21 Major US airports have failed a security test and let bomb materials through. Of course, Homeland Security officials are surprised and TSA claims some kind of unfinished training while stating that security is the prime objective of the company. Should you be worried, so long and so much money after 9-11?
The fact of the matter is that the bomb material that was sneaked in had nothing to do with what the available screening technologies look for, that is to say traditional traces of traditional explosive. With a good insider knowledge of what goes on in the airport as far as screening goes, the teams in charge of testing the security smuggled common household products that only become explosive when combined together. So, TSA failed, by lack of equipment, and security was breached, allowing through material capable of taking an airplane down in each of the 21 tested airport. Did the Feds cheat?
Since 9-11, all the security measures and equipment that had been deployed across the nation’s airports and in the planes have been tested over and over, and most of the time failed the tests. If passive measures like the armored doors in the cockpit, made sense, expensive devices like the explosive seeking scanners can be fooled by people who understand the technology and are smart enough to make home-made explosives or weapons.
Air Marshals make sense! Profiling makes sense! Preventing carry on luggage makes sense to avoid a post screening mixture of chemicals, one or many terrorists could have smuggled in separately! Confining pilots in their locked and armored cockpit for the duration of the flight makes sense (toilets should be included in the front and food provided)! Banning non long-term citizen in cleaning and security jobs makes sense (with a least ten years of possible background investigation)!
As far as high-tech gadgets go, like your average computer, they are as secure as the day they were designed according to outdated and “reactive” specific requirements, meaning that the day they are deployed, they are not only already obsolete but also “open sources”, that is to say readily available to study inside out for people to find ways to “beat” them. Anyone who has been trained in the fun and highly imaginative art of “booby trapping”, already knows how to make sneaky mean stuff such as an undetectable pressure trigger with a simple bowl and some plastic wrap, or turn a simple thing such as a car”s sun visor into a lethal nail-stuffed explosive device. And you thought that you were really safe!
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