Region of Waterloo International Airport - YKF

[ijmorlan]

And there are also multiple links in the security chain here...lets say the bus driver is paid off to stop and pickup someone who hasn't gone through security...they still need a valid boarding pass to get on the plane, and they won't have that if they haven't gone through security.

A better plan would be for the driver to load an unauthorized object onto the bus while it’s empty, then pick up perfectly legitimate passengers, including one who happens to be first in line and an accomplice, who sits down where the object is and later takes it onto the plane.

As for banks...I worked for one...their physical security is decent, but all they are doing is following best practices...limited cash on hand, time locks on safes, etc. None of this is new. In fact, things which ARE new...they're actually quite bad at...their IT security is not great...and the reason for this is conservatism. At the very top of every investment statement it says "past performance is not a guarantee of future results" but in every single conversation I had high up people at the bank, the prevailing opinion was "what we did yesterday worked, changing it is therefore a grave risk".

The main reason bank heists are uncommon is it isn't actually that good a value. Policing treats it very seriously (something something, police, something something protecting capital), so you're going to have a high chance of facing consequences, but your payout is low, because physically (or even technologically) compromising a single persons account or even a single branch isn't going to net you all that much cash.

Yes, when I speak favourably of bank security I’m talking about physical security in the branches, not the many obviously idiotic things they do around cheque and credit card handling. Even funds wiring has some unbelievably stupid practices.

I understand that it actually used to be possible to net quite a substantial haul by holding up a bank branch. Mostly invisible or at least subtle changes in procedures changed that, not a lot of impressive-looking guards. Now it’s easy to get a little bit of money, but that isn’t repeatable indefinitely. Of course it doesn’t hurt that a lot less cash is used these days.

Upon consideration, I’m not entirely convinced but I think you and other commenters have made a good case that the bus idea is no worse for security than many of the other things that already happen at the airport. I still think if we wanted/needed real airport security it would be best not to have cleared vehicles driving around outside the cleared zone.