Web Site Prints Phony Boarding Passes
October 28, 2006 by Homeland Security NTARC News
Filed under Homeland Security News
A 24-year-old computer security student working on his PhD at Indiana University Bloomington, has created a Web site that allows anyone with an Internet connection and a printer to create and print fake boarding passes for Northwest Airlines flights.
The passes look virtually identical to the ones printed from the airline’s site, and are intended to get you past security but not onto an airplane.
By entering your name and plugging in information about the flight flight number, gate, seat number, departing city, destination, departure and arrival times and class the site generates a boarding pass the program’s creator says will get you past security checkpoints, even without ID.
Christopher Soghoian, creator of “The Northwest Airlines Boarding Pass Generator,” knew he would be opening up a can of worms by writing the program and creating the site, but says it’s the only way to show people how deeply flawed airport and airline security are.
