Tuesday, May 13, 2008

It's baaaah-d news for some sheep!!


Guys, I'm sorry about the title but I could not resist. These sheep like so many people I know are completely unaware of the insider threat.

Can security be cute and cuddly?

Stop rolling your eyes...While looking at Bruce Schneier's site, I came across a link he posted to design company's latest project. This company, Dear Dad, a European design consultancy looked at how security can often look drab or an intimidating to the normal public. While we want the bad guys to have this perception, we also want the public to feel safe and not threatened by the measures we put in place. I've seen a few of their concepts and I must say it is certainly a different approach. Nonetheless, worth checking out. I promise it's not completely "goofy".

I hope you're not too bashful....

I love the TSA blog. I know many of you guys don't like the blog - let alone the agency. There hasn't been one time when I haven't found one really cool thing they posted that I wanted to blog about. The millimeter wave scanner is certainly one topic I would like to cover.

The images above were were provided to TSA by the manufacturer of the technology, L-3. All identification features (face) were distorted to mirror the way officers in Phoenix, Baltimore, LAX, and JFK would see. I'm guessing these cities are test cities.

In case you're not aware, the millimeter is a full-body scan using ultrasonic waves to get a three-dimensional view of the body being examined. According to Wikipedia.org (no scorns from the academics or researchers - I know it's a "crap" resource but it's the only one that breaks it down easily), "In contrast to the traditional X-ray machine, which detects hard and soft materials by the variation in transmission through the target, backscatter X-ray is a newer imaging system which detects the radiation which comes back from the target. It has potential applications in almost every situation in which non-destructive examination is required, but only one side is available for examination."

The TSA stated,
"While we have said this many times, it bears repeating, TSA will not keep, store or transmit images. Once deleted, they are gone forever. For additional privacy, the officer viewing the image is in a separate room and will never see the passenger and the officer attending to the passenger will never see the image. The officers have 2-way radios to communicate with other in case a threat object is identified."
Got some place to be? Don't worry TSA has worked this out. The actual scan itself takes about 2.5 seconds. It takes about another 15 to 45 seconds for the officers actually examining the images to determine and relay back to the officers who usher you through that you are clear of any threats.

Overall, this may be what's needed to get rid of the more invasive security measures already in place. It's not perfect but neither are any of the other technologies other people may advocate. This technology does allow for us to look at individual in depth and determineif he/she poses a viable threat by discovering any concealed itmes on their person without the jeopardizing their privacy and preserving their dignity (no more being felt up).

Share your thoughts on the subject.

About Us