US News

TSA machines failed to detect guns and bombs

Maybe the TSA should have spent less time tossing water bottles.

Researchers easily sneaked guns and bombs through the high-tech X-ray scanning machines, on which the TSA spent more than $1 billion to install at airports for several years, CBS reports.

The machines failed to detect explosives, knives and handguns — after researchers used a few simple tricks to hide them, according to the researchers behind the experiment.

“Frankly, we were shocked by what we found,” said J. Alex Halderman, a professor at University of Michigan, which worked with several other colleges on the months-long project.

“A clever attacker can smuggle contraband past the machines using surprisingly low-tech techniques,” he said.

They had been installed in 160 U.S. airports between 2009 and 2013, but are no longer used for aviation. They are still used, however, in many courthouses and prisons.

To smuggle in the deadly weapons, researchers covered them Teflon tape, molded plastic and installed malware — software that disrupts computer operations— to yield “all-clear” images on the machines.

The Rapiscan Secure 1000-brand scanners failed to reveal a .380 ACP pistol hidden behind a person’s knee and one gun sewn into a pant leg.

They also failed to find a knife and a explosive materials molded to one person’s torso.

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego, the University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University purchased the scanners from eBay.

“They might stop a naive attacker. But someone who applied just a bit of cleverness to the problem would be able to bypass them,” Halderman told Wired magazine.

He added, ” If they had access to a machine to test their attacks, they could render their ability to detect contraband virtually useless.”