Re: Clipper for luggage
[Moderator's note: With this, I'm ending all baggage messages for now. --Perry] It will also mean more peace of mind for passengers worried about reports of increased pilferage from unlocked bags. ... so, TSA people are stealing from unlocked bags. Not necessarily. I was under the impression that there are also non-TSA folks (airline-employed baggage handlers) in the baggage-handling pipeline. - Bill - The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending unsubscribe cryptography to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Clipper for luggage
At 03:00 PM 11/16/03, peter gutmann wrote: Bill Frantz [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I usually travel with zipper closed duffel bags. I fasten the zipper closed with a screw link. Anyone can unscrew the link and get into the bag, but it does effectively keep the zipper closed in transit. I suppose it also provides some level of security because someone wanting to do a quick grab from luggage will probably pick a less-secured piece. Whentrue locks are banned, that's actually a rather good protection mechanism, constituting a type of hashcash for luggage. Someone who's looking for targets of opportunity and has a choice between a Clipper-locked container they can get into almost unnoticed in 5 seconds or something where it'll take a minute or two of obvious fiddling will presumably go for the Clipper-lock. Just don't go overboard with those custom foot-long screw machined locks. TSA had been recommending electricians cable ties made of nylon. The 4 (10 cm) or 8 (20 cm) sizes work well in most zipper-type locks. They can't easily be removed without cutting them. I had improved the ties by using colored ones (available at most electrical supply houses and better hardware stores), so that there would be clear evidence of entry. For further security I dropped a bit of colored sealing wax on each cable tie. On a longer trip I have to carry spare cable ties. I made sure not to have spares of the color I used on each leg. I also tried to carry the spare cable ties and spare sealing wax (several colors) in my carry-on (or my pockets). These can easily be cut with fingernail clippers, which are now legal to carry, and which can also be carried in an unlocked pocket on the checked bag. For some years, numbered one-use nylon or plastic ties have been available in luggage supply stores. These also have to be cut or broken to open the suitcase, and they cannot readily be replaced because the serial numbers are unique. None of these totally prevent theft, but any lock that can fit through most zippers can easily be cut with a short 12-inch bolt cutter (30 cm long), that can be bought for $10 at Sears or most hardware stores, and that will fit in the pockets of most work-clothing. (Indeed, it can probably be cut with an 8 (20 cm long) diagonal cutting pliers (or electricians pliers).) Given the lax security in the back areas of the airports, it's easy enough for the baggage handlers to have cutting instruments. But, if the object is to be able to tell immediately that the suitcase has been opened, and so file a claim, they will work. Indeed, if all you have to do is slow down a thief, then a twist tie or the plastic seal from a garbage bag can be used to seal the lock. Hard-sided luggage is more difficult to lock in this way. However, the plastic cable ties are available in lengths up to about 48 (120 cm). These can be passed around the bag and tightened (if necessary, two or more can be linked together). Since these are not available in colors, and are too big to be convenient in carry-ons (and might invite queries since they are the same things that police use as handcuffs), the lock portion should be sealed with sealing wax. - The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending unsubscribe cryptography to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Clipper for luggage
Bill Frantz [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I usually travel with zipper closed duffel bags. I fasten the zipper closed with a screw link. Anyone can unscrew the link and get into the bag, but it does effectively keep the zipper closed in transit. I suppose it also provides some level of security because someone wanting to do a quick grab from luggage will probably pick a less-secured piece. When true locks are banned, that's actually a rather good protection mechanism, constituting a type of hashcash for luggage. Someone who's looking for targets of opportunity and has a choice between a Clipper-locked container they can get into almost unnoticed in 5 seconds or something where it'll take a minute or two of obvious fiddling will presumably go for the Clipper-lock. Just don't go overboard with those custom foot-long screw machined locks. Peter. - The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending unsubscribe cryptography to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Clipper for luggage
At 9:27 AM -0800 11/13/03, David Turner wrote: On Tue, 2003-11-11 at 22:31, Tim Dierks wrote: From the New York Times. Any guesses on how long it'll take before your local hacker will have a key which will open any piece of your luggage? Local hacker, hell: It will also mean more peace of mind for passengers worried about reports of increased pilferage from unlocked bags. ... so, TSA people are stealing from unlocked bags. The solution: In other words, we can open it, but no one else can. ... allow only the TSA to get into bags. Brilliant! Actually, this does have some security benefit, in that now TSA can be effectively held responsible for thefts. Still, the subject is quite accurate, except that it won't be mandatory as Clipper is. I've never seen a luggage lock that provides anything like what I would call security. On the other hand, unlocked luggage does sometimes open in transit. (I saw a suitcase open when it was dropped while being loaded onto an airplane.) I usually travel with zipper closed duffel bags. I fasten the zipper closed with a screw link. Anyone can unscrew the link and get into the bag, but it does effectively keep the zipper closed in transit. I suppose it also provides some level of security because someone wanting to do a quick grab from luggage will probably pick a less-secured piece.\ Cheers - Bill - Bill Frantz| There's nothing so clear as a | Periwinkle (408)356-8506 | vague idea you haven't written | 16345 Englewood Ave www.pwpconsult.com | down yet. -- Dean Tribble | Los Gatos, CA 95032 - The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending unsubscribe cryptography to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Clipper for luggage
From the New York Times. Any guesses on how long it'll take before your local hacker will have a key which will open any piece of your luggage? - Tim A Baggage Lock for You and the Federal Screeners By JOE SHARKEY Published: November 11, 2003 AIRLINE passengers will be able to lock checked bags confidently again starting tomorrow, thanks to a new customer-service initiative between private enterprise and the Transportation Security Administration. Here's how the plan will work: Several major luggage and lock retailers in the United States will announce tomorrow the availability of new locks, made by various manufacturers, that T.S.A. inspectors will be able to readily identify and open on checked bags selected for hand searches at airports. T.S.A. screeners in airports around the country have already been trained in using secure procedures to open the new certified locks when necessary, and relock them after inspecting bags. Literally since we began the process of screening every checked bag for explosives in December, one of the challenges has been the ability to get into bags without doing damage to them, said Brian Turmail, a spokesman for the T.S.A. The system, developed in cooperation with the T.S.A. and the Travel Goods Association, a trade group, was designed around a common set of standards that any company that manufactures, or is interested in manufacturing, luggage or luggage locks could follow that would allow T.S.A. screeners to open the bag without doing damage to the bag, in a manner that would allow the bag to stay secured afterwards,'' Mr. Turmail said. In other words, we can open it, but no one else can. The locks will be available in various manufacturers' designs. All will be geared around a uniform technology allowing them to be opened by T.S.A. inspectors using a combination of secure codes and special tools, according to John W. Vermilye, a former airline baggage-systems executive who developed the system through Travel Sentry, a company he set up for that purpose. All the locks will carry a red diamond-shaped logo to certify to screeners that they meet the Travel Sentry standards. Mr. Vermilye said his company would receive royalties from manufacturers. The system will ensure that passengers using the locks will not have to worry about a lock being broken or a locked bag being damaged if it is selected for hand inspection. It will also mean more peace of mind for passengers worried about reports of increased pilferage from unlocked bags. The general feeling of airline passengers is, 'I don't like to have to keep my bags unlocked,' added Mr. Vermilye, who once worked as a baggage handler. As somebody in the business for 30 years, I don't like it either, because I know what goes on in some baggage-handling areas, he said. An industry study showed that 90 percent of air travelers are now leaving checked bags unlocked, whereas before this year about 66 percent of them said they always locked their bags. I travel all the time, and I always used to lock my bags until this year, said Michael F. Anthony, the chairman and chief executive of Brookstone, a specialty retailer with 266 shops, including 30 in airports. Besides the worry about theft within the airline baggage-handling systems, Mr. Anthony said he was concerned on business trips about unlocked bags in the hands of cab and airport shuttle drivers, bellhops and others. Brookstone airport shops are planning to introduce the chain's own brand of new locks with in-store promotions tomorrow, Mr. Anthony said. A package of two four-digit Brookstone combination locks costs $20. Luggage and other accessories with the lock standards incorporated also will begin moving soon onto shelves at Brookstone and other retailers. Mr. Anthony said that the locks represented a needed air-travel customer-service breakthrough, helping people reclaim a sense of security they had in the past with their checked possessions. The T.S.A. mandated screening of all checked bags starting last Dec. 31. Since then, most of the estimated 1.5 million bags checked daily in domestic airports have been inspected by bomb-detecting machinery - but about 10 percent of checked bags are opened and inspected by hand. Initially, the T.S.A. planned to issue a blanket prohibition against locking bags, but the agency ultimately decided instead to merely suggest that passengers not lock them. The T.S.A. public directive on the subject says: In some cases screeners will have to open your baggage as part of the screening process. If your bag is unlocked, then T.S.A. will simply open the bag and screen the bag. However, if the bag is locked and T.S.A. needs to open your bag, then locks may have to be broken. You may keep your bag locked if you choose, but T.S.A. is not liable for damage caused to locked bags that must be opened.'' With bags unlocked, many travelers, including business travelers who pack
