Compliance with Real ID will bolster security on flights

The Real ID Act was written to specifically address the risk of foreign terrorists hijacking domestic airplanes to use them as flying bombs. The program being rolled out by the Transportation Security Administration to reduce that risk is known as Secure Flight and relies primarily on authenticating driver's licenses presented by passengers. Hence, the effectiveness of Secure Flight in preventing hijacking depends largely on the identity confirmation processes employed by state agencies issuing driver's licenses.

In July, an independent assessment of the states' progress toward meeting Real ID requirements by the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License, a non-profit crime prevention organization, used the criteria of 18 interim benchmarks set up by the Department of Homeland Security.

This assessment shows seven states meeting the interim benchmarks and nine that are likely to meet them by Dec. 31. Fifteen states are making progress and could reach the benchmarks by the end of 2010. Until 50 states meet the strong security standards required by Real ID, the Secure Flight program won't really close the door to terrorists boarding domestic air flights.