The problem with today's airport security is two fold: First it isn't actually secure (just made to look that way), second is that any attempt to clearly show the hole (since calling someone never gets anywhere) usually leads to legal retaliation against the whistleblower...

The most recent example of this is Congressman Markey's call to arrest someone who made a tool to produce fake boarding passes for Northwest Airlines.

The site is now down, but this is rather ironic. You see the fact this can even be done is what should lead to an arrest. If a guy having a little too much fun can produce a tool ANYONE can use (and makes it so EVERYONE can see it), then how much easier is it for a terrorist to make the tool solely for their own terroristic desires, and keep the whole thing secret until they manage to exploit it?

When someone makes a method for overriding security and puts it in front of the public eye, all they're trying to do is point out the simplicity and stupidity of the method (which is blatantly obvious in this case). I believe the public has a right to know these types of holes exist, yet people like Congressman Markey would prefer to keep these little exploits buried so only the select few wishing to do harm (with no desire for anyone to find out) are the only ones who will use it.

The end result is literally the government trying to give comfort to the public by keeping them mal-informed as opposed to giving them actual security. Congressman Markey should be fired...

And for anyone who thinks he used the wrong method to show this exploit, think again. The ONLY way to get high ranking officials to bother to open there eyes even for a second is to publicly show it's possible. If I wanted to demonstrate a security hole, it's not exactly that easy for me to try to get into contact with someone who will bother to give me the time of day, let alone take me seriously enough when I say "hey, you guys need to do something about this!" This is the kind of thing where you call security and security goes "you should talk to customer relations" and then proceeds to transfer you to someone who says "you should talk to security"...