NEW YORK (Reuters) [2.9.98] - The computer security systems that control access to 40 airports worldwide through electronic badges have a design flaw that could make them vulnerable to terrorism, the New York Times reported Sunday. California computer security consulting firm, MSB Associates, found the flaw in December in a routine audit of a large California financial services software company, the identity of which was not disclosed, according to the newspaper. Government buildings, including that of the CIA, and prisons and industries with sensitive military, drug or financial information or material also use the system and are also vulnerable to attack, the Times report said. American and British aviation officials have notified airports of the flaw, the Times said. The system, introduced several years ago by a small company, Receptors, Inc., of Torrance, CA., relies on a secure, isolated computer in a guarded room to control door-locks and an inventory of electronic badges, the Times reported. The company found, however, that in some cases an individual could dial in to the computer and create security badges and unlock doors. Receptors' equipment was removed from the House of Representatives after the Inspector General found that 757 former employees appeared on the rolls of active employees and had working badges that would have allowed them access to the House buildings, the Times said. Receptors' chief operating officer Dale Williams said that the problem is not with the system but with the way it was installed in some cases. Some systems were connected to networks instead of being accessible only by a modem that would only be turned on when a Receptor employee performed maintenance, Williams told the Times. Testing the system, MSB found that the problem persisted as late as last week in the company they audited, the Times said. MSB created a fictitious employee, Millard Fillmore, which the company spotted on its rolls and removed. However, even after he was removed, the faux former president was still able to gain access to the company buildings, meaning any dismissed employee would have the same access, the Times said. == The information standard is more draconian than the gold standard, because the government has lost control of the marketplace. -- Walter Wriston == http://www.dis.org/erehwon/