Packing and the Friendly Skies

Architecture and Background

Packing and the Friendly Skies (Why Transporting your Firearms may be the best way to Safeguard your Tech when you Fly) Deviant Ollam Unicorn Phrenologist Many of us attend cons and other events which involve the transportation of computers, photography equipment, or other expensive tech in our bags. If our destination if far-flung, often air travel is involved... this almost always means being separated from our luggage for extended periods of time and entrusting its care to a litany of individuals with questionable ethics and training.

Vulnerability Analysis

After a particularly horrible episode of baggage pilferage and equipment theft, I made the decision to never again fly with an unlocked bag. However, all "TSA compliant" locks tend to be rather awful and provide little to no real security. It was for this reason that I now choose to fly with firearms at all times.

Exploitation and Demonstrations

Federal law allows me (in fact, it REQUIRES me) to lock my luggage with proper padlocks and does not permit any airport staffer to open my bags once they have left my possession. In this talk, I will summarize the relevant laws and policies concerning travel with firearms. It's easier than you think, often adds little to no extra time to your schedule (indeed, it can EXPEDITE the check-in process sometimes), and is in my opinion the best way to prevent tampering and theft of bags during air travel.

Remediation and Defensive Strategies

Deviant Ollam While paying the bills as a network engineer and security consultant, Deviant Ollam's first and strongest love has always been teaching. A graduate of the New Jersey Institute of Technology's "Science, Technology, & Society" program, he is always fascinated by the interplay that connects human values and social trends to developments in the technical world. A member of the Board of Directors of the US division of TOOOL (The Open Organization of Lockpickers) Deviant runs the Lockpicking Village at DEFCON and ShmooCon. A fanatical supporter of First Amendment rights who believes that the best way to increase security is to publicly disclose vulnerabilities, Deviant has conducted lockpick training sessions at Black Hat, ToorCon, HOPE, HackCon, ShakaCon, HackInTheBox, SecTor, CanSecWest, and has even had the honor of lecturing the cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point. His favorite Amendments to the US Constitution are, in no particular order, the 1st, 2nd, 9th, & 10th. For copies of the slides and additional materials please see the DEF CON 17 Archive here: