Undercover Agents Set Out to Beat Airport Security
- By Ginger Hill
- Jun 01, 2015
As I was looking through the news today, I came across a Yahoo exclusive and was intrigued with the words “undercover” and “security.” This just radiates curiosity, especially for a nosey journalist.
Come to find out, members of Homeland Security’s Red Team posed as passengers at some of the nation’s busiest airports to try and “beat the security system.” Red Team members were able to smuggle mock explosives and banned weapons through airport security checkpoints in 95% of the trials. TSA agents failed 67 out of 70 tests, allowing these undercover “bad people” to get potential weapons through checkpoints. And, in one instance, an undercover agent was stopped when he set off a magnetometer alarm. Good, right? Well, yes, except the TSA screeners failed to detect a fake explosive device taped to his back during pat down.
These tests recently concluded and reports of it got back to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who was apparently so frustrated that he immediately directed TSA to implement some actions.
Regardless, Homeland security officials are insistent that the nation’s airports are safe with layers of security including bomb sniffing dogs and other technologies, some seen and some hidden.
About the Author
Ginger Hill is Group Social Media Manager.