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Laptop ban on planes to US replaced by tighter security

The US Homeland Security Department opts for enhanced security measures over expanding a ban on laptops in the passenger cabins of planes.

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Edward Moyer
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Edward Moyer Senior Editor
Edward Moyer is a senior editor at CNET and a many-year veteran of the writing and editing world. He enjoys taking sentences apart and putting them back together. He also likes making them from scratch. ¶ For nearly a quarter of a century, he's edited and written stories about various aspects of the technology world, from the US National Security Agency's controversial spying techniques to historic NASA space missions to 3D-printed works of fine art. Before that, he wrote about movies, musicians, artists and subcultures.
Expertise Wordsmithery. Credentials Ed was a member of the CNET crew that won a National Magazine Award from the American Society of Magazine Editors for general excellence online. He's also edited pieces that've nabbed prizes from the Society of Professional Journalists and others.
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Laptop and passport

DHS says the new security measures include heightened screening of personal electronic devices.

 Getty Images

The US Homeland Security Department has decided not to expand a ban on laptops in the passenger cabins of planes flying to the States. Instead it's requiring tighter security measures for all aircraft and airports.

The DHS made the announcement Wednesday, saying the enhanced security standards would apply to all commercial flights to the United States. The 10 airports in the Middle East and Africa affected by the current laptop ban will have that prohibition lifted if they implement the new standards.

The DHS had previously indicated that the ban, which applies to laptops, tablets and other devices larger than mobile phones, might be expanded to all flights from Europe. Later, it said the ban might be applied to all international flights to and from the US.

Homeland Security put the ban in place after intelligence revealed terrorists were developing an explosive that could be hidden in portable electronic devices.

In a fact sheet on its website, the DHS said the new security measures would include "enhancing overall passenger screening; conducting heightened screening of personal electronic devices; increasing security protocols around aircraft and in passenger areas; and deploying advanced technology, expanding canine screening, and establishing additional preclearance locations."