The Body Scanner Scam
Edward Luttwak, a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, has a must read op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal… In short Mr. Luttwak lays way waste to the fallacy of body scanners in airport security screening:
All males have a body cavity. Females have two body cavities. In prisons, these body cavities are habitually used to smuggle drugs and improvised weapons past body searches, including complete nudity strip searches.
Given the power of widely available explosives, the amount that can be carried inside a body cavity—let alone two—is sufficient to destroy ordinary pressurized airliners at normal flight altitudes. That makes “pat downs,” or indeed any form of physical inspection that is remotely feasible in any airport of any normal country, entirely futile. That alone rules out scanners as a solution unless they are both very-high definition and pat downs are not allowed as an alternative.
Futility has not of course deterred the United States from creating and operating a vast Transportation Security Administration apparatus critically dependent on metal detectors. At enormous cost, and by inflicting enormous inconvenience, it almost guarantees the detection of any explosive device—so long as it is firmly attached to a nail clipper.
Reliance on metal detectors was dubious from the start not only because they cannot detect explosives as such, but because they cannot even detect knives if they are made out of ceramic. Some manufacturers of ceramic knives add metal to them specifically to allow detection. Others do not and their knives are just as lethal—certainly more so than the short box cutters used by the 9/11 terrorists.
Our current airport screening system is destined to fail for the simple reason we place to much emphasis on screening for and finding things. If we truly want to improve security we to invest as much if not more resources in screening people and identifying potential threats as we do in finding weapons
The body scanners currently being pushed as the best way to prevent another “underwear bomber” only perpetuate that “things” mentality… Our enemies aren’t stupid, and as Mr. Luttwak points out the body scanners can be easily defeated.
It’s time we faced reality and realized that invading our physical privacy at airports isn’t going to make us safer, we need to focus on people not just things.
Gaffestastic: Napolitano Strikes Again
The hits just keep coming… This time it’s Canadians who are wondering how an idiot like Janet Napolitano got the job of Homeland Security Secretary:
A diplomatic skirmish has broken out over suggestions by Janet Napolitano, the U. S. homeland security secretary, that terrorists have routinely entered the United States through Canada, including the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Napolitano’s remarks in a CBC interview earlier this week angered Canadian parliamentarians, who were in Washington on Tuesday to participate in a border conference attended by both the homeland security secretary and Ambassador Michael Wilson.
As the keynote speaker at the Border Trade Alliance meeting, Wilson said he was “frustrated” that the 9-11 myth has resurfaced once again, eight years after the terrorist attacks.
“Unfortunately, misconceptions arise on something as fundamental as where the 9-11 terrorists came from,” Wilson said.
“As the 9-11 commission reported in 2004, all of the 9-11 terrorists arrived in the United States from outside North America. They flew to major U. S. airports. They entered the U. S. with documents issued by the United States government and no 9-11 terrorists came from Canada.”
But Wilson later added that Napolitano’s handlers had reassured the Canadian Embassy that she simply misunderstood a question posed to her during the interview.
“Her comment from her people is that she misunderstood,” Wilson told a throng of Canadian media who descended upon the conference to hear what he had to say about the controversy.
“We’ve been in touch with her office a few times this morning and there’s no question in my mind she does not believe any terrorists came from Canada into the United States.”
Wilson also said he planned to sit down with Napolitano soon to discuss the issue face-to-face.
Can someone please explain to me how someone this incompetent got a job this important?
To our friends and allies in Canada, I’m Sorry. We’re all not as ill-informed as Sec. Napolitano we know the 9/11 hijackers entered this country directly from overseas not through Canada. We know that it was lax policing at our overseas consulates that opened the door to to them… and that is was poor interior enforcement in this country that enabled their stay.
Related
- Interview with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano – CBC
- U.S. security boss clarifies comments about border – CTV
- The border for dummies – The National Post
- Janet Napolitano screws up again – Michelle Malkin
Caught on Tape: Jane Harman & AIPAC
If even half of what’s alleged in this Congressional Quarterly report is true Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) and former attorney general Alberto Gonzales have a lot explaining to do:
Rep. Jane Harman , the California Democrat with a longtime involvement in intelligence issues, was overheard on an NSA wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby the Justice Department to reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the most powerful pro-Israel organization in Washington.
Harman was recorded saying she would “waddle into” the AIPAC case “if you think it’ll make a difference,” according to two former senior national security officials familiar with the NSA transcript.
(Join Jeff Stein for a live online chat at 3:30 p.m. today about his story, or submit a question for Jeff.)
In exchange for Harman’s help, the sources said, the suspected Israeli agent pledged to help lobby Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., then-House minority leader, to appoint Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections, which the Democrats were heavily favored to win.
Seemingly wary of what she had just agreed to, according to an official who read the NSA transcript, Harman hung up after saying, “This conversation doesn’t exist.”
Harman declined to discuss the wiretap allegations, instead issuing an angry denial through a spokesman.
“These claims are an outrageous and recycled canard, and have no basis in fact,” Harman said in a prepared statement. “I never engaged in any such activity. Those who are peddling these false accusations should be ashamed of themselves.”
It’s true that allegations of pro-Israel lobbyists trying to help Harman get the chairmanship of the intelligence panel by lobbying and raising money for Pelosi aren’t new.
They were widely reported in 2006, along with allegations that the FBI launched an investigation of Harman that was eventually dropped for a “lack of evidence.”
What is new is that Harman is said to have been picked up on a court-approved NSA tap directed at alleged Israel covert action operations in Washington.
And that, contrary to reports that the Harman investigation was dropped for “lack of evidence,” it was Alberto R. Gonzales, President Bush’s top counsel and then attorney general, who intervened to stop the Harman probe.
This stinks to high heaven, not simply because of allegations against Rep. Harman and former AG Gonzales, but because of the unprecedented leak of an NSA wiretap.
That said there’s something fishy about this leak, NSA wiretaps are among the closely guarded, highly secret operations carried out by the federal Government. Even during the Bush years while various elements within the government were conducting a stealth campaign against the Administration’s War on terror policy’s via politically damaging leaks to the New York Times, no NSA wiretaps were released… I can’t help but think whoever leaked this transcript has an agenda and that is some sort of political payback.
Related
- Kos calls on Harman to resign – The Hill Briefing Room Blog
- Harman caught on wiretap bargaining for intervention in espionage case – Hot Air
- A Rahm Bomb for Jane Harman? – American Thinker
- The Harman-AIPAC wiretaps – Michelle Malkin
What Open Borders Has Wrought
ABC News ran a story last night on the growing problem of kidnapping in Phoenix, Arizona.
In what officials caution is now a dangerous and even deadly crime wave, Phoenix, Arizona has become the kidnapping capital of America, with more incidents than any other city in the world outside of Mexico City and over 370 cases last year alone. But local authorities say Washington, DC is too obsessed with al Qaeda terrorists to care about what is happening in their own backyard right now.
“We’re in the eye of the storm,” Phoenix Police Chief Andy Anderson told ABC News of the violent crimes and ruthless tactics spurred by Mexico’s drug cartels that have expanded business across the border. “If it doesn’t stop here, if we’re not able to fix it here and get it turned around, it will go across the nation,” he said.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown warned that as the U.S. government focuses so intently on Islamic extremist groups, other types of terrorists — those involved with the same kidnappings, extortion and drug cartels that are sweeping Phoenix — are overlooked.
This is what open borders has wrought, it’s high time our government stops ignoring the problems along the southern border and starts taking steps to restrict the access Mexican drug cartels have to American territory.
If the Congress wants to spend money on infrastructure projects than how about actually building the double-layer border fence they approved in 2006. To date only 32 miles of that fence has been built in part because Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R.-Texas) slipped an amendment that watered down the original legislation into an omnibus appropriations bill Congress passed on December 18, 2007.
As Ed Morrissey notes “The primary responsibility of the federal government is to protect the nation from outside attack — and if what ABC reports is accurate, it’s failing miserably in Phoenix.”
Malware For Christmas?
The Register is reporting that some versions of Samsung’s SPF-85H 8″ digital photo frame shipped with a CD-ROM contaminated with the W32.Sality.AE virus.
The CD contains drivers needed to use the frame as a USB monitor on systems running Windows XP.
Amazon.com has posted an advisory for it’s customers:
Greetings from Amazon.com.
We have recently learned that Samsung has issued an alert affecting its SPF-85H 8-Inch Digital Photo Frame. Our records indicate that you have purchased one of the digital photo frames through the Amazon.com website and are therefore affected by this alert.
The alert involves the SPF-85H 8-Inch Digital Photo Frames w/1GB Internal Memory, designed to work with Windows-based PCs via a USB connector. They were sold between October and December 2008 for about $150.
The alert concerns discovery of the W32.Sality.AE worm on the installation disc SAMSUNG FRAME MANAGER XP VERSION 1.08, which is needed for using the SPF-85H as a USB monitor. If you are using Vista or a different version of Frame Manager, this issue does not affect you. Read the rest…
This isn’t the first time something like this has happened and it won’t be the last. Fortunately, the W32.Sality.AE is a fairly old virus that should be detected by any up to date anti-virus program.
Microsoft Patches Critical IE Bug
Microsoft has released a special out of cycle update for its Internet Explorer web browser. The update, described in Microsoft’s security bulletin MS08-078, fixes a flaw present in all available versions of the popular browser, including IE5.01, IE6, IE7 and IE8 Beta 2.
Computerworld has more on the story here.
On a related note Mozilla and Opera Software both released updates for their respective web browsers today.
Julie Amero’s Four Year Nightmare is Finally Over
Alex Eckelberry has the details.
After 4 years and 2 months, Julie Amero is now free.
You’ll recall that Julie Amero was convicted of 4 felony counts, each count carrying a maximum of 10 years, for exposing school children to pornography.
The reality is that Julie, a 40–year old, pregnant substitute teacher, found herself in a storm of popups and didn’t have any idea as to what was going on, or how to fix the situation.
There were numerous technical errors made during the trial, and I led a team of forensic investigators into analyzing a copy of the hard drive. We ultimately published a report which was used in Julie’s original conviction being overturned, for a new trial last June (I am seeing if I can get the report published).
This afternoon, at an empty Norwich Superior Court, Julie pled to the misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct, in a deal negotiated by her pro-bono attorney, William Dow.
Her fine was a $100 charge, and her Connecticut teaching credentials are revoked (Julie told me she really doesn’t care, that she has no plans ever to teach in that state again).
Brain Krebs has background on Julie’s case here.
The fact the Julie was convicted of anything is sad testament to judicial system. She was put into a no win situation by school system that failed do the most basic risk mitigation steps and investigators and prosecutors who don’t technology or malware. If not for the efforts of Mr. Eckelberry and others in the anti-malware industry Ms. Aremo would undoubtedly be in prison today.
Oh Happy Day
A few weeks ago I published a short post on the demise of Atrivo (aka Intercage). Today Washington Post technology columnist Brian Krebs brings word that McColo Corp., a Northern California hosting firm that had been identified by the computer security community as home base for machines responsible for coordinating the sending of roughly 75 percent of all spam each day, has been taken offline.
Host of Internet Spam Groups is Cut Off
Spam Drops After Internet Providers Disconnect a California Hosting Firm
By Brian Krebs
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 12, 2008; 7:16 PMThe volume of junk e-mail sent worldwide dropped drastically today after a Web hosting firm identified by the computer security community as a major host of organizations allegedy engaged in spam activity was taken offline, according to security firms that monitor spam distribution online.
While its gleaming, state-of-the-art, 30-story office tower in downtown San Jose, Calif., hardly looks like the staging ground for what could be called a full-scale cyber crime offensive, security experts have found that a relatively small firm at that location is home to servers that serve as a gateway for a significant portion of the world’s junk e-mail.
The servers are operated by McColo Corp., which these experts say has emerged as a major U.S. hosting service for international firms and syndicates that are involved in everything from the remote management of millions of compromised computers to the sale of counterfeit pharmaceuticals and designer goods, fake security products and child pornography via email.
But the company’s web site was not accessible today, when two Internet providers cut off MoColo’s connectivity to the Internet, security experts said. Immediately after McColo was unplugged, security companies charted a precipitous drop in spam volumes worldwide. E-mail security firm IronPort said spam levels fell by roughly 66 percent as of Tuesday evening.
Spamcop.net, another spam watch dog, found a similar decline, from about 40 spam e-mails per second to around 10 per second. Read the rest…
Score one for the good guys… Of course I’m sure we’ll all miss those ads for male enhancement products in our inbox… 
Election Day
VOTE
I voted about an hour ago… Turnout was heavy but not overwhelming, I was in and out in about 10 minutes.
Newsflash: Palin E-mail Hacker Indicted
Fox News is reporting that 20-year-old David Kernell of Knoxville, Tenn., has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Knoxville for intentionally accessing without authorization the private e-mail account of Alaska governor Sarah Palin.
Kernell is the son of Tenn. democratic state Rep. Mike Kernell of Memphis, he turned himself in to federal authorities for arrest today.
Michelle Malkin has more here.
Update: Allahpundit asks:
“Any legal eagles (or techies, I guess) want to speculate on why it took the grand jury an extra three weeks to return the indictment? The last time I wrote about this, the FBI reportedly already had the IP logs in hand and had searched his dorm for corroborating evidence. What extra evidence would they have needed to produce to nudge the case over the line of probable cause?”
As a former cop and a techie there’s several reasons, first this is a high profile case that involves a vice presidential candidate… You can not make mistakes, everything has to be done “by the book”, all the T’s crossed and I’s dotted. Second the server logs and IP adresses can get you to the suspects front door but it’s forensic analysis of his or her computer that will established his or her guilt or innocence. Finally, cyber forensics is time consuming process.
The FBI and Secret Service more then likely had a short list of suspects within a day or two… Connecting the all the dots to identify a “prime suspect” and establish probable cause for a search warrant takes days or even weeks. Ditto for conducting a proper forensic analysis of the suspects computer(s) and writing all the reports. All in all I think the FBI and Secret Service handled this case pretty well.
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