• NJIT physicist: Terahertz imaging is the ultimate defense against terrorism

    THz imaging systems have an inherent advantage over millimeter wave imaging systems owing to the intrinsically improved spatial resolution that one can achieve with the shorter wavelength THz systems (typically 300 micrometer wavelength) compared to longer wavelength millimeter wave systems; instruments using terahertz imaging are widely used in laboratories and have shown some limited use in commercial applications — but a THz imaging system for security screening of people has not yet reached the market; the NJIT THz device has great promise

  • TSA: Tablets and Netbooks need not be taken out of their cases to be screened

    TSA allows that electronic items smaller than the standard sized laptop need to be removed from a bag or a case at an airport security check-point to be scanned; TSA says this applies to the Apple iPad and netbooks, as well as the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble nook, and other e-book readers

  • Senator Collins: U.S. airport full-body scanners inferior to those deployed in Amsterdam

    Maine’s junior U.S. senator says the full-body scanners DHS is deploying in the wake of the Christmas Day airline bomb threat are not the best devices available

  • U.S. institutes new, targeted security protocols for travelers to U.S.

    The United States is replacing broad screening of all in-coming travelers with a more targeted approach; the intelligence-based security system is devised to raise flags about travelers whose names do not appear on no-fly watch lists, but whose travel patterns or personal traits create suspicions

  • U.S. loosens security measures for travelers from 14 Muslim countries

    Following the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt on a Detroit-bound plane, the United States imposed much stricter security measures on travelers to the United States from fourteen Muslim countries; DHS announced over the weekend that these measures will now be loosened, and that new measures, utilizing “real-time, threat-based intelligence” will be used instead

  • FAA bolsters cybersecurity with help from IBM

    Malware introduced into the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) computer network which monitors and controls U.S. aviation can bring down a plane and cause havoc as surely as liquid explosives or underwear bombs can; the IBM is teaming up with the FAA to build a cybersecurity system which will improve defense against cyberattacks on the U.S. civilian aviation network; the flexible model used in the prototype system will be designed to look retrospectively at event occurrences and system compromises, and it will also be able to correlate historical traffic patterns with dynamic data from monitors, sensors, and other devices capturing information about network traffic and user activity in real time

  • IATA launches safety information exchange

    Four aviation organizations — the International Air Transport Association, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the Commission of the European Union — sign an agreement to create an international aviation safety data exchange; the four organizations will now start work on a way to standardize safety audit information and ensure compliance with local privacy laws and policies

  • TSA general aviation manager says new LASP due this fall

    Two years ago the TSA proposed strict security measures for general aviation’s larger planes; this Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP) generated more than 9,000 negative comments and was ridiculed as being written by people with no knowledge of general and corporate aviation; TSA now says it seeks “a less adversarial relationship with the industry,” that a proposal for more limited security measures will be out in the fall for public comments

  • Children must go through full body scanners at U.K. airports

    U.K. transport minister says that to exclude children from going through full body scanners risked undermining the security measures at U.K. airports; the government’s code of practice on the scanners said airport security staff had all been vetted, including a check of criminal and security service records

  • Nigeria installs body scanners at airport

    Lagos international airport installs three full-body scanners at a cost of $300,000 each. Nigeria’s three other international airports — in the capital Abuja, the oil town of Port Harcourt, and the largest northern city, Kano — are also scheduled to be equipped with the scanners

  • Smartphones, PDAs may be used to avoid long security lines at airports

    TSA is looking at installing devices in airports that home in and detect personal electronic equipment; the goal is to track how long people are stuck in security lines; information about wait times could then be posted on Web sites and in airports across the United States; civil libertarians worry

  • Bluetooth signals monitor airport security-line waiting times

    Purdue University researchers use Bluetooth signals from cell phones and other wireless devices to track how long it takes travelers to get through security lines at the Indianapolis International Airport; the data can be used to help airports make more accurate staffing decisions and aid security officials comparing wait times at airports across the country

  • TSA to propose more limited security measures for general aviation

    The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has opted for relaxing proposed security measure for general aviation (GA); the new plan is likely to exempt all general aviation aircraft smaller than mid-size jets as defined by maximum takeoff weight or fuel capacity; pilots of such mid-size and larger GA aircraft would be required to go through a vetting process and earn “trusted pilot” credentials

  • One frequent flyer finds himself on TSA's selectee list

    Ray Davis from Mansfield, Michigan — he describes himself as “just a Mansfield nobody” — was placed on TSA’s selectee list for no reason he can fathom; the list contains some 18,000 people deemed suspect by TSA, but not suspect enough to stay permanently grounded; the selectees are subjected to third and fourth once-overs of passports, hand inspection of luggage, and the like

  • TSA: Full-body scanner safe for prostheses

    Full-body scanners are safe for passenger with artificial body parts — from replaced hips to augmented breasts; TSA says the scaners uses low-energy X-rays that do not penetrate the skin: prosthetic devices, artificial limbs, and surgically replaced body parts will not show up on the body scan image