Ever since 9/11, traveling by air has gotten a whole lot more restrictive. We have to remove our laptops and turn them on, take off our shoes and belts even, have our jackets turned over at airport security checks, or even let our fingers get swabbed just in case there is a trace of explosives on them. Of course, the ruling of not being able to bring liquids is another pet peeve of mine, but in the name of safety, anything goes, right? Here we are with word that there is a vulnerability in the US domestic airline boarding pass, where its barcodes could enable travellers to bring aboard unauthorized items.
The barcodes actually reveal just which airport checks a passenger will face, and something like your ordinary smartphone can do the barcode reading. To put it in a nutshell, it could very well undermine the US’s PreCheck system, where it randomly picks on which frequent fliers are able to skip part of the entire pre-boarding security shebang. Passengers knowing whether they have been picked or not, assuming they have had ulterior motives that are murderous in the end, could change plans at the last minute without enforcement agencies any better off for it. Again, this proves that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
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