DHS Investigates Missing Airport Employee IDs

DHS Investigates Missing Airport Employee IDs

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The security IDs of more than 1,400 workers at America’s busiest airport, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, were lost or stolen over a period of about two years. The IDs, known as SIDA badges, give employees privileged access past screening areas and allow them to enter secure portions of airports through employee doors.

The US Department of Homeland Security Inspector General John Roth has said that the IG office is now reviewing security policies regarding SIDA (Secure Identification Display Area) badges at two dozen major US airports.

Many airports require employees to enter a PIN or scan their hand to access secure areas, but some security officials raised concerns that perpetrators in possession of the badges could gain illicit access to secure areas by other means like sneaking in through an unsecured gate. Once inside and with badges on full display, they would draw little attention and could walk around with little hindrance.

Another worrying development is that many airports simply do not follow proper SIDA badge security protocols. The Transportation Security Administration’s guidelines allow for a 5 percent threshold for missing IDs before airports have to reissue badges for all employees.

In a hearing before the House oversight committee, a TSA official testified that the agency’s review found only 23 airports out of about 450 to have reissued IDs when thresholds were crossed.

This essentially means that thousands of SIDA badges are unaccounted for and could be used at any time to gain access to secure areas of US airports with no plans to rectify the situation any time soon.