

The Plane Finder AR: An App Threatens Airline Security? - uptown
http://www.ndtv.com/article/technology/a-phone-application-that-threatens-security-56673

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alanh
London (parody): A cheap mobile phone application that can track the precise
location of passenger buses on the road can be a serious terrorist threat,
security experts have claimed and called for its immediate ban.

The Bus Finder AR application, developed by a British firm for the Apple
iPhone and Google's Android, allows users to point their phone at the road and
see the direction, speed, and likely destination of passing buses.

It also shows the bus line, route number, departure point, destination and
even the likely course-the features which could be used to target a bus with a
rocket-propelled grenade, or to plot suicide bombings, the 'Daily Mail'
reported.

The programme, sold for just 1.79 pounds in the online Apple store, has now
been labelled an 'aid to terrorists' by security experts and the US Department
of Homeland Security is also examining how to protect airliners.

[...]

After the September 11 attacks in America in 2001, a senior Federal Aviation
Administration official warned that published bus schedules could be used by
terrorists.

He wrote: "Revealing the identity and location of buses... would open the door
for a terrorist to attack a specific bus or coach line."

[...]

Conservative MP Patrick Mercer, former chairman of the Parliamentary Counter
Terrorism sub-committee, said: "Anything that makes it easier for our enemies
to find targets is madness. The Government must look at outlawing the
marketing of such equipment."

[...]

The firm claims more than 2,000 people have downloaded Bus Finder AR from
iTunes since its launch last month.

(Also posted to my Tumblelog:
[http://aggregated.alanhogan.com/post/1238682952/a-phone-
appl...](http://aggregated.alanhogan.com/post/1238682952/a-phone-application-
that-threatens-security))

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navyrain
At first glance, I thought you had simply copy-pasted the article. Posting
here in hopes of calling attention to your subtle parody.

~~~
furbearntrout
There is no parody of over-security sufficiently over the top and paranoid
that it cannot be mistaken for the real thing.

~~~
alanh
Poe's Law applies to security and terrorism parodies as well? Interesting.

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Vivtek
Right, because it would be so difficult to find aircraft without this nifty
software.

I mean, a terrorist with a rocket launcher just gets in the damn car and
drives to an airport, points it, and blows up a plane. Clearly, cars need to
be outlawed. Or roads.

I hate terrorism pieces. The stupid just plain burns.

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tocomment
How does this app work? I really don't see how it's possible.

~~~
navyrain
ADS-B is an automatic broadcast of an airplane's position and velocity,
intended for making management of the airspace easer, among other things. It
is not encrypted, and you can set up the hardware to receive the signal with a
modest amount of effort. There is apparently a website somewhere where these
hobbyists are aggregating this data.

~~~
lkjhjkedfgvb
Then this data must be encrypted.

And since it would be an obvious security risk to allow bad guys (ie
foreigners) to access this data then none US aircraft couldn't be allowed to
fly in the same airspace as non-Us aircraft. So US aircraft couldn't be
allowed to fly abroad and foreign aircraft couldn't be allowed in the US.

Operation complete isolation (as the proposal is known) would greatly increase
security.

~~~
regularfry
What's the threat model here?

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candeira
Exactly, what's the threat model? If I were a terrorist with a ground-to-air
missile, would it matter to me whether I blew up a _specific_ plane or just
the first Jumbo-class plane of $country's airline to take off? Would it matter
to society at large whether a plane had been randomly or specifically
targeted?

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sukuriant
<http://www.flightradar24.com/> <\-- how is it much easier than a laptop with
an internet connection?

Found by: Google Search. Search phrase: "ADS-B online" (without quotes) 6th
link.

~~~
hoop
Also: <http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightTracker/flightTracker.do>

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hartror
As much as I dislike scaremongering about attacks on aircraft this sort of
thing does lower the barrier of entry so to speak especially for solo nutbags.
Given that the information is freely available however the issue is with the
ADS-B system rather than the iPhone app.

~~~
irons
Pray tell, how does this lower the "barrier to entry"? Are we presuming that
terrorists are stone deaf, nearly blind, and incapable of memorizing daily
aircraft routes?

If so, I agree with you, and further suggest banning iPhone-holders for
Stinger missiles.

