Charges dropped in fake boarding pass case

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[ Serves the feds right. Soghoian has some very insightful
comments about this and divide between the gov't and
researchers in his blog. URLs below. -Ed. ]

http://slightparanoia.blogspot.com/2...-bad-news.html
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/10419665/detail.html
http://www.theindychannel.com/video/10419746/index.html

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- An Indiana University student at the center of an
FBI investigation speaks out after he created a Web site meant to
expose holes in airport security.

Investigators have dropped a criminal case against Christopher
Soghoian, 25, but not before his life was turned upside down, 6News'
Jennifer Carmack reported.

Soghoian said he knows more than the average person about airport
security, and he doesn't like what he sees.

As a research project, the student created a Web site that generated
fake Northwest Airlines boarding passes.

"Flying is dangerous. There is a risk of terrorism, and I want them to
fix the problem," Soghoian said. "Any first-year computer science
student at this fine university could put it together. It didn't take
my technical knowledge."

Soghoian's site garnered plenty of attention, including some from the
federal government.

"They wanted to find out if anyone had collaborated with me, if I had
been paid to do this, if someone asked me to do this," Soghoian said.
"Over the course of a few weeks, my lawyers and I were able to convince
them that this really was a research project."

The case was dropped Tuesday after the FBI determined that Soghoian's
project did not have malicious intent.

"I never flew with a fake boarding pass. I never even printed one out.
This was an academic project as part of my dissertation research,"
Soghoian said.

The student said he is relieved that he won't go to jail but added that
he won't rest as long as loopholes exist in the Transportation and
Security Administration process.

"If they fix the airport security problems ... then this entire process
has been worth it," Soghoian said. "If they don't fix airport security,
then ... what was the purpose?"

Soghoian said fake boarding passes wouldn't be an issue if
identification was required and checked to travel. The student said he
has been able to get on four flights without showing ID.

BL.
- --
Brad Littlejohn | Email:
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