

Bruce Schneier: Fixing Airport Security - lamnk
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/06/fixing_airport.html

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tokenadult
Hear. Hear. I was just on flights out of town over the weekend, and it
occurred to me that the terrorists have won by making air travel so
inconvenient and annoying for every American who ever flies domestically.

"Maybe Secure Flight is a good use of our money; maybe it isn't. But let's
have debates like that in the open, as part of the budget process, where it
belongs." This is the general answer for review of current security
procedures: we should check whether they are worthwhile for the amount of
improved security they promise to provide.

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TallGuyShort
This made me think of the current ACLU lawsuit against the TSA, where a man
was detained for carrying a large sum of money (he was the treasurer of a
political party). A recording of his interrogation is available on their
website, and although he was, admittedly, causing a bigger scene than was
necessary, it clearly illustrates that not even the TSA officials are
completely familiar with the rights of passengers.

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grandalf
it's remarkable to me to consider how outlandishly ineffective airport
security is, and then to realize that it's just the typical sort of response.
Why should we believe that any of the new financial regulations will be any
more effective than making people throw away water bottles?

Why should we believe that "fixing healthcare" will be more effective than
"fixing airport security"?

~~~
pmorici
Because it isn't about being effective, it's about doing something, or rather,
appearing to do something. It's all about appearances, as many things in life
are for better or worse.

~~~
potatolicious
Not sure why you're being modded down - but you're right, airport security
won't be "fixed" because most people are not aware that it is broken.

I'm Canadian, and airport security in Canada, while we still have the
ludicrous liquid rules, is still considerably less asinine than it is in
America (e.g. I get to keep my belt AND shoes on).

I had a chance to discuss this with my American coworkers last year (a bus
full of them), and I was surprised that most vehemently defended the need for
the "security". When I remarked that another 9/11 was more than remote, due to
the fact that passengers can no longer be subdued by hijackers (knowing that
certain death awaits), I felt as if the entire group was ready to lynch me.

Like it or not, these security measures make people feel safer, and as such
there's not a chance in hell of them disappearing anytime soon.

~~~
tokenadult
_When I remarked that another 9/11 was more than remote, due to the fact that
passengers can no longer be subdued by hijackers (knowing that certain death
awaits)_

Good point. Now passengers will fight to the death rather than cooperate with
hijackers. United 93 was a very inspiring movie about ordinary people in very
unexpected circumstances.

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grandalf
Yes... the solution for preventing another 9/11 was discovered, ironically, on
9/11 by the passengers of flight 93. All the rest of the measures such as
cockpit doors, removal of shoes, etc., have been theatre.

~~~
ggchappell
Actually, Schneier says that reinforced cockpit doors are a good idea. A
quote:

"I've said there are two things - reinforcing the cockpit doors, and
convincing passengers they have to fight back. Everything else has been a red
herring."

(From <http://www.schneier.com/news-071.html> )

~~~
grandalf
Well they are an OK idea... but the question to ask is whether they are likely
to have a significant impact on safety. My guess is that the impact is slim,
which is OK since they are cheap and easy to implement.

But note that it took way longer to implement the cockpit doors than it did to
nationalize airport security and start making people wait on 3 hour lines.

Also note that the GAO was able to get bombs through security at most major
airports without doing anything particularly sophisticated.

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yason
Airport security should be about securing airtravel, not securing the
collective asses of TSA or whatever lump of agencies and companies it is these
days.

And IMHO, even airtravel doesn't need that much securing. And the collective
ass needs even less.

Sealed cockpit doors are definitely a good measure for the decades old
hijacking problem and the newer, though much more unlikely, 9/11 copycat
situations. Other than that, the passengers can't really do much on a plane.

~~~
yhnbhjiuok
Even including 9/11 more commercial flights have been crashed due to the
deliberate actions (murder or suicide) of the flight crew than due to
hijackers.

(if you count a FedEx flight where a transiting crew member killed the pilots)

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edw519
If private industry behaved like government:

When someone screws up royally, fire them, then hire them back as contractors
to do the same job. Oh wait, never mind.

