Airport Body Scanners

[jim.w.manley at lmco.com (Manley, Jim W)]

Basically what you've described is an electronic countermeasures (ECM)
device similar to what is used in both ground-based and airborne scenarios
to disrupt electronic sensors operating in the frequency range of interest.

 

Based on work I've done with ECM gear, depending on the location of the
"jammer" with respect to the scanner's aperture, the jammer's signal
strength, and the jammers radiation pattern, the scanner operator will see
something akin to what you see on a television receiving a very weak or no
signal.  If the jammer is has enough signal strength and is properly
positioned, the operator's screen would be a "white out."  

 

Jim 

 

1st Immutable Law of Computer Security

If a bad guy can persuade you to run his program on your computer,

it's not your computer anymore.

 

From: pauldotcom-bounces at pdc-mail.pauldotcom.com
[mailto:pauldotcom-bounces at pdc-mail.pauldotcom.com] On Behalf Of Arch Angel
Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 5:13 PM
To: PaulDotCom Security Weekly Mailing List
Subject: [Pauldotcom] Airport Body Scanners

 

I was researching some information for a buddy who had questions about these
body scanners some of the airports are beginning to use, well during my
intertube travels I noticed that the signal used is a 1mm wavelength.  Well
my buddy got the info he was wanting and some of these tid bits I found, as
I had been taking good notes for him, and began to converse with his buddy
Bob who researched the 1mm signal that is put out by these scanners and
found that the 1mm wavelength actually converts to 299.792458 GHz which is
within the spec for an amature radio operator.

Well Bob began to ponder (out loud I might add) what would happen if a
person developed a small device that would transmit random white noise on a
range of say 295 --> 300 Ghz ?

He said that the viewable devices or systems would be directly connected to
the machine so the devices reading the images would not be affected but what
about the general image being taken, could it be distorted by this device
transmitting from somewhere in the area of this scanner?

Could a device small enough even be built to transmit these freqs?

Now I tried my best to explain to Bob that scanners at an airport are by no
means a place to play games and test his ideas as you fall under some
interesting laws and these people have the right to do a full body search
for additional tiny devices in places tiny devices are never ment to go.  He
agreed not to use his curiousity for evil, and that he was just curious as
to the result of said interference.  Bob has verbally acknowledged the full
understanding of a test such as this and the laws involved, agreeing the end
result is not worth the chance you would take...

However it does raise the question... 

What would be the result of such an interference be..................

Arch3Angel

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