In security, piggybacking refers to when a person tags along with another person who is authorized to gain entry into a restricted area, or pass a certain checkpoint [1]. The act may be legal or illegal, authorized or unauthorized, depending on the circumstances. However, the term more often has the connotation of being an illegal or unauthorized act. Depending on the type of location, levels of security vary. Some checkpoints have very high levels in which all individuals are checked, regardless, and therefore are capable of preventing nearly all piggybacking. These may include those with intense human surveillance or interaction, such as those at airports, apartments with doormen, or turnstiles. Others, with weaker controls, are more likely to allow such a breach. These may include unmanned entries with the use of a card or entry code or locations where an attendant can be easily distracted by other duties such as checking others. Piggybacking came to the public's attention particularly in 1999, when a series of weaknesses were exposed in airport security. While a study showed that the majority of undercover agents attempting to pass through checkpoints, bring banned items on planes, or board planes without tickets were successful, piggybacking was revealed as one of the methods that was used in order to enter off-limits areas [2].
Methods
Piggybackers have various methods of breeching security. These may include:
- Surreptitiously following an individual authorized to enter a location, giving the appearance of being legitimately escorted
- Joining a large crowd authorized to enter, and pretending to be a member of the crowd that is largely unchecked
- Finding an authorized person who either carelessly disregards the law or the rules of the facility, or is tricked into believing the piggybacker is authorized, and agreeably allows the piggybacker to tag along
Reasons
As piggybacking can be used to cause harm, such as avoidance in paying a required fee or gaining access to an area completely off limits to the piggybacker, one might assume that all piggybacking is done with the intention of causing harm. However, some piggybacking occurs when a person can obtain legal access, but does not want to go through the hassle of signing in, presenting identification, or being involved in an interaction with the staff.
