Gauging the


Charlie LeBlanc, president, ASI Group, an aviation security consultancy and Philip Baum, Editor-in-Chief, Aviation Security International. During the 60-minute discussion, we analysed the state of aviation security – its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities


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Here are the highlights of this far-ranging discussion and debate, which included the presentation of informative, data- rich PowerPoint slides:


Mike Brenner: To enhance security at airports, we need to approach the problem from a lot of different angles. The way to do that is by implementing new technologies and also altering our thought process in the way that we approach security.


Philip Baum: I'm a great believer in technology, but what we really need is a new human factors approach to aviation security. It's not really all about the technologies - it's how we utilize those technologies to create effective security in the future. The real question is, how do we get the right people deployed in our airport security system to be able to bring the best out of the technologies that are available now and in the future?


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Terrorist Threat: a webinar


Since 9/11, the world’s counterterrorism and homeland security authorities have invested hundreds of billions of dollars to enhance security at airports and on aircraft. But despite these vast investments, is the flying public actually any safer? To address these issues, Aerospace & Security Media conducted a webinar on 30 June entitled: "New Solutions for Airport Security: The Risks and Rewards". The event was sponsored by


insights this yielded into the omnipresent threat to aviation security.


he speaker panel consisted of: Tony Chapman, senior director, Integrated Travel Solutions, ARINC; Mike Brenner, senior consultant, Hughes Aerospace;


for improvement. Our webinars are interactive, participatory events that allow registrants during the ’live’ proceedings to email questions to the moderator, for debate by the entire panel. The webinars are archived on our web site and remain available on demand. To access them, register at this hyperlink:


http://www.aerospace-media.com/webinars


John Persinos: That's an excellent point, because a common pitfall is to rely on technology as a silver bullet, to think it's a panacea, and it becomes a crutch, a shortcut. The Israelis are very much of this opinion; their counter-terrorism techniques and the quality of their airport safety are renowned. They're of the opinion and the practice that you also need to focus on behavioural techniques, on being able to deduce someone's intentions by reading their body language and their facial expressions.


Philip Baum: Absolutely. The Israelis implemented profiling back in 1968 and they've adapted their system over the years.However, the reality is, we can't have an Israeli-based solution in most of the airports around the world. Most airports are not big enough and most of the passengers won't put up with it. Even the Israelis themselves are making huge changes to their approach to aviation security. A decade ago, they


Register now for FREE instant access to ASI online by visiting www.asi-mag.com


were reluctant to even bother X-raying bags, but now they are gradually automating more and more. What's exciting is the fact that


there are probably new technologies emerging that will be able to identify intent. That's the key to the solution: to actually identify somebody's intent, not what's in their bag.


Tony Chapman: Yes, we need to rely on technology, but we can't make an airport so frightening that the passengers are scared of the place and they don't know how to pass through their security checkpoints. Body scanners are a case in point. How does the passenger, who may be only a leisure traveller who travels once a year, interact with that technology?


Charlie LeBlanc: We come back to the issue of being flexible and unpredictable. Both here in the U.S. and in Europe, we're trying to come up with processes and technologies and people that are very


August 2010 Aviationsecurityinternational and John Persinos, the webinar moderator, outlines the


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