KIDS: Driver's License Vulnerability Remains as Islamic State Channels al-Qaeda's Playbook

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Sep 10, 2014, 01:06 ET

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 catastrophe, the nation's driver's license processes are still not secure. The 9/11 Commissioners noted that, "for terrorists, travel documents are as important as weapons." Congress listened and took action by enacting the REAL ID Act of 2005 in response to remedy the states' weak driver's license regimes. But not all the states have gotten on board. While the large majority of states moved ahead, nine states remain behind the curve.

Keeping IDentities Safe (PRNewsFoto/Keeping IDentities Safe) (PRNewsFoto/Keeping IDentities Safe)

Max Bluestein, Director of Research, stated, "It's been over a decade since the 9/11 hijackers carried out their attacks. The players may have changed, but the threat is still the same. Terrorists can still fraudulently obtain driver's licenses in nine states. The Islamic State seems poised to take advantage of this vulnerability. The laptop of an Islamic State agent was seized last week containing detailed plans to attack the west, including bomb building instructions and a guide on how jihadists should use fake identities to travel from country to country without being caught. The risk is obvious and the threat is eminent."

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security stepped up enforcement of the Act on July, 21, 2014, by denying access to people from the nine non-compliant states at hundreds of secure federal buildings across the country with driver's licenses. For citizens of these states below the minimum standards, their driver's licenses will no longer be accepted by TSA as proof of identity to board aircraft in 2016.

The REAL ID Act rules established in 2008 a series of voluntary standards aimed with the goal of making it more difficult for terrorists to fraudulently obtain a driver's license. Among the nine states doing too little to improve their security standards, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Minnesota and Maine each need to make significant upgrades to their respective driver's license processes to close the door on terrorists.

About Keeping IDentities Safe:
Keeping IDentities Safe is a 501 (c) (3) non-partisan, not for profit, crime prevention education public charity, supported by donor contributions from across the United States. Its slogan, "Working to protect the identity of every American", embodies its commitment to higher standards for both government and private entities that issue identity credentials. Keeping IDentities Safe is a member of the Document Security Alliance and of the American National Standards Institute.

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