RedSnapper

Link to the story, from Yahoo! Travel

So who wants to buy it? For under $10K, one might be able to finally measure the radiation output of these things and find out what they can and can't do.

Loren Pechtel

And if you want to scan freight:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rapiscan-532...3D111519265986


If they were still in use I would hope some researcher could find the funding. It's pretty much moot at this point, though.

Yoshi212

Anyone remember/know the acquisition price paid by DHS for these waste of taxpayer's money?

NJFlyer42

Could be a very cool device for industrial processes. Imagine using it with packed distillation column (or a few plates). I woder if they are fast enough to measure behavior inside a grinder or fluidized bed.

I can imagine a number of factories could use one.

N830MH

You got kidding at me?!?! You still have old scanner? We won't buy a new scanner. Absolutely not!!!

FriendlySkies

Just what I was hoping to receive for Hanukkah!! I can put it at my front door and require people to go through screening before entering

Interesting to see the note about it being sent to the Bureau of Prisons. Too bad for those prisoners who will undoubtedly be forced to be scanned with the RapiScan.

dimramon

If you order now, you also get 2 boxes of contaminated gloves!

javabytes

If this dude is reselling them for $8k, I wonder what he's buying them at. Maybe I should get one and set it up at my house and make the postman walk through it every time he wants to deliver mail. You know, for my security.

Yoshi212

I'm sure his Union would have a few things to say about that.

guflyer

I do not think that anyone should be subjected to this type of radiation without a medical purpose. As such, I think that it would be cruel for anyone to purchase one of these with the intent of making friends, service workers, etc. walk through one. However, I do not have an issue with people purchasing these to learn about the technology.

FliesWay2Much

Federal Times says $160K per copy. This doesn't count the cost for installation, checkout, sustaining engineering, and maintenance. A good ballpark life-cycle cost would be $200K per Cancer Box.

Chertoff, Inc., absorbed the cost to remove the machines, but, I'll bet the government paid them contract termination costs that more than covered the company's expense.

In the few minutes I had, I couldn't find any info about the Cancer Box auction.

nachtnebel

None of you spotted the fine print in the sale description

"Comes with TSA operator required for operation".


I guess this would be in the category of Trunk Monkey. Only less useful.

Also, notice that you can make an offer for less than the price listed. But only if you're willing to drive to Chattanooga TN. They don't ship.

FliesWay2Much

Just one? More like 8 TSA clerks. I wonder if the unit comes with the voyeur remote hardware?

RedSnapper

It looks like academia has already gotten its hands on one of these things. The results are about what we would expect...

From: K. Mowery, E. Wustrow, T. Wypych, C. Singleton, C. Comfort, E. Rescorla, S. Checkoway, J. Al. Halderman, H. Shacham, Proceedings of the 23rd USENIX Security Symposium , August 2014. For further information, visit https://radsec.org/

Abstract:

Advanced imaging technologies are a new class of people screening systems used at airports and other sensitive environments to detect metallic as well as nonmetallic contraband. We present the first independent security evaluation of such a system, the Rapiscan Secure 1000 full-body scanner, which was widely deployed at airport checkpoints in the U.S. from 2009 until 2013. We find that the system provides weak protection against adaptive
adversaries: It is possible to conceal knives, guns, and explosives from detection by exploiting properties of the device’s backscatter X-ray technology. We also investigate cyberphysical threats and propose novel attacks that use malicious software and hardware to compromise the effectiveness, safety, and privacy of the device. Overall, our findings paint a mixed picture of the Secure 1000 that carries lessons for the design, evaluation, and operation of advanced imaging technologies, for the ongoing public debate concerning their use, and for cyberphysical security more broadly.

nachtnebel

Dunno. If the voyeur booth *is* included, I do hope it's been well sanitized.

The article linked above by RedSnapper describes an ingenious way that anyone near the scanner can get the scanned image of the person by standing in a judicious location using a small detector to trap the data emanating from the scan.

Also, take a look at the image quality in the article. They are clear and highly detailed nude images. I'm still shaking my head that the jackasses at TSA could ever have thought this was acceptable. At least the Brits knew this ran afoul of their child pornography laws and exempted children.