Is the liquids ban no more?

by Grant Martin on

It’s hard to remember a time when liquids were openly allowed on a plane, when wine runs to Paris were plausible and when bringing a full water bottle past security wasn’t considered a shame-worthy sin. For several years now the TSA has ardently enforced a 3-1-1 rule, effectively restricting anyone from carrying liquids in containers over 100mL onto an airplane.

As time and tempers have faded, however, so has enforcement. Now when marching through the security line it seems that a few containers over 100mL can slip through the X-ray and that few are asked to remove and display their liquids. Our old friend Chris Elliott writes up a few first hand accounts over at MSNBC, where from his perspective it almost appears that the ban is no longer.

Needless to say, take Mr. Elliott’s experiences with a grain of salt. Officially, the 3-1-1 policy is still in place, and anyone bringing an egregious amount of liquid or citing his article is surely going to get rebuffed. For now, count your blessings that the TSA might be looking the other way and cross your fingers that the policy soon becomes permanent.

How to break into a hotel room with a rubber band

by Jeremy Kressmann on

This past February, we showed you a video of how easily a thief could break into a hotel room, using nothing more than a simple piece of wire. Apparently that’s not the only way. According to a recent video posted at Blackbag, the blog of professional lock picker Barry Weis, a hotel room chain lock can be opened with nothing more than a simple rubber band. Watch in disbelief as a hand slips through the crack in the door, latches on a rubber band, and pulls the chain out of the bolt. It’s an amazingly cunning trick, thought it does raise a few questions. For instance, how would a thief using this trick get the door open if it was locked from the outside?

Before breaking into a state of safety hysteria, remember that not every hotel room is a burglary waiting to happen. Use common sense and don’t leave your valuables lying around when you leave the room. Use the in-room or hotel safe. And if possible, try to stay in rooms with bar-style locks rather than chain ones.

[Via View from the Wing]

Airport security “allegedly” caught playing solitaire

by Sean McLachlan on

Once again, airport security is screwing up in public.

My wife, son, and I passed through Madrid’s Barajas airport to fly to London yesterday. While waiting to board, I “allegedly” caught this police officer playing solitaire on the computer at the police checkpoint. She was so engrossed in her game that I was able to take four shots of her without her noticing.

Granted, nobody was boarding at that moment, so she might technically have been on break, but she was in full view of the public and within sight of several gates for international flights, so she had better things to keep her eyes on. When I worked security for IBM back in my college days we were under strict instructions not to take breaks within sight of the public because (duh) it made it look like we were slacking off.

This isn’t the first time airport security has been caught playing solitaire, and considering that there was a deadly terrorist bombing in Spain less than a year ago, I think Spanish airport police should be a bit more watchful.

If anyone at Barajas is interested, this occurred on March 30 at 2:44 PM local time at Gate H22 of Terminal 4. I have the officer’s badge number in case you want to contact me.

NOTE: My editors asked me to insert “allegedly” into this post to cover our collective legal asses, but I know what I saw. I take my family’s security seriously. More seriously than this cop, allegedly.

Keep your data safe when connecting to public wireless hotspots

by Scott Carmichael on

How about we open this article with some good old fashioned scaremongering? Any time you connect to a public Wi-Fi hotspot, almost every single piece of data you transmit can be picked up by anyone within range of the same network.

When you connect to an unencrypted Internet hotspot, almost everything sent between your computer and the Internet is sent in a format that anyone can read when they install a small piece of software.

There are hundreds of free “network analyzers/sniffers” available on the Internet, and even untrained users will be able to start sniffing wireless traffic in a matter of minutes. Now, before you freak out too much, you need to know that not all traffic is susceptible to snooping, and that there are ways to protect yourself. Also important to know – sites and services like banks and email providers use a secure Internet protocol that makes snooping virtually impossible.

(Photo from Flickr/Corypina)
Turn off “auto connect”

On your computer, make sure “auto connect to Wi-Fi hotspots” isn’t enabled. Always verify that the hotspot you are connecting to is indeed from the provider you want.

There are real scams out there, usually involving wireless hotspots called “Free public Wi-Fi” – these “honeypot” hotspots are set up with the sole purpose of trying to steal your data. If you really need to get online, the urge to connect to the first open hotspot you find may be tempting, but it pays to be secure.

Don’t share files on your computer

When you connect to a wireless hotspot, anything you are sharing on your computer, may be shared with anyone else connected to that network.

So, to prevent this make sure you either disable the file and printer sharing feature, end the files/folder sharing option, or pick the correct network type. Only the most recent versions of Windows will present you with the network “location” popup, so be sure to pick wisely.

Get yourself a 3G or 4G adapter

Don’t trust working on a public network at all? Invest in a 3G or 4G wireless broadband adapter, and you won’t have to worry about people listening in on your data. Network connections with a mobile broadband service are encrypted, and extremely tough to hack/eavesdrop.

Of course, your own 3G adapter comes at a price – you’ll be paying around $50 for access, and you’ll be limited to the coverage area of the operator, but if the information you transmit is really important, the investment won’t be hard to justify.

Create your own secure connection with a VPN

A VPN – or Virtual Private Network is a system that transports your Internet traffic to a secure server, then passes it on to the Internet. By using a VPN, everything sent between your computer and the VPN service is encrypted. Access to a VPN is usually pretty simple if you work for a large company. but even consumers can get their own VPN setup without too much hassle.

The easiest, and most popular (free) consumer solution is Hotpot Shield. With Hotspot Shield, you simply enable the application when you are at a public hotspot, and your traffic is securely sent over their VPN.

Another solution (that I’ve used a lot myself) is Hotspot VPN. Their no-frills web site lets you create a VPN connection (which you have to manually configure). Hotspot VPN is available for under $9/month, or for $3.88 if you only want a day pass.

Once you have set up a VPN, all Internet traffic on your computer passes through the secure servers of the VPN company, making eavesdropping nearly impossible.

More advanced users may want to consider setting up their own VPN at home, using Open VPN, or even by installing an improved firmware version on their router, turning it into a router/VPN server.

Connect securely to your home PC, then connect to sites you need

Several weeks ago, we reviewed Logmein – a service that lets your remotely connect to your computer. With Logmein, you can connect to your home PC using the Logmein software, your browser, or the Logmein Ignition client for the iPhone.

Once connected to your home PC, you can use all the Internet applications you want – securely. The downside is of course that your home PC needs to be turned on 24/7 for the connection to work.

Secure sites are your best bet



Staying secure is as simple as making sure the sites you connect to are secure – so always look for the https:// and/or padlock symbol in your browser. Modern browsers also allow you to hover with your mouse over the site name to be sure it is a verified web service, and not a spoof.

ALL traffic is vulnerable – not just web traffic

Just because you are a responsible user that keeps an eye open for the “padlock” in your browser, doesn’t mean you are safe.

ALL traffic you send over Wi-Fi could be vulnerable. This includes your Twitter application, photo upload programs and anything else that accesses the Internet. When possible, make sure your applications access the service using a secure connection. If in doubt – don’t use them.

Firewall your computer

Always make sure your computer has a reliable firewall installed. Many systems come with this nowadays, so make sure you have it turned on, and set to block incoming traffic. Firewall software is usually “set and forget”, so there is no excuse for not being protected.

Don’t forget your mobile device(s)

Keep in mind that your handheld device is just as vulnerable as your laptop computer. Anything you transmit in the open on an iPhone or other Wi-Fi enabled device can be intercepted.

Thankfully, modern devices like the iPhone and Droid also support VPN connections – so if you really want to be secure, consider subscribing to a VPN service, or setting up your own VPN server.

Restrict what you do on Wi-Fi

This final tip is also the easiest to implement – don’t do anything on Wi-Fi that you wouldn’t want to share with anyone else. This means no bill payments, no Ebay auctions or anything else that could get you in trouble if someone grabbed your user name and password. Don’t underestimate how quickly someone can grab your password and start stealing from you.

Six disastrous consequences of fighting flight attendants

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The Association of Flight Attendants has been leaning on Congress to amp up counter-terrorism measures in the cabin. After all, the security teams in the airports haven’t exactly impressed over the past few years. So, what happens to the passengers and crew when some scumbag finds a way to tote a gun, knife or oversized bottle of shampoo on board? The flight attendants’ union believes it has the answer: hand-to-hand combat. Whether it’s a killer choke hold or a beverage cart to the ‘nads, they’re ready to take charge.

Well, the Association of Flight Attendants, which represents more than 55,000 employees at 20 airlines, actually has a four-point plan to increase cabin safety, but most of it is pretty boring. The group proposes communications devices to help them speak directly to the pilots when an emergency breaks out, standardized carry-on luggage size (to make it easier to spot the suspicious people with oversized bags) and the terminating of in-flight wifi during periods of peak terror risk.

And, the grappling, kicking and boxing.

Someday, this will probably be remembered as one of those “What the hell were they thinking?” moments – if it’s remembered at all. But, for now, it’s something that the flight attendants’ group has plopped on the table, and it strikes me as unlikely to make a difference. Why?

Here are six reasons to get you started:1. It hasn’t made a difference so far
According to Corey Caldwell, a spokeswoman for the association, combat training is currently optional for flight attendants, and those who pursue it have to do so on their own time. If this train is so important, I’d think that making it mandatory would be unnecessary, as such skills would already be common. If I thought there were a substantial threat to my safety every day at work, I’d commit to staying safe. Also, I haven’t seen any reports lately of a flight attendant, trained in the ways of the warrior, rescuing passengers from evil clutches. I applaud those who pursue it on their own but don’t see a whole lot of reasons for passengers (or taxpayers) to pick up the tab on this one.

2. It isn’t as simple as it sounds
Basic hand-to-hand combat may not equip a flight attendant to take on a wizened warrior who’s spent time in a terrorist training camp or battled the Soviets for a decade. It may work; it may not. But, this is hardly a silver bullet. Further, an overzealous flight attendant combatant could make a bad situation worse (e.g., a hostage situation that is not destined to end in a mix of suicide and homicide). If I have a chance of getting out alive, I’m not sure I’d welcome some sort of flying drop kick from the FA.

3. Why not go straight to guns?
If the point is to neutralize or eliminate a threat, why screw around with fisticuffs? Let’s bring some heat to bear on the situation. Flight attendants could board strapped and ready to rumble. If this sounds absurd, it’s a matter of degree. Mandatory and-to-hand combat training entails equipping flight attendants to use force to solve a problem. Any weapon, from fists to firearms, brings with it a certain set of risks (e.g., being overpowered, misuse of training). So, if we don’t trust flight attendants to don shoulder holsters, we should probably think about other forms of violence, however justified.

4. Terrorists have been stopped without this training
We saw this only a few months ago, with the Christmas bomber’s unsuccessful attempt. Also, the “shoe bomber” didn’t get far. Both incidents do raise the issue of whether better screening, observation and identification measures are needed on board (ummm, yeah), but these are the scenarios in which fists would fly, and ninja flight attendants weren’t necessary.

5. There’s a role for judgment
This one worries the hell out of me. Thinking back to the orange juice debacle on American Airlines, I’m not sure I’d issue rules of engagement that involve ass-kicking. What ultimately led to an FAA warning for the passenger (and PR disaster for American) could have been a bloody mess. Well, that’s assuming the other FAs didn’t come to the passenger’s aid, triggering a fight to the death in the first class cabin. “Hold my Blackberry and pass me the nunchucks.”

6. Who makes the call?
Violence for the sake of safety, I believe, is best left to trained killer. I choose that expression carefully, referring to people who know how to apply force and in what amounts to remove a threat. Military personnel, police officers, Blackwater consultants – these folks don’t just learn how to execute a hold or squeeze the trigger. They learn about situations and conditions in which it’s appropriate. As early as basic training (now a long time ago for me), I remember having rules of engagement drilled into me. Ultimately, a lot of people would have had to make a lot of decisions in order for me to send a round down range. On a plane, would it be any flight attendant’s decision? The most senior? Or, would it have to come from the cockpit? If we can’t trust a soldier to inflict violence without a hefty amount of forethought, I’m not crazy about an FA having that sort of power.

What’s truly disconcerting about the scheme is a remark by Caldwell: “We are not taking on more responsibility.” Really? She continues, “We just want more tools to make the plane safer,” but it seems like that isn’t possible without taking on – you guessed it – more responsibility. If you’re going to clock a passenger in the jaw, you need to be ready to own the decision. If it’s truly justified, there’s nothing to worry about.