Passport Security Easy to Breach: Govt. Probe

A US passport is easy to obtain using fake or fraudulent documents, even with extensive post-9/11 security reforms, the AP reports. At the request of a Senate committee, a government investigator went undercover and quickly obtained multiple passports, using the identities of a dead man, a 5-year-old, and two fictitious people. “This puts our nation in grave danger,” said Dianne Feinstein.

A security expert says the report shows the State Department has not done enough. “We have to address the document issue in a very big way,” she said, “and we have yet to do that across the board.” Some of the 9/11 attackers used fake supporting documents to obtain driver's licenses; although that process is now more secure, the passport findings are “very troubling,” Sen. Jon Kyl said. (More United States stories.)