I fly a lot. Over the past five years, my average speed has been 32 miles an hour. That all changed mid-March. It’s been 105 days since I’ve been on an airplane — longer than any other time in my adult life — and I have no future flights scheduled. This is all a prelude … Read More “COVID-19 Risks of Flying” »
Category: airtravel
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The TSA is allowing people to bring larger bottles of hand sanitizer with them on airplanes: Passengers will now be allowed to travel with containers of liquid hand sanitizer up to 12 ounces. However, the agency cautioned that the shift could mean slightly longer waits at checkpoint because the containers may have to be screened … Read More “TSA Admits Liquid Ban Is Security Theater” »
I previously blogged about a Black Hat talk that disclosed security vulnerabilities in the Boeing 787 software. Ben Rothke concludes that the vulnerabilities are real, but not practical. Powered by WPeMatico
Boeing left its software unprotected, and researchers have analyzed it for vulnerabilities: At the Black Hat security conference today in Las Vegas, Santamarta, a researcher for security firm IOActive, plans to present his findings, including the details of multiple serious security flaws in the code for a component of the 787 known as a Crew … Read More “Software Vulnerabilities in the Boeing 787” »
The Nest home alarm system shipped with a secret microphone, which — according to the company — was only an accidental secret: On Tuesday, a Google spokesperson told Business Insider the company had made an “error.” “The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret and should have been listed in the tech specs,” … Read More “The Latest in Creepy Spyware” »
After years of claiming that the Terrorist Screening Database is kept secret within the government, we have now learned that the DHS shares it “with more than 1,400 private entities, including hospitals and universities….” Critics say that the watchlist is wildly overbroad and mismanaged, and that large numbers of people wrongly included on the list … Read More “Can Everybody Read the US Terrorist Watch List?” »
Someone is flying a drone over Gatwick Airport in order to disrupt service: Chris Woodroofe, Gatwick’s chief operating officer, said on Thursday afternoon there had been another drone sighting which meant it was impossible to say when the airport would reopen. He told BBC News: “There are 110,000 passengers due to fly today, and the … Read More “Drone Denial-of-Service Attack against Gatwick Airport” »
Last week, CNN reported that the Transportation Security Administration is considering eliminating security at U.S. airports that fly only smaller planes — 60 seats or fewer. Passengers connecting to larger planes would clear security at their destinations. To be clear, the TSA has put forth no concrete proposal. The internal agency working group’s report obtained … Read More “Don’t Fear the TSA Cutting Airport Security. Be Glad That They’re Talking about It.” »
Last month, the DHS announced that it was able to remotely hack a Boeing 757: “We got the airplane on Sept. 19, 2016. Two days later, I was successful in accomplishing a remote, non-cooperative, penetration,” said Robert Hickey, aviation program manager within the Cyber Security Division of the DHS Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate. “[Which] … Read More “Remote Hack of a Boeing 757” »
A Turkish Airlines flight made an emergency landing because someone named his wireless network (presumably from his smartphone) “bomb on board.” In 2006, I wrote an essay titled “Refuse to be Terrorized.” (I am also reminded of my 2007 essay, “The War on the Unexpected.” A decade later, it seems that the frequency of incidents … Read More “Needless Panic Over a Wi-FI Network Name” »