Fake Boarding Pass
What happens when people intentionally break the law to showcase weakness in the system? I harped on ABC news a couple of years ago when they tried to gain access to a secure airport area in order to sensationalize their perceived lack of adequate security procedures at airports. That plot backfired when alert employees called law enforcement officials after noticing the individuals acting suspiciously.
Well, another instance of trying to show a weakness in airline security procedures has come to our attention. This time, it wasn’t a news agency that was out to sensationalize a lapse in security, it was a college student. Indiana University PhD student Chris Soghoin posted an online boarding pass creator that allowed people to create and print fake Northwest Airlines boarding passes right from his website. He says that his intent was not to allow criminals to gain access to secure areas of the airport, but instead to show the TSA the flaws in the system. He got their attention all right, and the attention of the FBI and other federal officials.
The reaction at this time is mixed. Some are calling for criminal prosecution. Others such as U.S. House of Representative Homeland Security Committee member Ed Markey have called for the Department of Homeland Security to put him to work fixing loopholes like the one he discovered.
Although the intent may have been noble, the way that Soghoin went about highlighting the security weakness was totally inappropriate. Why not approach local law enforcement or government officials? Why not show them the boarding pass creator without making it available to the general public? Just the act of posting the tool online should be treated as a criminal action.
What do you think?
Joe Escobar
A private citizen telling a government agency it may have made a mistake and created a possible security breach? You really think they (the agency) would listen? What he should have done is apply for a multi-million dollar grant to study the possible breach!
If this is the ‘best and brightest’ that academia is turning out these days, we are in deep trouble. Instead of working on something productive for the benefit of society, this moron sets himself up for criminal prosecution. As Jay Leno would say, in his stupid criminal jokes segment, “You IDIOT!” And they are about to confer a doctorate on this guy? How about giving him a ‘fake degree’ that he could put on the wall of his prison cell? DUH!
Punish him for what? Let’s be real here. He has merely done what any hijacker could do, and made the threat that already exists public knowledge. Do you think for a moment that it would have captured attention had he merely tried to call the authorities and report his concerns? Have you had any luck resolving problems with government entities?
Unfortunately, I think we’ve previously seen situations in which an individual tried to point out flaws in ‘the system’, and was virtually ignored. I have no confidence that this scenario would have yielded different results. However, this guy displayed poor judgement in posting something so vulnerable to his public blog. Joe is right on, the guy should get the wet noodle.
Punish him to the full extene of the law!
By putting into the public domain a product that would allow someone with harmful intent into areas designed to be secure he clearly chose to be accessory to potential crime.
It’s the same as if someone designed a tool to open bank vaults and then gave it to a criminal.
Punish the messenger? How ignorant is that? I think that This guy should be given a job fixing holes in the system.
of course that would be too sensible for our current administration. The current system is flawed and at best is a feel good for ignorant passengers. Draconian measures will never get results.
JAIL HIM !!!! Do you run red lights or rob banks or mug old ladies, just to expose weaknesses in the system ? If one is certain that there is a flaw, and he/she has a solution, it is their responsibility to bring it to the attention of the proper autorities.Reward this kind of vigilantism and we’ll have every hacker trying to crack the security systems that this great country has in place.