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What normal looks like
July 31, 2007 ( politics )
Bruce Schneier, one of the clearer and more levelheaded voices in security and privacy, recently interviews Kip Hawley, the TSA chief shoe-inspector. Bruce asks Kip hard questions, and Kip dodges or gives you the distinct impression that he's straight up lying. After a chain of questions about the pointlessness of shoe checking and the "War on Liquids", Kip responds that indeed, the TSA is adaptive, and not just reacting to foiled plots:
Our security strategy assumes an adaptive terrorist, and that looking backwards is not a reliable predictor of the next type of attack. Yes, we screen for shoe bombs and liquids, because it would be stupid not to directly address attack methods that we believe to be active. Overall, we are getting away from trying to predict what the object looks like and looking more for the other markers of a terrorist. (Don't forget, we see two million people a day, so we know what normal looks like.)
Well, that'd explain why my long-haired-hippie self always gets special treatment at the 2-gated San Angelo airport, which recently upgraded to skybridges so you don't have to deplane onto the tarmac anymore.
PS, if you know Bruce, you should check out some Schneier facts to see if you *really* know Bruce.
Posted by griffjon at July 31, 2007 09:00 PM
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