TSA to test encrypted flight boarding passes

USA TODAY reports that the Transportation Security Administration plans to test a new anti-terrorist measure at airports: encrypted bar codes on boarding passes. Tests could begin at a few airports this year.

A Jan. 27 notice said the TSA may buy 2,300 boarding-pass scanners -- equal to one for each airport checkpoint in the U.S. Depending on how the test goes, the agency will decide whether to require every airline to issue the new passes, aimed at preventing terrorists from forging their own boarding papers.

TSA screeners at the test airports would check passes with handheld scanners at airport checkpoints instead of simply matching the name on a boarding pass to a passenger's ID.