Researchers find security flaws in backscatter X-ray scanners

Editor's note: Latest research highlights the ongoing ruse of supposedly tightened airport security. Meanwhile, those who profited from these scanners laugh all the way to the bank. Then of course there are the negative health effects. 

Photo: Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego Publications

Activist Post

A team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego, the University of Michigan, and Johns Hopkins University have discovered several security vulnerabilities in full-body backscatter X-ray scanners deployed to U.S. airports between 2009 and 2013.

In laboratory tests, the team was able to successfully conceal firearms and plastic explosive simulants from the Rapiscan Secure 1000 scanner.  The team was also able to modify the scanner operating 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 J. Alex Halderman, a professor of computer science at the University of Michigan. “A clever attacker can smuggle contraband past the machines using surprisingly low-tech techniques.”

Reagan Control Tower Goes Silent, Planes Forced to Land Solo

Editor's Note:  Unmanned Control Towers? Naked Body Scanners and Intrusive Pat Downs are necessary but apparently the TSA doesn't consider airport controllers as important.  Do you still think the TSA is concerned about your safety?

PAT PAPERS-Pilots heard nothing but silence coming from Reagan Airport yesterday says the Washington Post. Two late-night flights were forced to land on their own after determining the control tower was unmanned. It’s still unclear where the air traffic controller on duty was, but one theory is that he got locked out.


Video: The air traffic control tower was unmanned at Reagan National Airport as an American Airlines pilot approached for a landing. (March 23)

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Panel: Don't treat fliers like terrorists

Travelers at the Denver International Airport line up
at the TSA checkpoint

Editor's Note:  Laughable!!!  The recommendations put forth by the U.S. Travel Association are laughable in that they are obviously intended to create unnecessary divisions within our society.  They want you to provide them with the ability to more easily invade your privacy by granting permission to access "everything" about you, which, in the end, will NOT guarantee you a place at the front of the line.  If you choose to participate in these tyrannical measures, you are contributing to the demise of our nation; to the enslavement of it's people.  They begin by alienating segments of society, similar to what happened to the Jewish people during WWII.  Eventually you will qualify for elimination, as well.  During the Holocaust, people did not speak up until it was too late.  Millions of people suffered and died at the hands of tyrants.  Stereotyping, Preferential treatment, etc.  Is this the society we want?  Are you willing to stand by while your fellow citizens are treated like terrorists simply because they don't have a perfect credit score or employment history?  When will you stand up?  Will you wait until they come for you and your children? Boycott the airports.  Don't travel by airplane.  Organize protests.

It is time to Wake Up!  You too, can join the Global Political Awakening!

"First they came…" is a famous statement attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group. The text of the quotation is usually presented roughly as follows:

First They came... - Pastor Martin Niemoller
First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

CNN-Calling for an airport screening process that maximizes security but cuts down on passenger hassles, the U.S. Travel Association on Wednesday recommended key changes to the current system.

The group, along with a panel of experts, suggested creating a trusted traveler program that would allow fliers who volunteer certain information about themselves to go through less rigorous security before their flight.

It also proposed allowing each traveler to check one bag without a fee to reduce the amount of luggage going through security checkpoints.

"We need to do better," said Jim Turner, a former ranking Democratic member of the House Homeland Security Committee and co-chairman of the panel, during a news conference in Washington.

"We owe it to the traveling public to make the system make more sense."

Traveler frustration with the current routine -- which includes the familiar rules about taking off shoes, going through a metal detector or full-body scan (or both) and facing the possibility of a pat down -- prompted the report, titled "A Better Way," the U.S. Travel Association said.

What are the chances Congress would approve any portion of the plan? It's very difficult to get action in this area, Turner admitted.

But if implemented, the recommendations could shorten wait times at security checkpoints and allow the Transportation Security Administration to screen passengers based on risk, the report said.

'Shrink the haystack'

Right now, "everyone who checks in is treated as a potential terrorist," said Tom Ridge, the former secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and co-chairman of the panel.

The group called it a "one-size-fits-all solution" in which children and the elderly can be pulled aside for extra screening. But having everyone go through the system isn't the way to eliminate risk, Ridge said.

"If you want to find a needle in a haystack, you shrink the haystack," he said.

That's where the trusted traveler program would come in, designating some passengers as low-risk based on information such as a background check, employment history, lack of criminal record and other factors.

Once travelers enroll in the program and their identity is confirmed at the airport with the help of biometric information, they would be subject to less security, Ridge said.

The program should be extended to qualified international passengers, the panel recommends.

The TSA screens more than 628 million airline passengers every year at U.S. airports, and the vast majority present little to no risk of committing an act of terrorism, TSA Administrator John Pistole said in a speech earlier this month.

In response to Wednesday's report, TSA spokesman Nicholas Kimball said Pistole's vision for the future of airport security screening is "one that is more risk-based and intelligence-driven, shifting away from a one-size-fits-all approach at checkpoints."

"Last fall, [Pistole] directed the agency to explore ways to further develop this strategy, with plans to announce more details this year. We welcome dialogue with stakeholders and the traveling public as the process moves forward," he said.
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DEVELOPING: EXPLOSION AT RUSSIA’S BUSIEST AIRPORT — POSSIBLE SUICIDE BOMBING

MOSCOW (AP) — A explosion ripped through the arrivals hall at Moscow’s busiest airport on Monday, killing 31 people and wounding about 130, Health Ministry officials said.

The state RIA Novosti said the explosion may have been caused by a suicide bomber.

The Russkaya Sluzhba Novostei radio station cited a traveler, identified as Viktor, as saying he heard the bang outside the airport, where he was waiting for a car.

“There was an explosion, a bang. Then I saw a policeman covered in fragments of flesh and all bloody. He was shouting ‘I’ve survived! I’ve survived!’”

Domodedovo is generally regarded as Moscow’s most up-to-date airport, but its security procedures have been called into question.

In 2004, two suicide bombers were able to board planes at Domodedovo by buying tickets illegally from airport personnel. The bombers blew themselves up in mid-air, killing all 90 people aboard the two flights.

In more recent suicide bombings in Moscow, twin blasts in the subway last March killed 39 people and wounded more than 60 people.

In December 2009, Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for blowing up a high-speed train between Moscow and St. Petersburg, an attack that killed 26 people and injured scores.

This is a breaking story. Updates will be added. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

RELATED ARTICLE

Gladio reprise: More False Flag Operations

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Inside TSA scanners: How terahertz waves tear apart human DNA

Blasted with THz Radiation

Terrence Aym
Helium

While the application of scientific knowledge creates technology, sometimes the technology is later redefined by science. Such is the case with terahertz (THz) radiation, the energy waves that drive the technology of the TSA: back scatter airport scanners.

Emerging THz technological applications

THz waves are found between microwaves and infrared on the electromagnetic spectrum. This type of radiation was chosen for security devices because it can penetrate matter such as clothing, wood, paper and other porous material that's non-conducting.

This type of radiation seems less threatening because it doesn't penetrate deeply into the body and is believed to be harmless to both people and animals.


THz waves may have applications beyond security devices. Research has been done to determine the feasibility of using the radiation to detect tumors underneath the skin and for analyzing the chemical properties of various materials and compounds. The potential marketplace for THz driven technological applications may generate many billions of dollars in revenue.

Because of the potential profits, intense research on THz waves and applications has mushroomed over the last decade.

Health risks

The past several years the possible health risks from cumulative exposure to THz waves was mostly dismissed. Experts pointed to THz photons and explained that they are not strong enough to ionize atoms or molecules; nor are they able to break the chains of chemical bonds. They assert—and it is true—that while higher energy photons like ultraviolet rays and X-rays are harmful, the lower energy ones like terahertz waves are basically harmless. [Softpedia.com]

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RELATED ARTICLE:
Airport Scanners Could Give You Cancer Warns Columbia Univ. Scientists

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Harvard pair sue TSA over screenings

Donna Goodison
Boston Herald

Two Harvard Law School students are suing the Transportation Security Administration, claiming the so-called “nude body scanners” and intrusive pat-downs used to screen airline passengers are unconstitutional.

Jeffrey Redfern and Anant Pradhan claim use of the scanners and pat-downs as primary screening methods violates their Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures. The frequent air travelers want to stop the TSA from using either without “reasonable suspicion or probable cause.”

“The abstract risk of terrorism without a credible, specific threat … does not justify the (searches),” states the suit, filed in Boston federal court.

“The enhance pat-down procedure, if done non-consensually, would amount to a sexual assault in most jurisdictions, and the intrusion of peering under his clothes would be similarly illegal,” the lawsuit states.

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Why the TSA pat-downs and body scans are unconstitutional

Jeffrey Rosen
Washington Post

The protest on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was called National Opt-Out Day, and its organizers urged air travelers to refuse the Transportation Security Administration's full-body scanning machines.

But many appeared to have opted out of opting out. The TSA reported that few of the 2 million people flying Wednesday chose pat-downs over the scanners, with few resulting delays.

There have been high-profile acts of civil disobedience in response to the two controversial procedures recently deployed by the TSA for primary screening - the body-scanning machines and the intrusive full-body pat-downs - including software programmer John Tyner's unforgettable warning to a TSA official: "If you touch my junk, I'll have you arrested." But the public seems less opposed to the scanners than civil libertarians had hoped. In a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, only 32 percent of respondents said they objected to the full-body scans, although 50 percent were opposed to the pat-downs offered as an alternative.

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Spreadin' the glove: TSA infecting U.S.?

Latex coverings 'have been in crotches, armpits, touching people who may be ill'

Bob Unruh -- WorldNetDaily

Those latex gloves Transportation Security Administration agents wear while giving airline passengers those infamous full-body pat-downs apparently aren't there for the safety and security of passengers – only the TSA agents.

That's the word being discussed on dozens of online forums and postings after it was noted that the agents wear the same gloves to pat down dozens, perhaps hundreds, of passengers, not changing them even though the Centers for Disease Control in its online writings has emphasized the important of clean hands to prevent the exchange of loathsome afflictions.

"Herpes via latex glove ... ewwww," wrote one participant on the independence-minded AR15 website forum.

Responding to the question, "Does the TSA change latex gloves after each sexual assault?" another wrote on the same forum, "I seriously doubt it. Gloves are for their protection, not yours." 

Join tens of thousands of Americans in a petition demanding action against the intrusive airport screening procedures implemented by Janet Napolitano and send a letter to Congress, President Obama and others telling them exactly what you think about the issue.

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Are Air Travelers Criminal Suspects?

Dr. Ron Paul
Campaign For Liberty

The growing revolt against invasive TSA practices is encouraging to Americans who are fed up with federal government encroachment in their lives. In the case of air travelers, this encroachment is quite literally physical. But a deep-seated libertarian impulse still exists within the American people, and opposition to the new TSA full body scanner and groping searches is gathering momentum.

I introduced legislation last week that is based on a very simple principle: federal agents should be subject to the same laws as ordinary citizens. If you would face criminal prosecution or a lawsuit for groping someone, exposing them to unwelcome radiation, causing them emotional distress, or violating indecency laws, then TSA agents should similarly face sanctions for their actions.

This principle goes beyond TSA agents, however. As commentator Lew Rockwell recently noted, the bill "enshrines the key lesson of the freedom philosophy: the government is not above the moral law. If it is wrong for you and me, it is wrong for people in government suits. . . That is true of TSA crimes too." The revolt against TSA also serves as a refreshing reminder that we should not give in to government alarmism or be afraid to question government policies.


Certainly, those who choose to refuse the humiliating and potentially harmful new full body scanner machines may suffer delays, inconveniences, or worse. But I still believe peaceful resistance is the most effective tool against federal encroachment on our constitutional rights, which leads me to be supportive of any kind of "opt-out" or similar popular movements.

After all, what price can we place on our dignity, personal privacy, and physical integrity? We have a right not to be treated like criminals and searched by federal agents without some reasonable evidence of criminal activity. Are we now to accept that merely wishing to travel and board an aircraft give rise to reasonable suspicion of criminality?

Also, let's not forget that TSA was created in the aftermath of 9/11, when far too many Americans were clamoring for government protection from the specter of terrorism. Indeed it was congressional Republicans, the majority party in 2001, who must bear much of the blame for creating the Department of Homeland Security and TSA in the first place. Congressional Republicans also overwhelmingly supported the Patriot Act, which added to the atmosphere of hostility toward civil liberties in the name of state-provided "security."

But as we’ve seen with TSA, federal "security" has more to do with humiliation and control than making us safe. It has more to do with instilling a mindset of subservience, which is why laughable policies such as removing one’s shoes continue to be enforced. What else could explain the shabby, degrading spectacle of a long line of normally upbeat Americans shuffling obediently through airport security in their stocking feet?

TSA may be merely symbolic of much bigger problems with the federal government, but it is an important symbol and we have a real chance to do something about it. We must seize this opportunity, before TSA offers some cosmetic compromise or the media spotlight fades. If you don’t live in my congressional district, please consider contacting your member of Congress and asking him or her to cosponsor HR 6416, the American Traveler Dignity Act of 2010. With enough help, we can push the bill to a vote early next year. Unless grassroots Americans take action, federal agencies like TSA will continue to bully us and ignore our basic constitutional freedoms.

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Man Proves TSA Policies Are Unconstitutional

Traveler bypasses body scanner and invasive pat down after near 3 hour debate with TSA supervisor, airport police

Paul Joseph Watson -- Prison Planet

Blogger Matt Kernan was able to bypass both the naked body scanner and invasive TSA pat down procedures during his return to the United States this past weekend, proving that both measures are completely unconstitutional and creating a precedent for a total shake-up of airport security.

Kernan, who documents the case on his website, was returning from a trip to Europe and was perturbed to see TSA workers making Americans who had already cleared security in their airport of origin go through backscatter x-ray machines and be groped simply to re-enter their own country.


“You see, it is official TSA policy that people (both citizens and non-citizens alike) from international flights are screened as they enter the airport, despite the fact that they have already flown,” writes Kernan. “Even before the new controversial security measures were put in place, I found this practice annoying. But now, as I looked past the 25 people waiting to get into their own country, I saw it: the dreaded Backscatter imaging machine.”

Having seen the plethora of cases in recent weeks of TSA thugs abusing and humiliating women and children, Kernan, who had no connecting flight and time to kill, decided to take a stand.

So begins Kernan’s description of his 2 and a half hour debate with TSA officials and airport police after he refused to go through the naked scanner or be groped.

After TSA workers laughed at Kernan for opting out of the radiation scanner, he politely informed them that if they touched his genitals he would consider it an assault.

With TSA officials repeating “policy” like a broken record, Kernan stated, “I am aware that it is policy, but I disagree with the policy, and I think that it is unconstitutional. As a U.S. citizen, I have the right to move freely within my country as long as I can demonstrate proof of citizenship and have demonstrated no reasonable cause to be detained.”

Soon after the TSA Supervisor, a Delta Airlines manager and the airport police were called and Kernan informed them that he was recording the audio of the exchange on his iPhone.

“I will not do anything that is not explicitly stated on recording as mandatory,” Kernan told them, as the police suggested they conduct the pat down instead of the TSA. However, the cops were forced to back down when they refused to state on record that Kernan would have to have his genitals touched in order to be free to go.

After a disagreement between the police and the TSA about who had jurisdiction to arrest Kernan, the police began to get frustrated with the TSA Supervisor for pawning off the responsibility on them. At this point, the Supervisor tried to involve the “Federal Security Director,” who was told that Kernan was being polite and citing his constitutional rights.

After more deliberation, Kernan was eventually escorted out of the airport without having to go through a naked body scanner or have his genitals groped.

“And then came the most ridiculous scene of which I’ve ever been a part. I gather my things – jacket, scarf, hat, briefcase, chocolates. We walk over to the staff entrance and he scans his badge to let me through. We walk down the long hallway that led back to the baggage claim area. We skip the escalators and moving walkways. As we walk, there are TSA officials stationed at apparent checkpoints along the route. As we pass them, they form part of the circle that is around me. By the end of the walk, I count 13 TSA officials and 2 uniformed police officers forming a circle around me.

We reach the baggage claim area, and everyone stops at the orange line. The Supervisor grunts, “Have a nice day,” and leaves.”

By simply remaining calm and polite while citing his constitutional rights, Kernan proved that, despite the best efforts of the TSA to intimidate people into submission by threatening $11,000 fines, it is not illegal to refuse to be put through a radiation scanner or be groped by TSA workers.

Kernan proved that the whole procedure is unconstitutional and a violation of rights, and after acknowledging this fact, TSA officials and the airport police had no other choice but to let him go free.

Tomorrow’s national op-out day provides the opportunity for thousands more Americans to follow in Kernan’s footsteps and permanently put to rest the notion that violating TSA “policy” is a criminal act, when in fact the policy in itself is a violation of constitutional rights and therefore completely illegal.

*********************
Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show. Watson has been interviewed by many publications and radio shows, including Vanity Fair and Coast to Coast AM, America’s most listened to late night talk show. 

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Body scanner makers doubled lobbying cash over 5 years

Fredreka Schouten
USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The companies with multimillion-dollar contracts to supply American airports with body-scanning machines more than doubled their spending on lobbying in the past five years and hired several high-profile former government officials to advance their causes in Washington, government records show.
L-3 Communications, which has sold $39.7 million worth of the machines to the federal government, spent $4.3 million trying to influence Congress and federal agencies during the first nine months of this year, up from $2.1 million in 2005, lobbying data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics show. Its lobbyists include Linda Daschle, a former Federal Aviation Administration official.

Rapiscan Systems, meanwhile, has spent $271,500 on lobbying so far this year, compared with $80,000 five years earlier. It has faced criticism for hiring Michael Chertoff, the former Homeland Security secretary, last year. Chertoff has been a prominent proponent of using scanners to foil terrorism. The government has spent $41.2 million with Rapiscan.

"The revolving door provides corporations like these with a short cut to lawmakers" and other decision-makers, said Sheila Krumholz, of the Center for Responsive Politics.

The use of body-scanning machines has ignited controversy over privacy and health concerns.

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Dear Airline, I'm Leaving You

Megan McArdle
The Atlantic

But don't feel too bad.  It's not you, it's me.  Or rather, it's the TSA.

I'm not going to lie.  It's come between us.  If I have to let someone else see me naked in order to be with you--well, I'm just not that kinky.  And deep down, I don't think you are either.  I think it's the TSA making you act like this.  Frankly, you haven't been the same since you started running around together.

But I can't put all the blame on them.  I think you went along because you thought I had to have you--that I couldn't live without you.  That no matter what you did, I'd stay.  And it's true, you had a pretty strong hold on me.  Took away the food, and I still loved you--who wanted to eat a terrible, fattening meal anyway?  Narrowed the distance between the seats, and still I stayed, using my airline miles to upgrade to first class.  Charge me for baggage?  I'm an economics writer--I love unbundled products.  So I can see where you got the idea that I'd stick by you no matter what.


But the kinky stuff is just a bridge too far.  I'm not saying I'll never see you again:  we can still meet up for a drink, or even a quick weekend trip to California.  But our days are a regular item are through. I'm writing this letter because one of my commenters pointed out that it was only fair to let you know what was going on:

Especially if you've got frequent flyer status, don't forget to mail the airline and tell then you're flying amtrak...optouting is fine, but it's really only the airlines that have the clout to push back.

It wouldn't be fair to just drop out of sight and not return your calls without letting you know why I was leaving.  As it happens, I'm a frequent flier on American, and a pretty reliable customer of Delta and United.  Or rather I was.  Because like I said, I'm leaving you.

In fact, I've already left.  My cousin's wedding in Buffalo in October?  Drove eight hours each way.

Going to visit Dad in Boston over Christmas?  We're taking a slow train from DC rather than subject ourselves to the increasing indignity of flying.  If it's under 500 miles, I'll do anything rather than hop on a plane.  And if it's over 500 miles, it had better be way over . . . or I'd better be carrying a cooler with a still-beating heart in it.

I suspect there are a lot of people out there who feel the same way, and may not have blogs, so I'm urging them to put their Dear John letters right in the comments.  I'll forward any Dear Airline letters that are left in the comments to the relevant airlines.

Uncle Sam may not care about the minority of voters who fly often.  But I'm kinda hoping that you guys do.  Maybe the flame of our old romance isn't entirely out.  I don't want to raise false expectations--but you might win us back.  If you play your cards right.

If not--well, here's looking at you, kid.  From the window of the BoltBus as it cruises past Newark airport.

Love,

Megan

Opt-Out

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