E-tickets for air travel by end of 2007

Security Strategies This newsletter is sponsored by Arsenal Digital Solutions Data Protection: Preferred Strategies used by Small and Mid-sized Businesses Data has become the most valuable resource that many companies own. Organizations of all sizes are actively searching for reliable, affordable solutions for data protection to help them with business continuity, disaster recovery, and compliance. The problem is especially acute for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), which typically lack the resources to add new technologies or manage the growing infrastructure required to deal with the problem. Click here to listen to this webcast which reveals the latest findings and trends! Network World's Security Strategies Newsletter, 06/05/07 E-tickets for air travel by end of 2007 By M. E. Kabay Today I turn to a tidbit I ran across as I was updating my INFOSEC Year in Review database in preparation for upcoming courses. It seems that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) hopes to see all paper airline tickets issued outside airports disappear totally by the end of 2007. According to the article by Kara Rowland of the _Washington Times_, a paper ticket issued by a travel agent costs about $10 in materials and processing versus about $1 for the electronic version issued at the airport by a desk agent or at an electronic kiosk. Readers might want to consider the risks of depending entirely on an airline’s computer, database and personnel as the sole repositories of proof of their purchases. What exactly would we do if a software glitch or a user error were to try to send us to San Salvador when we needed to fly to San Diego or to wipe out all records of our flight? Even worse, what if the ticket information is lost _after_ we get to our destination and before we fly home? Don't Overlook Inside Security Threats Research says it's not just vendor hype: Most companies have significant vulnerabilities they're not aware of and vastly underestimate the risk of insider attacks. Watch this Webcast and learn which attacks you need to be worried about, which are the most underestimated threats and much more. Click here to view the webcast. In today’s security environment, not having a ticket home could be a significant problem. My wife’s dear uncle, a distinguished-looking neurosurgeon in his seventies, recently got stuck in a Florida airport because of bad weather in his destination city, Boston. He tried to get anywhere further north and eventually agreed to buy a one-way ticket to Atlanta. When he went through security, he was taken aside and thoroughly interrogated - because everyone with a one-way ticket gets listed automatically as a security threat. As a programmer since 1965, a longtime reader of the Risks Forum Digest, and a teacher of programming and software quality assurance for more than 25 years, I have to say that I print my own records of all Internet-based ticket purchases and carry them with me to the airport. You might want to consider doing the same. Of course, if airline personnel really insist that there never was a ticket, perhaps we’ll be accused of forging the papers we are carrying. I wonder what kind of security interrogation that would occasion? Sigh.   What do you think? Post a comment on this newsletter

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Contact the author: M. E. Kabay, Ph.D., CISSP-ISSMP, is Associate Professor of Information Assurance and CTO of the School of Graduate Studies at Norwich University in Northfield, Vt. Mich can be reached by e-mail and his Web site. This newsletter is sponsored by Arsenal Digital Solutions Data Protection: Preferred Strategies used by Small and Mid-sized Businesses Data has become the most valuable resource that many companies own. Organizations of all sizes are actively searching for reliable, affordable solutions for data protection to help them with business continuity, disaster recovery, and compliance. The problem is especially acute for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), which typically lack the resources to add new technologies or manage the growing infrastructure required to deal with the problem. Click here to listen to this webcast which reveals the latest findings and trends! ARCHIVE Archive of the Security Strategies Newsletter. BONUS FEATURE IT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today. International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: security.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007