Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Please don't read this if you are a terrorist

Rapiscan Secure 1000 full-body scanners not 100 percent secure

Beyond creating controversy over the lifelike nude body images they generated, the Rapiscan Secure 1000 full-body scanners deployed at airports nationwide were susceptible to missing various contraband, researchers from UC San Diego, the University of Michigan, and Johns Hopkins University conclude in a study released on August 20.

"Frankly, we were shocked by what we found," said University of Michigan computer-science professor J. Alex Halderman in an announcement accompanying the release. "A clever attacker can smuggle contraband past the machines using surprisingly low-tech techniques."

Sponsored
Sponsored

During their study of the machines, researchers were able to conceal firearms and plastic explosives from the machine. They were also able to manipulate the scanners' software to give a false "all clear" indication even when contraband had been detected.

"The system’s designers seem to have assumed that attackers would not have access to a Secure 1000 to test and refine their attacks," says Hovav Shacham, a professor of computer science at UC San Diego, who noted that testing for the system was conducted without public or independent expert input. "Secret testing should be replaced or augmented by rigorous, public, independent testing of the sort common in computer security."

Researchers say they were able to easily obtain a Secure 1000 machine from government surplus stock via an eBay auction and that it should be assumed a sophisticated terror operation would be capable of doing the same.

After the scanners' removal from airports last year amid an uproar over privacy concerns, they've found new lives in jails, courthouses, and government buildings. The research group says it has provided suggestions for making the repurposed machines more secure but that they're still not foolproof.

"Any screening process that uses these machines has to take into account their limitations," said Shacham.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Mary Catherine Swanson wants every San Diego student going to college

Where busing from Southeast San Diego to University City has led
Next Article

Aaron Stewart trades Christmas wonders for his first new music in 15 years

“Just because the job part was done, didn’t mean the passion had to die”

Beyond creating controversy over the lifelike nude body images they generated, the Rapiscan Secure 1000 full-body scanners deployed at airports nationwide were susceptible to missing various contraband, researchers from UC San Diego, the University of Michigan, and Johns Hopkins University conclude in a study released on August 20.

"Frankly, we were shocked by what we found," said University of Michigan computer-science professor J. Alex Halderman in an announcement accompanying the release. "A clever attacker can smuggle contraband past the machines using surprisingly low-tech techniques."

Sponsored
Sponsored

During their study of the machines, researchers were able to conceal firearms and plastic explosives from the machine. They were also able to manipulate the scanners' software to give a false "all clear" indication even when contraband had been detected.

"The system’s designers seem to have assumed that attackers would not have access to a Secure 1000 to test and refine their attacks," says Hovav Shacham, a professor of computer science at UC San Diego, who noted that testing for the system was conducted without public or independent expert input. "Secret testing should be replaced or augmented by rigorous, public, independent testing of the sort common in computer security."

Researchers say they were able to easily obtain a Secure 1000 machine from government surplus stock via an eBay auction and that it should be assumed a sophisticated terror operation would be capable of doing the same.

After the scanners' removal from airports last year amid an uproar over privacy concerns, they've found new lives in jails, courthouses, and government buildings. The research group says it has provided suggestions for making the repurposed machines more secure but that they're still not foolproof.

"Any screening process that uses these machines has to take into account their limitations," said Shacham.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The Art Of Dr. Seuss, Boarded: A New Pirate Adventure, Wild Horses Festival

Events December 26-December 30, 2024
Next Article

Mary Catherine Swanson wants every San Diego student going to college

Where busing from Southeast San Diego to University City has led
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader