- T.S.A. Finds Record Number of Guns at Airports in 2019
January 16, 2020
The Transportation Security Administration caught more firearms at airport checkpoints in 2019 than in any other year since it was created in 2001, the agency said Wednesday, as part of a steady uptick that its leader called “deeply troubling.” The agency said that it found 4,432 firearms last year in carry-on bags or carried by passengers, ...
- Iran plane crash: Ukrainian jet was ‘unintentionally’ shot down
January 11, 2020
Iran has admitted “unintentionally” shooting down a Ukrainian passenger jet, killing all 176 people on board. An investigation found that “missiles fired due to human error”, President Hassan Rouhani said. He described the crash as an “unforgivable mistake”. The military said the jet turned towards a sensitive site belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and was then mistaken ...
- Kenya bus attack: Three killed in Lamu county
January 2, 2020
Three people have been killed after a bus was attacked in Kenya close to the Somali border, local officials say. Two others were injured and are being treated at local clinics. The bus was travelling from Mombasa and was targeted in Lamu county when heavily armed men stopped it and sprayed it with bullets. The gunmen have not ...
- RavnAir revises estimate of damage from cyber attack
December 31, 2019
An Alaska air carrier that suffered a cyber attack has experienced more disruption than initially projected, according to a company announcement. The RavnAir Group on Dec. 20 experienced what it called a “malicious” cyber attack on its information technology network, Anchorage television station KTVA reported. The company cancelled some Alaska flights of Dash 8 aircraft and said ...
- Atlantic Council releases new report: Aviation cybersecurity: Scoping the challenge
December 11, 2019
Today, the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative, within the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, launched a new report titled “Aviation Cybersecurity: Scoping the Challenge” and the results of the first-ever global survey on aviation cybersecurity. The report will be celebrated with a public launch and discussion led by Pete Cooper, report author and Senior Fellow with the ...
- DHS Rolls Back Facial-Recognition Expansion Plan
December 10, 2019
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reconsidered a plan to use facial-recognition technology on all U.S. citizens traveling internationally through airports, deciding to roll back the plan after meeting with privacy experts. Last week the DHS said it would expand facial recognition checks to all travelers entering and leaving the U.S., including previously-exempt U.S. citizens. However, now ...
- Nigeria: FAAN Installs Liquid Explosive Detectors At Airports
December 4, 2019
The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is set to deploy new liquid explosive detection system at the airports. Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, said the detectors which are being introduced in major international airports across the country, would improve the security measures at airports, and effectively combat terrorism. Sirika said the system has been tested and inaugurated ...
- TSA officers find high-capacity gun magazines hidden in an infant toy at Orlando airport
November 27, 2019
There’s a reason that Transportation Security Administration screens everything. TSA officers discovered two high capacity magazines in an infant’s toy at the Orlando International Airport that was made to look factory-sealed. The security agency disclosed the discover in its “Week in Review” post covering Nov. 4 through Nov. 17. The magazines in the toy were among 205 firearms found ...
- The algorithms that go into your luggage screening at airports
November 21, 2019
When you check in your baggage for a flight, it must be screened before it is allowed on the plane. Baggage screening detects threats within luggage and personal belongings by X-ray analysis as they pass along a conveyor belt. Hold-baggage and passenger screening systems are capable of detecting contraband materials, narcotics, explosives and weapons. Millions of ...
- Pakistan train fire: Karachi to Rawalpindi service blaze kills dozens
October 31, 2019
At least 74 passengers have died after a train travelling between the Pakistani cities of Karachi to Rawalpindi caught fire. Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the fire was caused by the explosion of a gas cylinder being used by passengers cooking breakfast. The blaze is thought to have spread to at least three carriages. According to ...
- One cyber attack can cost major APAC ports $110B
October 30, 2019
One single cyber attack has the potential to cost major Asia-Pacific ports upwards of $110 billion in damages, a figure that is equivalent to half of total losses incurred from global natural disasters last year. This can occur in an “extreme” scenario during which a virus infects 15 major ports across Singapore, China, Japan, South ...
- French intelligence services thwart ‘9-11-style terror attack’
October 18, 2019
A terror plot inspired by the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre in New York has been foiled by the French intelligence services. One person is being held in custody in France on preliminary terrorism charges after apparently planning a September 11-style plane hijacking and attack. According to French paper Le Parisien, the suspect was looking for a weapon to hijack a plane. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said on France-2 television on ...
- Planes, gates, and bags: How hackers can hijack your local airport
October 11, 2019
In an increasingly technology-focused world, aviation security is becoming a critical problem. This is not necessarily in reference to protesters disrupting flights or drones that are able to bring prominent airports to a grinding halt for days over the holiday season. Instead, the use of networked systems and tech solutions to do everything from managing your booking to bags ...
- Blind man climbs on top of BA plane in Extinction Rebellion airport takeover
October 10, 2019
An environment activist climbed on top of a British Airways plane at London City Airport as part of Extinction Rebellion’s climate protest today. James Brown was taken on to the plane as a passenger and was the first person to board as he is partially sighted. He managed to clamber on to the top of the ...
- Can AI secure transportation systems without compromising safety?
October 9, 2019
The ongoing controversy surrounding Boeing’s 737 Max 8 airliner should serve as a cautionary tale—not just for those in aviation, but for the entire transportation safety community. Though plane (and other transportation) crashes are an unfortunate reality, the recent Boeing disasters were unique. Instead of faulty mechanics, pilot error or foul weather, in these cases ...
- Extinction Rebellion plans to shut down London City airport this week
October 9, 2019
Extinction Rebellion is planning to shutdown London City airport for three days later this week. The climate activists, who have been protesting in Central London, said they planned to occupy both the departure and arrivals hall of the airport with the aim of blocking security. The plan is to do a “Hong Kong-style occupation”, which saw one of Asia’s busiest hubs paralysed for ...
- Homeland Security, DoD, Transportation Officials Focus on Aviation Cyber Security
October 8, 2019
The National Strategy for Aviation Security “directs a risk-based approach to identify and mitigate aviation cyber vulnerabilities impacting the aviation ecosystem, which includes both civil and military aviation,” according to the CISA official. “In support of cyber risk-reduction and resiliency efforts, the aviation ecosystem is an extensive multi-layered network of intersecting elements with integral roles ...
- Manchester Airport train station evacuated over ‘suspicious package’
September 23, 2019
Manchester Airport train station has been evacuated and a man detained after reports of a suspicious package. Greater Manchester Police said bomb disposal officers carried out a controlled explosion and a cordon had been put in place. All trains, trams and buses are currently suspended to and from the station. People have been asked to follow directions from ...
- Emirates first foreign airline to start biometric boarding for US flights
September 21, 2019
Emirates will become the first airline outside the US to use biometric technology approved by immigration authorities, so passengers on flights to its 12 US routes can cut time for security checks to two seconds. The airline got approval from the US Customs Border Protection (CBP) for the facial recognition checks at its departure gates and ...
- Kuwait raises security alert level at oil and commercial ports: KUNA
September 20, 2019
Kuwait has raised the security alert level at all of its ports, including the oil terminals, the state-run Kuwait News Agency reported on Friday, citing a decision by Trade and Industry Minister Khaled Al-Roudhan. “The decision emphasizes that all measures have to be taken to protect the vessels and the ports facilities,” it said. The announcement comes ...
