We are approaching security in the right way most of the time and we don't need to air the details in congressional hearings that will only benefit the enemy.
Monday, May 20, 2002
Experts work to build a better terrorist trap
Government tests bomb detectors
By Jon Hilkevitch
The Chicago (IL) Tribune
ATLANTIC CITY -- Joe Kunkle's job is making bombs that can trick the
explosives-detectors the federal government is installing at the
nation's airports to screen baggage.
Each time he defeats a new piece of technology or he outsmarts the
security screeners who operate the devices already deployed at airports,
a new vulnerability is exposed in the equipment and training relied on
to thwart terrorists.
Close at hand is a seemingly endless collection of camouflages --
flashlights, videotape cassettes, stuffed animals, insulated drink
containers, suitcases, even shoes -- that Kunkle and other experts at
the Transportation Security Administration's aviation security
laboratories use to disguise explosives and detonators.
"The criterion for bombmaking is limited only by your imagination," said
Kunkle, whose work space is stocked with dynamite, TNT, lumps of Semtex,
C-4 and other sophisticated explosives favored by international
terrorist groups.
As the government scrambles to equip airports with more
explosives-detection machines, Kunkle's work has become even more
critical. By year's end, under the aviation security law passed by
Congress in November, every piece of checked baggage must be screened
for explosives.
Yet the manufacturers of the devices say they can't build the more than
2,000 detectors that the security agency initially said were needed to
meet the deadline. That has prompted a host of companies to offer
alternative proposals, forcing the 70 government security experts at the
six research labs in Atlantic City to test whether the machines are
effective.
It's dangerous work. When Kunkle, 35, and his colleagues test their
latest explosive devices here at the Hughes Technical Center, a red
warning banner flies atop the flag pole outside their lab, which is
outfitted with reinforced walls. The technology center is a classified
facility operated by the Federal Aviation Administration, which after
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks turned over responsibility for aviation
security to the newly created Transportation Security Administration.
Kunkle, who has worked with explosives for 17 years, developed his
expertise while in the Air Force dealing with munitions ranging from
hand grenades to weapons of mass destruction.
The work Kunkle and his colleagues do now is aimed at improving the
likelihood that explosives brought into airports will be detected, while
lowering the number of false readings. Such readings are considered a
security risk because they can move screeners to become less diligent.
Though officials talked candidly about addressing the false readings,
they refused to discuss the flaws they uncover in the screening
equipment. But they said the tests present a realistic barometer of the
strengths and weak links of airport security.
At the center, for instance, they demonstrated the sensitivity of the
current generation of bomb-detectors by using the CTX 9000, the largest,
fastest and most expensive explosives-detection unit available.
Roy Mason, a general engineer at the security agency labs, placed two
identical-looking bags, each containing a three-leaf binder filled with
paperwork, on the conveyer belt of the CTX 9000. The only difference
between the two bags was a single sheet of paper in one binder was
contaminated with explosives material.
After the bag holding the explosive particles entered the device, a red
line appeared on the operator's screen outlining the single page where
the explosive traces were located. An alarm also sounded, telling
security personnel to manually search the baggage.
Among the other challenges facing those who work at the center, which is
adjacent to Atlantic City International Airport, is sifting through
solicitations from private security companies that claim their product
represents the silver bullet that will make airports safer. The security
agency has received about 700 proposals since Sept. 11, compared with
about 50 presentations annually before the terrorist attacks, said
Ronald Polilo, the business and facility manager at the technical
center.
"We want to make sure the technology is ready for prime-time and that it
is appropriate," said Susan Hallowell, manager of explosives and weapons
detection research at the security agency. "We have the ability to tell
what you did or ate last night. But there's a limit to what we need to
know to ensure the security of the transportation system."
One technology being studied involves body scanners that provide
detailed images underneath a person's clothes to make it more difficult
to smuggle weapons or illegal drugs through airport security
checkpoints.
But the technology, which has been used in prisons in place of
strip-searches and may be tested soon at Orlando International Airport,
raises privacy questions because the scanners also outline folds of fat,
genitals and every other body part. The American Civil Liberties Union
has gone on record as being opposed to the full-body scanners.
"It's valuable technology, but the images expose too much of the human
body. We're working to fix it," Hallowell said.
Another detection system that officials at the security agency said
holds a lot of promise is a walk-through device that searches
individuals for concealed contraband in a less-intrusive manner. The
scanner, which looks similar to the walk-through metal-detectors at
airports, samples vapors emitted by the body and tests them for
microscopic traces of explosives, as well as for cocaine, heroin,
marijuana and other illegal drugs.
After a traveler enters the machine's portal, strong puffs of air are
emitted to propel vapors and particles from the person into a vent for
analysis. Even if a bomb is not present, the device can detect residue
that indicates bombmaking activity, said Tom Chamberlain, head of the
explosives trace-detection program at the security agency.
The technology, offered by several companies, has not been certified by
the security agency, although a version of the technology was approved
for use in pilot programs at several airports, including McGhee Tyson
Airport in Knoxville, Tenn.
Hallowell acknowledged the agency's concern that innocent travelers
could potentially be entrapped by such systems. Referring to the
widespread use of illegal drugs in the U.S., she said that most paper
currency in circulation has some level of cocaine residue.
"We need to decide how aggressively these technologies will be used,"
she said.
In some cases traces of material can be inadvertently transferred from
one article to another through contact.
"It's like garlic," Hallowell said. "It can stay with you for days."
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