Originally Posted by
gobluetwo
You do admit that this is really just a theoretical exercise.
It would be interesting to see if you could print one out from home and also a "real" one from the airport to see what happens when you try to scan it. (not that i'm advocating doing anything potentially illegal)
I would think that they would have thought of something as simple as reverse engineering a string of characters in a barcode and put security measures in place to prevent (or at least make more difficult) potential hacking.
I agree I just validated the concept. Also, I just used two websites and MSpaint. However, people who are far more diligent can easily get a hold of barcode readers and do a complete study.
Also, by not encrypting the data one can still if they are eligible for pre-check allowing a person to make decision on whether or not to try and "beat the screening" at the airport long before they get to the TDC at the airport. So, even if the one can't modify the data, just by having it visible allows people to beat the system.
All of this could be stopped if the TSA and the Airlines just encrypted the data to begin with.