Hackers expose security flaws with 'Elvis Presley' passport (CNN)

[Drew Wilson]

London, England (CNN) -- In the name of improved security a hacker showed how a biometric passport issued in the name of long-dead rock 'n' roll king Elvis Presley could be cleared through an automated passport scanning system being tested at an international airport.

Using a doctored passport at a self-serve passport machine, the hacker was cleared for travel after just a few seconds and a picture of the King himself appeared on the monitor's display.

Adam Laurie and Jeroen Van Beek, who call themselves "ethical hackers," say the exercise exposed how easy it is to fool a passport scanner with a fraudulent biometric chip.

The Presley test was carried out at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport in September 2008 -- by Laurie and Van Beek -- to highlight potential security shortcomings.

More... (http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/02/19/passport.security/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn)

All designed to keep you safe and sec- oh wait.

[Signa]

It's stories like this that make me wonder why we even have the new extreme measures in place after 9/11. I bet they have helped some, but if it doesn't take much to fool them, then what is the point. The terrorists just need to be as professional as some random kids and then they can get away with anything. So far that simple hurdle is the only thing that has stopped them.

[mountain_rage]

http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1219910&SMap=1&pageNum=2775_3868_1


The Dubai police issued a list of suspects involved in the Hamas leader's murder, including six holders of British passports, five Irish, one French and one German passport, and added that two more forged British passports could have been used by the suspected killers. The police also released photographs of an 18-member hit squad suspected of carrying out the assassination.

But governments of Britain and Ireland said last week that the passports reportedly used by the suspected killers of the Hamas leader in Dubai last month were fake, indicating no passports were issued with names provided by the Dubai police. France and Germany has also expressed doubts about the genuineness of the passports used by the murder suspects.