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Will law enforcement gain the power to search laptops at any time by declaring them potential bombs?
US intelligence and law enforcement agencies believe that ISIS and other terrorist organizations have developed innovative ways to plant explosives in electronic devices that FBI testing shows can evade some commonly used airport security screening methods, CNN has learned. Heightening the concern is US intelligence suggesting that terrorists have obtained sophisticated airport security equipment to test how to effectively conceal explosives in laptops and other electronic devices.
The intelligence, gathered in the last several months, played a significant role in the Trump administration's decision to prohibit travelers flying out of 10 airports in eight countries in the Middle East and Africa from carrying laptops and other large electronic devices aboard planes. The findings may raise questions about whether the ban is broad enough. CNN has learned that, through a series of tests conducted late last year, the FBI determined the laptop bombs would be far more difficult for airport screeners to detect than previous versions terrorist groups have produced. The FBI testing focused on specific models of screening machines that are approved by the Transportation Security Administration and are used in the US and around the world.
Also at USA Today and The Washington Examiner.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by zocalo on Monday April 03 2017, @11:08AM (11 children)
So, the new policy basically expects passengers at these 10 airports (with more to follow, no doubt), many of whom are clearly incapable of following even the simple instructions about liquids that have been in place for more than a decade now, to remove any LiIon batteries from their devices, put the batteries in their carry on, and check the actual device. Never mind that a terrorist with a bunch of supposedly legitimate LiIon batteries (laptop + spare, cameras + spares), in their carry-on couldn't, perhaps, turn those into a bomb in the cabin, or that not every device, tablets especially, even allows you to remove the LiIon battery, so you either have to break one rule or the other to travel with it. Yeah, that's going to cause a whole load of confusion, and what does confusion lead to? Mistakes. Which is not what you really want from your security theatre, is it?
Surely a better approach would have been to just require a more invasive test of the devices? Power on to desktop and a mandatory swab with that explosive residue kit they have, perhaps? Sure, that leads to some more delays (arguably less than dealing with confused passengers, but whatever), which you could then get around that in the same way that supermarkets do; have a few equivalents of the "five items or less" line for those that don't have and prohibited items, and a few "I'm a geek" aisles for those that are travelling with a bunch of electronics. I'd be quite happy to trade an extra hour in a security queue to be able to keep my expensive gear with me, as opposed to the available options for the current approaches, which is to either not fly to the impacted destinations at all or fly a longer route to bypass the problem (and, no, I'm not checking over $10k of gear, no way, no how.)
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 1) by pTamok on Monday April 03 2017, @11:57AM (5 children)
I don't know about being dumber: it is a question of balancing risks.
You may have missed this news report: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/11/africa/somalia-plane-bomb/index.html [cnn.com]
The laptop used to carry the explosive device in that report went through X-ray screening. The explosion was not 'simply' a triggered thermal runaway of Li-ion batteries, as explosive residue was detected.
I have seen other reports of the method by which the explosive was concealed in the laptop, such that it could have a reasonable change of evading airport X-ray screening. I'm not going to go into detail here, but one of the effects of this is to make people review the screening procedures available at various airports. One of the outcomes is that, for certain airports, extra measures are necessary.
The engineering/technical sophistication required to carry this type of concealment out is quite high - more than the typical level associated with terrorism. This is concerning.
Hiding explosives such that they pass 'swab' tests is possible, as the toner cartridge plot showed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_planes_bomb_plot [wikipedia.org]
I would not be surprised if the long-term end result of this will be enhanced scrutiny of all electrical/electronic devices on all flights. That enhanced scrutiny may not be apparent to members of the general public.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by zocalo on Monday April 03 2017, @12:15PM
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 4, Insightful) by ledow on Monday April 03 2017, @12:55PM
If 300g of plastic explosive can take down a plane, do you really think that knee-jerks to device types used is in any way security rather than theatre?
It's not at all unimaginable that 300g of something can be put in just about anything whatsoever. Even the jacket you wear through security.
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Monday April 03 2017, @02:55PM
I have never believed the printer bomb story.
The UK authorities couldn't find the bombs when they searched the packages? It doesn't pass the sniff test.
I think that the whole thing was something like a false flag operation. The explosives were only "discovered" after further involvement from the US.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday April 03 2017, @04:45PM
There's one report of a laptop bomb in Namibia, in 2010 too,"Namibia parcel 'bomb' a laptop [news24.com]".
So now we are here with new cumbersome security rules for the feel-safe-procedure. Better start some scanning that will check the molecular structure or at least 3D-density of baggage.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 03 2017, @04:58PM
Or perhaps we'll find a federal judge to overrule Trump's laptop ban.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 03 2017, @01:34PM (3 children)
Trying to figure out how to do that with my sealed tablet, phone, and laptop.
(Score: 2) by zocalo on Monday April 03 2017, @03:52PM (2 children)
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 03 2017, @07:05PM (1 child)
No, there are smoke detectors.
Personally, I'd be far more concerned with sticky-fingered screeners and baggage handlers.
(Score: 2) by zocalo on Monday April 03 2017, @10:15PM
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 2) by frojack on Monday April 03 2017, @07:23PM
Power on to desktop and a mandatory swab with that explosive residue kit they have, perhaps?
I remember being required to power on to the desktop 20 years ago. Now that can be done with a credit card sized computer, leaving the rest of the laptop free for other purposes.
Explosive residue swabs are notoriously false positive prone. They are mostly for show, and only detect certain types of explosives. The dogs nose is more sensitive.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.