FBI raids creator of fake boarding pass generator

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Sunday, November 5, 2006

Christopher Soghoian, 24, a doctoral student in information security at Indiana University, released a boarding pass generator for Northwest Airlines on October 25th. In the release, he stated that it demonstrates flaws in airport security and the no-fly list.

A few days later, on October 27th, Soghoian was visited by the FBI who told him to take down the site. Soghoian complied with the FBI request. However, the FBI then raided his apartment that evening; apparently due to lack of a warrant during the first visit.

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) had called for Soghoian to be arrested in October.

Fake boarding passes are quite easy to create in Microsoft Word; assuming you have access to a old boarding pass for comparison. Indeed, Amnesty International has created a similarly passable fake boarding pass for their AirTorture fundraising site.

In February 2005, Senator Charles Schumer noticed this loophole in no-fly list. He urged the TSA to "check every passenger's ID against the passenger's face and his boarding pass and ticket", as has been done immediately after the September 11th attacks. TSA declined to follow the senator's recommendation.

Mirrors of the fake boarding pass generator are available online.

Sources

• Jonathan Silverstein "Fake Boarding Passes Land Student in Heap of Trouble". ABC, November 2, 2006
• Carrie Ritchie "FBI raids Ph.D. student's apartment, investigates Web site". Indiana Daily Student, October 31, 2006

Blogs

• Michael Hampton FBI raids creator of fake boarding pass generator Homeland Stupidity (blog), October 28, 2006
• Michael Hampton Fake boarding passes clear airport security Homeland Stupidity (blog), October 28, 2006
• " FBI Raids Boarding Pass Maker's House, Seizes Computers 27B Stroke 6, October 28, 2006(search warrant mirror)
• Bruce Schneier Forge Your Own Boarding Pass Schneier on Security (blog), November 2, 2006

External links

• Christopher Soghoian Slight Paranoia (creators blog),
  

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