This paper examines the evolution of technology-based security measures deployed by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) since September 11, 2001. It analyzes key systems including Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT), Credential Authentication Technology (CAT), explosive detection equipment, biometric identification, and paperless boarding passes. The paper argues that while technology is essential for closing security vulnerabilities, it must be paired with well-trained personnel to be effective. It concludes that layered technological approaches, combined with proactive security strategies, have restored public confidence in air travel while making aviation infrastructure significantly more secure.
Existing and future threats to aviation security continue to evolve. These new threats are more sophisticated than any other time in recent history. Aviation security experts and governments must use every countermeasure at their disposal to diminish threats to the aviation sector by developing tools, tactics, and proficiencies that address current, evolving, and future challenges. One of the primary methods currently in use is technology. The United States government, foreign governments, and the private sector—both nationally and internationally—are collaborating on developing technology that would allow the aviation sector to stay ahead of persons intent on harming the global economy by using aviation infrastructure as a weapon of mass destruction.
However, technology usage by itself, although an integral component of aviation security that helps close vulnerabilities, is only as good as the users. This requires a competent and trained staff who would be the first and last line of defense for aviation infrastructure when equipped with technology to stop or mitigate threats.
The use of technology for aviation security at airports worldwide has grown considerably since September 11, 2001. In the United States, airport security procedures were mandated by the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA), signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 19, 2001, and are overseen by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The use of technology as a component of aviation security has increased since the TSA took over responsibility for day-to-day operations and oversight of airport security in the United States. Prior to TSA assuming this responsibility, the only security technology in use was the walk-through metal detector or handheld metal detector for secondary screenings, which still serves an important function at airport security checkpoints.
Since September 11, 2001, the use of technology for aviation security has grown and continues to evolve as the aviation sector faces new and evolving threats from terrorists. Prior to 9/11, aviation security technology was human-centered, meaning that systems were designed based on the limited capacity of the persons who would operate them. The Transportation Security Administration has deployed a series of security measures involving technology.
These security measures include Credential Authentication Technology (CAT), Advanced Imaging Technology, biometrics using retinal scans and fingerprint identification, bottled liquids scanners (BLS), explosive detection systems (EDS), Explosive Trace Detection (ETD), paperless boarding passes, and Threat Image Projection (TIP). The Secure Flight Program requires passengers to provide airlines with their gender before they fly.
The Advanced Imaging Technology program (AIT) is a critical layer of aviation security used to verify passenger identity and examine travelers to discern if there are physical anomalies, including unexpected body configurations, that would indicate a discrepancy with the sex previously disclosed in the Secure Flight Program. AIT is also used to detect hidden material on a person's body.
According to the TSA, Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) is used to safely screen passengers for metallic and nonmetallic threats, including weapons and explosives, which they may conceal under their clothing. This technology is used to expedite the screening of a large number of passengers in a limited time frame. Patting down each passenger by hand to verify that they are not hiding anything under their clothing would be time-consuming, labor-intensive, and impractical.
The TSA uses millimeter wave AIT technology to safely screen passengers for metallic and nonmetallic threats without physical contact. There are 740 AIT units deployed at nearly 160 airports nationwide. The millimeter wave AIT units deployed at airports are equipped with software designed to enhance passenger privacy by eliminating passenger-specific images. Instead, the technology auto-detects potential threats and highlights their location on a generic outline of a passenger that is identical for all passengers.
The millimeter AIT screening technology is said to be safe for all passengers and meets national health and safety standards. This type of screening is optional, meaning passengers with concerns about this screening can opt for alternative screening methods, which are available to all passengers.
According to the TSA, Credential Authentication Technology (CAT) automatically authenticates identity documents presented by passengers during the security checkpoint screening process. This technology is integral in ascertaining whether an identification document is authentic. Beyond security purposes, it gives airline and governmental organizations the ability to identify everyone on an aircraft in the event of a crash.
The TSA anticipates that Credential Authentication Technology will enhance security and increase efficiency by automatically verifying passenger identification and obtaining the passenger's vetting status.
The TSA introduced paperless boarding passes, a program that enables passengers to use technology such as cell phones or personal digital assistants (PDAs) to download their boarding passes to these devices. This use of technology enhances security by increasing the TSA agent's ability to detect fraudulent boarding passes using scanners to validate authenticity at TSA checkpoints.
The digital or paperless boarding pass is displayed as an encrypted two-dimensional bar code along with passenger and flight information. Passengers with digital boarding passes are required to inform the TSA agent that their boarding pass is digital. The TSA travel document checking officer will instruct passengers on how to scan their cell phone or PDA so that the TSA can verify the authenticity of the boarding pass. Passengers are also required to show photo identification so officers can validate that the name on the boarding pass matches the name on the ID.
Prior to the introduction of digital boarding passes, the authenticity of paper boarding passes was verified by airlines after the person in possession of the pass was already in the secure area awaiting flight boarding.
The TSA uses Threat Image Projection (TIP) software to detect weapons and explosives by X-ray. Potential threats, including guns and explosives, are projected onto X-ray images of carry-on bags so security officers remain focused and attentive. This software is updated on a regular basis because X-ray equipment is linked to a vast internal network; every airport and X-ray monitor receives automatic image updates from the technology lab.
This constant upgrade in technology allows the TSA to maintain the latest and greatest intelligence on potential and emerging threats, enabling them to convey this information to security officers and airports nationwide.
The TSA uses Explosives Trace Detection (ETD) at security checkpoints around the country to screen baggage and passengers for traces of explosives. Officers swab a randomly selected piece of carry-on or checked baggage, or a passenger's hands, and then place the swab inside the ETD unit to analyze it for the presence of potential explosive residue. These screening swabs are disposed of after each use.
The TSA uses Explosive Detection System (EDS) machines, which work like CT scan equipment used in the medical profession. The EDS systems conduct an analysis of each checked bag, quickly capturing an image and determining whether the bag contains a potential threat item. If the image is inconclusive, the bag is removed to a resolution room for secondary screening before being placed on the assigned aircraft.
The TSA uses Bottled Liquids Scanner (BLS) screening systems at airports nationwide to detect potential liquid or gel threats contained in a passenger's property. The technology differentiates liquid explosives from common, benign liquids and is used primarily to screen medically necessary liquids in quantities larger than 3.4 ounces. The BLS units use a variety of technologies including lasers, infrared, and electromagnetic resonance, and are able to screen clear glass, tinted glass, and plastic bottles.
Biometrics is used for control point access in certain types of government facilities. Commonly associated with spy movies and top secret government projects by the general public, biometric identification allows TSA agents to verify that a person is who they say they are by using their unique set of identifiers: fingerprints, iris scans, or a combination of the two. This technology is currently being used by TSA agents at airports and harbors across the country.
The use of technology within the aviation security infrastructure has made travelers safer because it has increased the layers of aviation security, making it more impregnable. Gaping vulnerabilities in the system have been addressed, making aviation infrastructure more secure. The new approaches to aviation security have caused the traveling public to regain the confidence they had lost in the air travel system immediately after September 11, 2001.
However, the use of technology is not a complete solution that will ensure that the traveling public is safer. Constantly developing new technology to combat and defeat evolving threats, combined with professionally trained staff, is the key to making the aviation sector more secure for the traveling public.
In the law enforcement community, community policing is an effective tool that uses proactive strategies to lower crime and prevent crime in crime-prone neighborhoods. According to Price and Forrest (2013), a proactive security strategy can also be used by airport security to analyze violations of security and develop tools to combat these violations, such as doors left open and excessive piggybacking by employees who forget their security badges at home. This integrated approach—layered technology plus trained, vigilant personnel—represents the most effective model for aviation security.
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