grand Central and Penn Stations in New York City on a daily basis.
Yep, I've seen (and talked to) them too. Technically, they're National Guardsmen called up by the state governor (which is why the Posse Comitatus Act doesn't apply) (also note that the NY state governor is a Democrat), but still that's military.
However, every time I bring this up on an internet forum some moron says that I'm making it up.
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"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"
People aren't complaining about security, they're complaining about things that don't improve security, but which do make travel an absurd hassle. Taking our shoes off, not carrying liquids, etc., don't prevent any significant threats. Both measures would detect attempted attacks that were both detected and stopped other ways when they
Re:Betteridge says (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
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"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"
No, different complainers would be howling.
People aren't complaining about security, they're complaining about things that don't improve security, but which do make travel an absurd hassle.
You have a point here, but I think it's overstated a bit. Speaking for myself, I would find the TSA procedures nearly as objectionable even if they did improve security -- because we're well into the land of diminishing returns with them, where the cost of the measures greatly exceeds the benefits that could be gained by them.
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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!"
that pre dates 9/11. laptops from late 90's for m (Score:3, Informative)
being asked to power up devices is not new at all. I had to power up my laptop on a flight sometime Fall 1998.
Re:that pre dates 9/11. laptops from late 90's for (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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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.
With the charges that airlines are imposing on baggage, it's often cheaper to mail your stuff than to fly with it.
Paper hospital gowns might be a while.
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With the charges that airlines are imposing on baggage, it's often cheaper to mail your stuff than to fly with it.
Damn if that isn't true, I can fedex my luggage cheaper across Canada then it would be to take it on the plane with me.
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Nah, you will be stripped naked, securely bound in hospital restraints and sedated to complete unconsciousness before being allowed on the plane....
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Sleep regulators like in Fifth Element would improve upon comparability.
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Kill Bill Part 1-style...
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It was something of a problem for Macintosh owners at the time, since without hooking up at least a mouse it was impossible to shut the machine down properly. Then people came out with little programs that would run on startup, wait ten seconds for a keypress or mouse click, and then shut down the machine if they didn't get one.
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I'm just waiting for the day when you have to ship all your luggage a day ahead of travel
I got in the habit of shipping my luggage on ahead of me using UPS and the like several decades ago, well before this TSA madness began. I started doing it because my luggage doesn't get lost or abused that way. I highly recommend the practice to anybody. Especially now, when your luggage is at greater risk of theft than ever before.
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I've only ever been asked once, over countless flights before and after 9/11. That was in 2000, to board a flight leaving the US for Europe. Unfortunately, I was using it on the first flight, and my battery died. I told the agent "The battery is dead, but I can plug it in if you'd show me where an outlet is". That was the end of it.
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When leaving the US I had to power up my HP48 and try to explain it was a calculator and how to do a sum using RPN.
It was in 1998, shortly after the Swissair 111 flight and there was no explanation for the crash.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swissair_Flight_111
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Redundant Question (Score:5, Insightful)
"Are the TSA's New Electronic Device Screenings Necessary?"
Reformat the question: "Is TSA Necessary?"
Now you have a question worth asking.
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Is it really a different question? The answers certainly aren't different.
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"Are the TSA's New Electronic Device Screenings Necessary?"
Reformat the question: "Is TSA Necessary?"
Why yes they ARE necessary. How else will we manage to keep the appearance of security on airplanes?
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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 checkpo
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The cock pits of most planes isn't en-suite, so you'd have to fix that up too. I should imagine that external doors cost lots of money and add lots of weight, so less of them makes sense in that regard. Having a door for just 2-3 people to escape from makes that one an expensive door ;-)
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Already too much hassle (Score:2, Funny)
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 (Score:5, Funny)
... 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.
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If it was a turkey posting, he would be complaining about having bread shoved up his ass and then being put in a broiler.
Nope! (Score:2)
Are any TSA screenings necessary?
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Are any TSA screenings necessary?
Only in so far as they keep up the appearance of doing something about security.
The real question is "Are any TSA screenings making us safer?"
But the answer doesn't change..
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TSA? No, but basic airport screenings (pre-911 levels) are useful. You don't want someone bringing a loaded gun on board. The only post-911 security improvement I'd keep would be the locked, reinforced cockpit doors (and the passenger mentality of "take down anyone who causes trouble" versus the pre-911 "cooperate and nobody gets hurt").
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And air marshals have killed at least one harmless person (off his meds, scary, but harmless). Have they saved any lives?
device boot up won't stop terrorists (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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so no this doesn't make airplanes safer.
Neither does the TSA. They really only provide the appearance of security.
REAL security is something they simply cannot do. Partly because we won't let them for political correctness reasons and partly because they do stupid stuff like this.
Re:device boot up won't stop terrorists (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
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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.
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i think the thing there is the laptop would still have to go through an x-ray. and you'd be looking at a battery with 2 different densities.
it's two phase i guess, you want to build a functional bomb that looks like a laptop to an x-ray? doable, but probably not in a way that it'll also be functional as a laptop. you want to build one that is a functional bomb and also a functional laptop? probably not in a way that still looks innocuous in an x-ray machine.
Also, terrorists aren't rocket scientists. If yo
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It's not like you have to spend any thought on it - hell, I usually think of at least 2-3 ways to bypass every security system I pass just in the time it takes to get though it, and not just in airports. Public-facing security screning is a joke - providing even basic screening that can't be readily bypassed is so invasive nobody will stand for it, the best you can do is stop the idiots, and they're probably not a serious threat anyway.
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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].
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ive been through the new check (France, CDG airpor (Score:3, Interesting)
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.
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Your assumption that being French isn't a reason for selection is dubious.
US Customs officers at some border crossings are often more suspicious of US Citizens (based on behavior) than certain non-US citizens. I swear US Customs at the Interstate 5 crossing to Canada seem more suspicious of me than most Canadians crossing at the border checkpoint.
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The US government isn't about dignity. It might have been, but it's no longer.
FWIW, I've had the Canadians and the Germans ask me to turn on devices. They all worked, of course, so this technique isn't unique, and I don't think it's particularly productive, either.
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it's also pretty negligible time-wise and cost-wise.
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The TSA is about appearances so don't sweat it.
IF they where actually about security, you can bet stuff like this would be not only common, but UNIVERSAL. This and MORE. But it is really complaints like this that turned TSA into a paper tiger. All the stories of cavity searching little girls and naked X-Ray machines has systematically taken ANY pretense of actually being able to provide security away from the TSA and why? For Political Correctness.... Oh no, you can't PROFILE! Oh no, You cannot do se
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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.
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I have a white, male British friend - it's a bit of a running joke that he gets checked every time. Years ago, he and I went to/from Canada via the US. On departure from London, there were three American goons (yes, imported goons!) doing 'random' bag searches on the way to the gate (extra to the actual security screening). He got checked by all three - presumably the first two were incompetent so the third guy had to do it right. Or maybe the whole system was a complete sham. Should anyone ever want to smu
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Waste of time... (Score:2)
(In that Counter Strike voice) Terrorists Win (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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TSA is a jobs program for those who wouldn't be hired for any other jobs.. thus they get all the thieves, perverts and power-trippers, since being in the TSA gives the power-tripper a channel to exert his "power" over others. Not to mention the thief, who arranges to get on the TSA team that inspects luggage.. Perfect job for him... Then theres the pervert, who arranges to get on the team that watches the nude-scanner... After a day doing that, he can go home and get his jollies off...
One of the most worthl
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In the case of Israel, there is an actual, ongoing threat. If you have security theatre there, it *will* be compromised and the politicians *will* be taken to task for not implementing real security.
In the US, there isn't a big actual threat of terrorism. Yes, we have an attempt every now and then but the actual threat level is very low. However politicians want to 1) cover their rears and 2) award juicy contracts to companies that lobby them. So we get fancy new machines that aren't really effective bu
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Since the formation of the TSA, how many US planes have been hijacked? None! It's obviously a huge success and worth every penny and minute of lost time.
How many attempted hijackings were foiled? Also zero.
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As someone who grew up in an Arab country still technically at war with Israel, and with a passport filled with Arabic stamps, I had a very courteous experience with El Al security both at LTN and TLV. Maybe it's because I've flown in and our of JED (and RUH) 50+ times, and I'm used to Saudi security, I didn't find the folks at Ben Gurion too bad at all. Always very polite.
The story above sounds a bit fishy as well - a little bit too horrible for an international travel experience.
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Even the TSA knows they've become a joke (Score:2)
Last flight I took out of LAX, they were randomly handing out "expedited security" slips to people. Keep your shoes on, laptops can stay in bags, no x-rays or pat-downs, etc. and I was through in about 30 seconds. I even found out after I went through the metal detector that I had left keys in my pocket and my belt on.
Basically, it was like security used to be, pre-9/11. It was marvelous.
ok..what if i don't have one? (Score:2)
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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
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tl;dr: only carry burners (burner phones, burner laptops, burner audio players).
gotcha.
done and done.
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Or have free services in the area "How the NSA, GCHQ and crooks can hack mobile apps" (30 Jan 14) http://www.wired.co.uk/news/ar... [wired.co.uk]
TSA Has Been Useless Since The Beginning (Score:5, Insightful)
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 (Score:4, Insightful)
Now now, they've made BILLIONS of dollars for somebody. That can't possibly be useless!
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how can we quantify the effect of simply having *some form* of security...?
Brief aside; of course we should have some security. I'm only saying that the things TSA has done are generally both unnecessary and ineffective.
quantify the effect of ... security to deter the less-suicidal ones?
The way to measure the deterrent effect of a system is by looking at the risk in cases where that system is not in place. In the case of TSA, we can look at cases where the TSA has no deterrent effect and there isn't an anal
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Dead Laptop? (Score:2)
Great. Your laptop dies, and won't boot. Now what?
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Then they bring in the bomb disposal robot to blow it up?
Absolutely. (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Won't Last (Score:2)
T SS A (Score:3)
The TSA's very EXISTANCE is an unnecessary inconvenience on ALL travelers.
Where's that outlet? (Score:2)
Domestic flying in Australia does it well. (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
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I flew from Perth to Brisbane last xmas with a desktop tower case PC plus a bunch of peripherals and other stuff in my checked luggage (it was part of a permanent move from Perth to QLD) and there was basically no security checks of my luggage at all (despite the fact that the cardboard boxes or their contents could easily have contained explosives). In the US on a similar domestic flight, I am sure my 2 cardboard boxes and suitcase would have been run through all sorts of scanning machines and possibly ope
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The checked luggage goes through a screening process between the drop off point and being loaded on the plane. So they would have been able to see exactly what was inside it. Every piece of checked luggage goes through that screening process. That is the thing I don't understand about the US system. Real security happens in the background, not in front of people. Once a bag goes on the conveyor it is easily controlled and inspected.
As for transporting a pc - cases are fairly susceptible to crush damage
Do they have spare batteries? (Score:5, Interesting)
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? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why on earth are you traveling with HIPAA regulated data on your laptop? Is that truly necessary?
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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
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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 PH
smoke screen, like CIA Pakistan vaccination (Score:2)
They want you to power up devices so its easier to dump data without leaving a trace.
Recent iPhone encryption bypass (if the phone was powered up and manually locked) using USB connection comes to mind.
And it's (Score:2)
More to the point - what is to say that electronic device is the key to say blowing up the concourse? I mean I have Echolink on my phone and theoretically I could use it remotely trigger an event. Hell - even Wi
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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.
Re: TSA is unnecessary (Score:2)
Correction. Airport security is necessary but it doesn't have to be conducted by the TSA.
Re: TSA is unnecessary (Score:5, Insightful)
Sealing the cockpit is necessary. Random bomb sniffing dogs is a great idea. Pretty much all of the rest is extraneous.
Re: (Score:2)
Sealing the cockpit is necessary.
But a real pisser if the pilot decides to hijack the plane.
Personally, I'd rather have the cockpit door open, and me and three hundred other passengers ready to beat to death any aspiring hijackers if they try anything.