Monthly Archives: January 2010

So Much for a Secure Airport Area!

Sometimes I really don’t understand airp0rt security. I’ve been having boarding passes sent to my iPhone for a few months now and generally love it. I tend to lose anything in my pockets.

It struck me recently, that the screen you show to the security people when getting your carry-0n bags screened is pretty easily faked. You just need any barcode and you can type in the info you need below it. This would be about a 30-second job in Photoshop.

Save it to your cellphone and bingo — you’re into the “security” area.

Why would this work? Because the person checking boarding passes to get you to the x-ray lineup doesn’t actually scan anything. They just eyeball it — they’re looking to make sure you’re flying on that date, and they wave you in.

Of course, once you’re about to b0ard, they scan it and will figure out pretty quick that you’re using a fake screen.

But that could still get someone dangerous into what’s supposed to be a very secure area.

Is this something that hasn’t crossed their minds?