Airport Security Loophole Gets High-Tech Fix

Find tickets, new flights, even lounges

(NEWSER) - Every air traveler armed with a smartphone should load up on these five apps, says the Travel section of USA Today:

• SkyScanner (Free): This app will hunt down the best price for your ticket. It scans not only all of the airlines' websites but all of the online travel agencies (Expedia, Priceline) as well.
• Next Flight ($2.99): Yeah, it's relatively pricey, but worth the cost when needed. If your flight is canceled or delayed, or you just plain miss it, the app provides a list of all available flights from all carriers over the next two days. If none are there, it searches for hotels and car rentals.
• Priority Pass (Free): This app supplies a list of all the lounges at your airport. You can look through photos and amenities before deciding whether to shell out money for a pass.

Rather than 'threat level red,' you may soon hear 'imminent threat'

(NEWSER) - America's color-coded terror alert system, long the butt of jokes and the target of complaints, may not be much longer for this world. The Homeland Security Department is proposing a change to the Homeland Security Advisory System, which many have faulted for being too vague or simply a scare tactic, the AP reports. Under the current system, the threat level is rated on a five-tier scale from green (low) to red (severe); the country has never been lower than the third tier, yellow (significant/elevated) since the system was incorporated eight years ago. More»

High-profile former officials ended up on scanner firms' payrolls

(NEWSER) - A revealing USA Today scan of government records finds that companies who won the contracts to supply the TSA with its controversial full-body scanners have more than doubled their spending on lobbyists over the last 5 years. The firms have also hired some high-profile former government officials to advance their cause, most notably former Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff, who worked as a consultant for Rapiscan Systems. More»

Homeland Security chief wonders how man was able to board plane

(NEWSER) - The passenger who turned from an elderly white man into a young Asian man mid-flight is causing panicked authorities to scramble to update security procedures. Hong Kong authorities believe the man—who was wearing a mask sold online under the name "Jerry Attrick" and mimicked the movement of an elderly person—boarded the flight to Vancouver after arriving as a transit passenger from a city in southern China, the New York Times reports. More»

UK should stop 'kowtowing' to US demands

(NEWSER) - Britain should stop "kowtowing" to America's demands every time it steps up security for incoming flights, the chairman of British Airways complains. Martin Broughton told an industry conference that many of the security checks are "redundant" and that Britain should only comply with the same checks that the US requires for internal flights, the BBC reports. More»