The Security Mentor

All security systems, cyber or physical, automatic or human, need one thing. It's conspicuously missing in the following incidents.

The TSA has treated an 82-year-old veteran as a potential terrorist. They've done the same to a government employee with the kind of security clearance you can't even mention the name of. Even an airline flight crew member flying as a passenger! Come on, he's being trusted a lot more than the passengers are.

Any large program will foul up spectacularly sometimes. But what happens when you try to fix a problem? What happens when you call them up?

According to the Wired News report on the TSA watch list, this is what happens:

An employee ... advised her to watch what she was saying since the call was recorded and "some guys might come knocking on your door"

Another person caught in the watch list had only praise for the individual employees he deal with, but still hated being caught in what a lawyer told him was a "Constitution-free zone".

Every security system needs some kind of checks and balances, some way to halt its mistakes before they grow out of control. A criminal justice system without defense lawyers turns into a police state. A door lock that a locksmith can't pick could deny you the use of your house every time you forget your keys. A stupid computer security policy forces everyone to work around it or to quit conducting business.