A computer security student says terrorists would have no trouble getting around the government's no-fly list, and to prove it he set up a Web site that prints fake boarding passes.
The passenger name on the fake boarding pass is "Bin Laden/Osama," although travelers can put in their own name (or a fake one) and change the flight information, too.
Christopher Soghoian, a 24-year-old doctoral student at Indiana University, said he set up the site to prove that the Transportation Security Administration isn't taking airline security seriously.
Others have pointed out before that savvy computer users could modify an airline Web page to print fake boarding passes, but Soghoian took it a step further and automated it.
"Before, any 12-year-old could have done it," Soghoian said on Friday. "Now any 30- or 40-year-old could do it as well."
Soghoian said terrorists on the no-fly list could use a fake boarding pass to avoid the no-fly list because IDs are only checked when the passenger passes through TSA screening. So someone could use a fake boarding pass with their real name and ID to get through the screening, and then board the plane with a real boarding pass bought under a fake name to avoid the no-fly list.
And there have been widespread reports of travelers flying without an ID at all. That "essentially means the no-fly list does not work," Soghoian said.
TSA spokesman Christopher White said other security measures are in place, including metal detectors, even if someone boards under a fake name. He condemned the Web site.
"The Web site really has the potential to promote illegal activity," he said. "Showing fraudulent documents to get through security is against the law."
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