Passenger screening gimmick stuck at the gate | The Register

Passenger screening gimmick stuck at the gate | The Register: "The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is behind schedule in developing a new terrorist-busting database system called Secure Flight... here we have something out of Star Trek, in which taxpayers are investing billions, with so many potential points of failure that it will be a miracle if it doesn't increase the risk of hijackings.

It be full of bad data that will repeatedly flag and inconvenience the wrong travellers. (The existing CAPPS system didn't stop the 9/11 hijackers, although it did catch US Senator Edward Kennedy and former singer Cat Stevens, for example.)

Worse, a system such as this is, by design, exceptionally easy for terrorists to reverse-engineer. By making a series of 'dry runs,' a terrorist crew can easily learn which members get flagged and which don't, insight of tremendous value for choosing the individuals most likely to succeed in an actual attack."