The Security Mentor

Baggage handlers, law enforcement agents, and others who need to get onto the tarmac have special electronic badges to unlock gates. Somebody probably thought carefully about the technology of the badges.

But procedures count, too. When an employee leaves, there had better be some procedure to get the badge back, or at least deactivated.

via Infosec News, a Chicago CBS affiliate reports that badges are lost, unaccounted for, and not always deactivated when an employee is terminated.

From the article:

CBS 2 tracked down some former employees. One is Obang Omat from Sudan. He says he quit in September, but the Department of Aviation’s database shows his badge was still active until Nov. 14.

“I sent the badge and my uniform back to the company in the mail after Sept. 22,” Omot said. “That’s when I quit and moved to Minneapolis.”

Omot has two aliases associated with his criminal record in Cook County and, since 2001, he has been arrested seven times for crimes including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and for exposing himself. He was convicted on charges of resisting arrest and reckless conduct. His badge is still listed as missing.