Re: The BAA and new BCS membership requirements

Gosi wrote:
>>> A BAA spokeswoman admitted: 'A software problem has arisen in the
>>> baggage system at Terminal 5. This is entirely BAA's responsibility. "
>>> What system is this?
>>
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/03/05/229723/heathrow-ter...http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/03/28/230035/terminal-5-t...
> 
> By reading about this disaster I came across
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID
> 
> Radio-frequency identification
> is not used in Terminal 5
> 
> Looks like RFID is a growing technology

hmmm, yes, but read...
 
http://www.onestopclick.com/news/RFID-chips-found-to-have-security-flaws_18499772.html

this story came out 4 days before the UK's Home Secretary announced that 
  they were going ahead with electronic ID cards

the chip manufacturers said it wasn't a full-strength chip (of the sort 
used for ID cards?) but was only used building access, and other 
low-priority tasks, so that's OK
--unless you live near a nuclear powerplant
--or run an airport facility, perhaps?

early estimates put the number of such cards at 1 billion (American 
billions, I presume), but the latest figure I've seen is 2 billion, and 
rising

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9068644

> Security checks as well as people not wanting to use security is a
> growing cause of computer problems.
> Too much security always leads to people bypassing it so it turns into
> less security.

I don't know if it's still the case, but at one stage MPs from Northern 
Ireland routinely carried handguns for self defence, and the Archbishop 
of Antrim was somewhat surprised to find that he got stopped at airport 
security when he was wearing his favourite pink frock and a shed load of 
medallions, while the MPs he was with just breezed through

> Even this RFID has led to creation of shelters to hinder detection.

yup -- RFID, metal detectors, night club bouncers, you-name-it, they've 
all got some sort of "defeat" mechanism

I guess I'm used to the fact that UK politicians are technologically 
ignorant, and deaf to all attempts to improve their knowledge, but it 
seems they're not the only ones...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/30/german_interior_minister_fingerprint_appropriated/

just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...

/phil