Thu, Dec 10, 2009
Secret Airport Screening Parameters Inadvertently Made
Public
TSA has inadvertently posted some of its most secret airport
screening procedures online in a way that makes them available to
the public, including special rules for diplomats, CIA personnel,
and law enforcement officers.
The 93 page manual posted online was redacted in such a way that
a reasonably computer-literate reader could gain access to the
secret information. Some of what was uncovered were samples of
Congressional and law enforcement credentials that could be fairly
easy to duplicate.
ABC News reports that other improperly-redacted information
reveals that only 20 percent of checked bags are required to be
hand-searched for explosives, and show the limitations of x-ray
screening equipment.
"This shocking breach undercuts the public's confidence in the
security procedures at our airports," said Senator Susan
Collins(R-ME), ranking minority member of the Senate Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "On the day before the
Senate Homeland Security Committee's hearing on terrorist travel,
it is alarming to learn that the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) inadvertently posted its own security manual
on the Internet."
TSA contends that the document found online is outdated. A
spokesman said it was "improperly posted by the agency to the
Federal Business Opportunities Web site wherein redacted material
was not properly protected." The agency requested that it be taken
down, but it had already gone viral on the Internet.
The document lists special screening procedures for law
enforcement personnel. TSA screeners are also told to give extra
attention to people traveling under a passport issued from any one
of a dozen specified countries.
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