Security Authorities Hound Train Hobbyists and Techies

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February 06, 2007 2:18 PM

Train enthusiasts are outraged at a new report jointly issued by the FBI and DHS, which states that "trainspotter" Web sites, where commuter rail system details beyond maps and schedules are posted, may prove valuable to terrorists conducting pre-operational activities.

"Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of enthusiasts take photos and monitor trains for their enjoyment, but Homeland Security and some officials put up miserable restrictions and claim it's for homeland security," said Richard Eichhorst, President of the American Association of Railroaders, Inc., in St. Louis, Mo.

The report recommends authorities should monitor the "trainspotter" sites but also states that information on these sites can help to further develop system security.   

Another security-related report, this one issued by a private intelligence service called Strategy Page, deems the "Trackstick" airplane tracking device (pictured) to be potentially helpful to terrorists.

The memory stick-sized device is capable of recording the location, time, date, heading, speed and altitude of planes and can transfer that data to maps, charts and graphs. 

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

Technology experts are surprised that security officials would suspect devices like "Trackstick" to endanger U.S. citizens. They say the device could help counterterror and rescue work.

Richard Haberkern, the inventor of "Trackstick" and founder of the company that markets it, says he has been working closely with Google Earth and the U.S. government. He says "Trackstick's" downloadable data and Google-dedicated kiosks could be used in Katrina-level disasters to keep track of trucks delivering supplies when cell phone towers and other communication devices are disabled. "The Catch-22 is anything can be used for a bad thing," said Haberkern.

Another recent FBI-DHS security alert warns law enforcement officials new technology enables customers to use pre-paid cell phones as debit cards, allowing criminals to transfer electronic funds between cell phones with no attachment to a bank account. 

The report says this technology, which turns mobile phones into "virtual wallets," has been used in Asia for over a year. But merchants and cellular device makers in the United States say they will have to perform expensive upgrades to their systems before this technology is widely available.

Retailers, credit card companies and cell phone makers are testing several forms of pay-by-cell phone methods in Boston, Chicago and Dallas, according to the report.

CTIA, a trade association for the wireless industry, says mobile banking using cell phones is already being done experimentally here in the U.S. and does not expect security concerns to keep the technology out of the consumer market.