security theater – Noise https://noise.getoto.net The collective thoughts of the interwebz Tue, 01 Apr 2025 15:41:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 Rational Astrologies and Security https://noise.getoto.net/2025/04/02/rational-astrologies-and-security/ Wed, 02 Apr 2025 11:04:08 +0000 https://www.schneier.com/?p=70074 John Kelsey and I wrote a short paper for the Rossfest Festschrift: “Rational Astrologies and Security“:

There is another non-security way that designers can spend their security budget: on making their own lives easier. Many of these fall into the category of what has been called rational astrology. First identified by Randy Steve Waldman [Wal12], the term refers to something people treat as though it works, generally for social or institutional reasons, even when there’s little evidence that it works—­and sometimes despite substantial evidence that it does not...

]]> Why Vaccine Cards Are So Easily Forged https://noise.getoto.net/2022/03/18/why-vaccine-cards-are-so-easily-forged/ Fri, 18 Mar 2022 11:12:05 +0000 https://www.schneier.com/?p=65236 My proof of COVID-19 vaccination is recorded on an easy-to-forge paper card. With little trouble, I could print a blank form, fill it out, and snap a photo. Small imperfections wouldn’t pose any problem; you can’t see whether the paper’s weight is right in a digital image. When I fly internationally, I have to show a negative COVID-19 test result. That, too, would be easy to fake. I could change the date on an old test, or put my name on someone else’s test, or even just make something up on my computer. After all, there’s no standard format for test results; airlines accept anything that looks plausible...

]]> Airline Passenger Mistakes Vintage Camera for a Bomb https://noise.getoto.net/2021/10/12/airline-passenger-mistakes-vintage-camera-for-a-bomb/ Tue, 12 Oct 2021 15:04:20 +0000 https://www.schneier.com/?p=63752 I feel sorry for the accused:

The “security incident” that forced a New-York bound flight to make an emergency landing at LaGuardia Airport on Saturday turned out to be a misunderstanding — after an airline passenger mistook another traveler’s camera for a bomb, sources said Sunday.

American Airlines Flight 4817 from Indianapolis — operated by Republic Airways — made an emergency landing at LaGuardia just after 3 p.m., and authorities took a suspicious passenger into custody for several hours.

It turns out the would-be “bomber” was just a vintage camera aficionado and the woman who reported him made a mistake, sources said...

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