RatherBeOnATrain

Courtesy of your $5.60/flight TSA tax:

Boggie Dog

Disgusting and a misuse of tax dollars.

yandosan

Goebbels would be proud.
Propaganda will be an invaluable tool for indoctrinating the next
generation of travelers; however, I am trouble by the claim that
TSA officers "can spot things." Didn't a recent study show they
missed about 95% of the "dangerous items" they were supposed to find?

Section 107

Not exactly. The recent report showed that ~95%+ of a limited number of specific red team tests were failed, not that 95% of all screenings were failed.

It's an important distinction - along the lines of the difference in quality when your neighborhood teenager palms a card during a magic show for your 5 year-old's birthday party versus Penn and Teller doing close up magic at the Magic Castle in front of all their peers.

Most passengers aren't purposefully trying to sneak things past security. OTOH, red team operators are purposefully trying to sneak contraband past with the benefits that they are experts at sneaking contraband past checkpoints; know all of the technical strengths, weaknesses and vulnerabilities of the equipment; and have lots of practice doing it on the equipment before they go do it in the field. So the deck is stacked in their favor in getting prohibited items through the checkpoints.

Having said that, yes, TSA's mostly well-meaning lugnuts are only good at catching nail clippers and hydroxilic acid. Much to the smiles of the shareholders of the Aquafina and Desani trademarks.

Boggie Dog

There seems to be some confusion about who conducted the test where TSA screeners failed 95% of the time in detecting test objects.

It is my understanding that these tests were carried out by staff from the DHS OIG's office and not by TSA Red Team members.

I agree that these people probably have a good understanding of weaknesses in the TSA screening process but I would also expect that any dedicated and well funded group trying to carry out a terrorist attack would likely have much the same information.

Bottom line, if TSA can only find the common things then what good are they really?

Carl Johnson

That's not true.

spd476

Those red team guys use sneaky methods, such as taping the device to their back.

Does the TSA activity book explain to kids why the TSA has to touch them in areas that their parents have told them not to let strangers touch? It could also explain that they once they turn 13, they will get treated like an adult and have to remove their shoes, lose any special treatment they got for being a kid, etc.

Section 107

What is not true?

The tests were performed by DHS OIG Investigators (aka the "Red Team"). Screeners did not detect the WEI in 67 of the 70 attempts.

Are you objecting to the characterization of 70 tests as "limited"?

Boggie Dog

My understanding is that the Red Teams are part of TSA not DHS OIG.

Section 107

"Red Team" is really a slang term or term of art, to refer to friendlies who test an organization's facilities/operations/practices as if they were a malicious adversary. It is a term the general public easily understands from its use in popular culture and quite possibly from experience in the military or security sectors.

TSA, an agency of the Dept of Homeland Insecurity, has employees assigned to regularly and covertly attempt to penetrate security practices. These employees work in groups that internally and unofficially refer to themselves as "red teams."

DHS OIG, a completely separate agency of DHS, also has employees assigned to test the practices of the other DHS organizations. These employees do not refer to themselves as members of a "red team."

The fact that these investigators do not call themselves members of a red team does not mean they do not fit the commonly understood meaning of red team.

As with all things related to the government one must be able to read between the lines.

IG Roth was absolutely truthful when he said the employees who conducted the penetration exercises were members of the regular OIG staff and not the employees from TSA's red teams. And he was 100% truthful when he said the investigators don't have specialized training or background in security penetration testing.

However, do not believe for a minute that these were just joe schmoe auditors who got together one day and said, "hey, just for a lark let's see what we can sneak past a checkpoint tomorrow" and then went out and did it. Not hardly. Penetration testing takes a lot of planning and even if the individuals that went through the checkpoints didn't have specialized training and background the folks that prepped and taught them how to conduct the tests sure did.

Boggie Dog

The bottom line is that TSA screeners did very poorly on the tests which should be a cause of concern.

If the tests were no big deal then why did Jeh Johnson relieve the acting head of TSA?

Carl Johnson

So what you're saying is that it wasn't a red team, and they didn't do anything special to penetrate the checkpoint any more than a random passenger who accidentally brought something to the checkpoint, but you would rather just make up stuff than admit the truth.

Section 107

No, that is not all what I wrote. But I recognize you are completely free to misinterpret the plain language I used and jump through whatever mental gymnastics you like.

Look, I am not denying, excusing or justifying the performance of the TSA.
I am only clarifying the apparent assertion that 95% of screenings fail to find prohibited items.

Such a failure rate would mean more than 44,000 firearms successfully (or failingly as it were) cleared checkpoints in 2014 (the 2,212 firearms TSA reported interdicting in 2014 = 5%). We would be hearing a lot more about guns on airplanes if that were the case.

Section 107

Agreed. I did not say nor imply the test results were no big deal; they absolutely are a big deal.

I am saying (although Carl Johnson clearly disagrees that this is what I am saying) is that although the literal OIG investigators who walked the prohibited items through the checkpoints were not "super terrorists" the tests were conducted with the benefit of the knowledge, experience, and training of friendly "super terrorists" (aka., "red team" members).

T-the-B

I don't know that we would be hearing a lot about guns on airplanes with that kind of a failure rate. I personally know two individuals who inadvertently carried guns through the checkpoint that were undetected. They both, once on the secure side, realized what had happened and immediately exited the terminal and locked the guns in their cars before returning. I suspect that anyone who successfully brings an undetected gun through security, whether intentional or not, would be reticent to advertise the fact.

I know another individual who carried a knife for several years, averaging around 25 trips per year, without it ever once being detected. It it entirely plausible to me that TSA could miss 95% of the time when someone is putting deliberate effort into getting a prohibited item through security.