Is aviation security mostly for show?
Bruce Schneier (of computer security fame) points out several obvious issues in his CNN opinion piece, Is aviation security mostly for show?. The “heightened security” measures springing up after attempted terror attacks focus only on the attack methods used in that attack, locking the barn door after the horses have bolted. And the knee-jerk reaction to ban anything connected to that method forgets that a determined, resourceful person still can find plenty of ways to cause havoc.
Furthermore, the various security measures put into place don’t even work in sync, so an attacker doesn’t need to fear getting caught at the second stop by his first lie: he can just fool each security measure individually and go on his merry way.
Schneier raises a fascinating point about human nature:
Stories are what we fear. It’s not just hypothetical stories — terrorists flying planes into buildings, terrorists with explosives strapped to their legs or with bombs in their shoes, and terrorists with guns and bombs waging a co-ordinated attack against a city are even scarier movie-plot threats because they actually happened…
When people are scared, they need something done that will make them feel safe, even if it doesn’t truly make them safer. Politicians naturally want to do something in response to crisis, even if that something doesn’t make any sense.
To tell ourselves Something is Being Done and we can Relax and Feel Better, we submit ourselves to all sorts of hassle, confusion, and bureaucracy – that does very little to make us safer. We’re addicted to expensive Kool-Aid. The problem is, it’s not very healthy for us. In our panic to Do Something, we tear apart our social fabric and actually change our way of life, turning our society into a fear-based police state:
Once a society starts circumventing its own laws, the risks to its future stability are much greater than terrorism.
Let’s quit locking ourselves up to make us think we’re secure.
