"I don't want to help terrorists or help bad guys do bad things on airplanes, but what we have now is what we in the industry call 'security theater.' It's made to make you think you're secure without actually making you secure," Soghoian said. "As a member of the academic research community, I consider this to be a public service."

Soghoian admits that he hasn't actually tried to use one of the boarding passes yet.

"Testing this in reality could land you in Gitmo [Guantanamo Bay, Cuba]," he said, but he added that the point shouldn't be lost that anyone with a little know-how and the will to do it could get past security at almost any airport in the country.