You Can Easily Hack an Airport With a Laptop, Expert Warns

Hacker using laptop. Lots of digits on the computer screen.

A cyber-security expert warns that the airports serving the largest urban area in the U.S. are rife with security vulnerabilities.

An investigative report by New York NBC affiliate WNBC has exposed troubling computer security flaws that could allow hackers to easily bypass TSA screening procedures. The report points to so-called “backdoor” access or built-in passwords that could allow hackers to take control of critical TSA screening equipment with a device no more powerful than a typical laptop computer.

A cyber-security expert interviewed for the report claims to have used backdoor hacks to infiltrate and control an x-ray scanner, an explosives detector and an employee time clock. All of these devices are used by the TSA at New York area airports.

Billy Rios, who first discovered the security flaws in 2013, says anyone with unauthorized access to the screening equipment could easily program the machines to hide weapons or explosives from the TSA screeners. Rios added that employee information gleaned from time clocks could give potential terrorists valuable insight into TSA operations.

“Walking by these devices and knowing how poorly secure they are, it doesn’t sit well with me,” he told WNBC. “It’s pretty bad — probably no thought has been given to cyber security at all.”

Rios said he reported his findings to the TSA and is now making those findings public in the hope that exposing these glaring vulnerabilities will spur the agency to treat cyber-security threats more seriously.

The TSA declined to comment on the revelations brought to light in the report, but the manufacturers of the devices at question told WNBC that the security issues have since been addressed. Rios, however, remains unconvinced.

“The bar is too low,” said Rios. “There will always be security issues, we can’t solve every single security issue, but we shouldn’t have the bar be so low that anybody can hack into these devices. The bar has to be a lot higher.”

[Photo: iStock]