Bruce Schneier
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July 16, 2007
Real-World Trojan Horse
Here's a clip from an Australian TV programme called "The Chaser". A Trojan Horse (full of appropriately attired soldiers) finds its way past security everywhere except the Turkish consulate.
At least they remember their history.
Posted on July 16, 2007 at 1:05 PM • 24 Comments
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Comments
GreekTeacher • July 16, 2007 2:53 PM
The Trojans where Greek. The Turks came to the area known as Troy approximately 2500 years after the original Trojan Horse.
T Man • July 16, 2007 3:18 PM
I saw this clip and thought it was very funny. However, I do not believe that this had anything to do with history in the case of the Turkish consulate. Rather it was why is this thing, and it could be anything, being parked in front of our consulate. I would be weary of such a thing myself.
Check out the other clips from the Chaser. They are quite funny.
When trying to park it outside the Turkish consulate, they did mention the Greeks. Modern day Turkey and Greece aren't on the best of terms, so it's no wonder they wanted nothing to do with it.
OK, this is going STRAIGHT to my friend who's a Greek & Turkish translator.
Some of his buddies in the consulate will appreciate it, I'm sure.
GiggleStick • July 16, 2007 3:52 PM
"I would be weary of such a thing myself."
Why, does it happen often? Also, I don't think the Trojans were actually Greek, but they could converse with the Greeks (or vice versa), but had their own language and culture.
Dave • July 16, 2007 4:29 PM
Bruce You need to find more of Chasers material. They did a sketch about carrying liquids in a plastic container on air craft by carry themselves is large plastic containers.
They also did a "bart simpson" and booked plane tickets in the names Terry Wrist and Al Kynder.
Steve Parker • July 16, 2007 5:10 PM
This is the "plastic container" post: They boarded as "Terry Wrist" and "Al Kyder":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3grHjibNdA
Kanly • July 16, 2007 5:49 PM
Bruce when I saw this over a year ago I thought of sending it to you. Well, glad you finally found it and liked it.
But that's not all. There's another funny clip they did after the Australian Government discovered it's love for "Security Theatre":
(1) When the govt declared you must carry on everything onto aircraft in a transparent plastic bag, two chaser guys showed up at the airport naked each wearing a giant plastic bag (and underwear thank God!)
(2) The chaser guys pre-booked tickets and showed up at the airport. Amazingly and despite all the Security Theatre, no one raised an eyebrow. When they didn't board the plane, the airline read the names out loud: "Will the following passengers please proceed to boarding gate XYZ immediately: Al Kaida, Terry Wrist"
Great the Chase guys can show this stuff for what it really is!
I may be interpreting this badly but, what I find interesting is that in all the cases where they were allowed access, there was a gate in the middle of the drive. Backing up would have been impossible, given any amount of traffic, and may have affected the guards' decisions.
The gate at the Turkish Consulate was on the side of the property. Leaving the area would have been much easier, and not require any special maneuvering to deal with traffic flow. It would have been much easier to make the decision to deny access.
Hmmm ...
Harry Johnston • July 16, 2007 7:02 PM
Quick historical footnote - it's thought by some that the real "Trojan Horse" was a siege machine of some kind, such as a battering ram. Sounds reasonable to me.
Andrew • July 16, 2007 7:17 PM
Priceless. Thank you for the link.
Any real gate is designed to deal with refusals, gate runners, and potential shoot-your-way-in scenarios.
I personally like the pop-up anti-truck barriers that will cheerfully cut your car in half as they flip it on its roof. Or stop a charging truck at 90 mph.
Matthew Schinckel • July 16, 2007 8:11 PM
One of their more recent skits included Germans going into the Polish club, including The Führer. The door personnel just let him goose-step right in.
IIRC, the segment is called "What we have learned from history", or something similar.
Stuart Young • July 16, 2007 8:31 PM
Heh. Chaser also sent in campaign contributions to see if they'd be cashed (from Wikipedia):
* New South Wales Labor Party - Ku Klux Klan Australia: ACCEPTED;
* New South Wales Liberal Party - Man-Boy Love Association: ACCEPTED;
* Federal Australian Labor Party - al-Qaeda Australia: REJECTED;
* Federal Australian Liberal Party - al-Qaeda Australia: ACCEPTED.
Some of the Chaser stuff is a little heavy handed, but they make quite a number of good points when the people in power make mistakes.
Pete • July 17, 2007 12:58 AM
Just a little tid on "The Chaser"; Craig Rucastle (one of the creators and acters) admitted on Triple J radio (an Australia goverment sponsored youth radio station) that a lot of their more outrageous stunts that could land them in jail are "setups" (i.e. they get permission before performing the skit).
This was contary to what I had first believed but makes sense. Craig citied the 'Discrimination against shoppers with stocking masks' skit, but was referring to a broad range of their skits.
Kanly • July 17, 2007 7:29 AM
> One of their more recent skits included Germans going into the Polish club, including The Führer. The door personnel just let him goose-step right in.
Ah yes, but the Poles knew what was going on and had a good sense of humour. Two weeks later they let in the Gay Tele Tubbie.
Grahame • July 17, 2007 8:21 AM
Speaking of the chaser, what does this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?...
say about profiling?
bob • July 18, 2007 6:44 AM
While the plot line is hilarious; saying they got "past" security is only geographically correct; in almost every instance it was "park over there [and stop blocking the entrance] and Ill call to check this out".
bob • July 18, 2007 6:46 AM
Oops - your filters blocked the word "someone" because I had it in birdbeaks; visualize it after "Ill call"
Adam • July 18, 2007 9:16 PM
> While the plot line is hilarious; saying they got "past" security is only geographically correct; in almost every instance it was "park over there [and stop blocking the entrance] and Ill call to check this out".
Isn't that what the Greeks did?
Corwin • July 18, 2007 11:03 PM
The biggest "not a fair test" of the peice is that there were no cases where they penitrated a secure area. In all cases they were allowed to a public carpark and additional security would need to be broached to get any further.
Places like the Sydney Opera House would also be used to getting weird parcels as props.
I liked the army base one... someone yells out; "check inside before you let it in the gates" and the "Why would there be anyone inside?"
But the discussion does raise neat points about security practices... you need a place to allow suspicious packets to sit while you check them out for eg. This is *good* diplomacy and PR too.
Mikey • July 20, 2007 12:38 PM
Warning! Don't take these guys tooo seriously even if they do make you stop and think; It's not a history lesson it's just a joke!
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